Fender Truss Rod Nut

[Gregory Hites]

Greeting folks,

Got a truss rod nut with a wallered out allen head.  (Wallered out is a technical term in Georgia)  The Stew-Mac oversized allen wrench is no help.  This nut is really worn out!  Looks like I'll need to ream out the plug at the headstock to access the nut?

What do you all do in this case?

Thanks,

littleguitargreg

 

[Ned Knepp]

Not that you need to pay attention to me since I'm just another poster here but it would probably be better if you spent more time get a feel for the culture on this site before you post again. Obviously, you haven't had a chance to see how we do things here. The approach in this post was, to say the least, pretty rude for this forum.

Different opinions about how something might be done are no problem and stupid posts get a decent amount of tolerance too, mine do, if they are not rude or abusive. If you want people to take you seriously on this site, and I think that most of us would like to, thoughtful responses and respect for your fellow posters are pretty much required. We like new people and new ideas but its fairly unlikely that you're ideas are going to get much consideration or respect if you continue to post in this manner.   

[Mark A. Kane]

An Easy Out may or may not be as easy as it sounds, but the solutions mentioned above have more merit than you are giving them credit for. I'm the first to call BS on shoddy repair practices but in many instances, the idea is simply to get the neck to the desired amount of relief without troubling yourself with removing the nut. Ideally, removal is the first choice but it's not always a necessary component of a successful repair. If the objective is a playable guitar, it can often be achieved without jumping through the hoops of removing the walnut plug and nut. 

[Russell Vance]

Hi Richard,

The full "standard" procedure including removal of the walnut plug is on YouTube "removal of stripped Fender Strat Truss Rod nut"   You obviously work much faster than the gentleman instructing the YouTube clip but you probably talk faster, eh.  The use of a drill chuck is provisional on whether you have an aircraft bit because a standard drill chuck will foul against the peg head face with a short drill bit etc. 

Regards,

Rusty.

[Peter Poyser]

Quote: "What do you all do in this case?"

Plenty of Good Solutions here with the Particular Advantages and Potential Difficulties of each Method, Well Covered Already by Top Experts.

However, I have a completely different "Take" on this Issue, and it's really very simple indeed. I advise people NEVER to use the little handy Allen Keys that are supplied by Fender or can be bought cheaply and are commonly used for Truss Rod Adjustments or at the very least, to absolutely minimise any such adjustment, made with those Tools.

I have Sets of Well Made Long, High Torque Tools with Good Handles of every Size, some are like Good Quality Screw Driver Handles for Nuts, others are like T Bars for Allen Keys, and of course the Wide but Thin Screw Driver for that type of Fender Truss Rod. But ALL allow you the Best Reach, Access, Contact, and Ease of Adjustment Space Possible, with absolutely minimal effort.

This is the Point. They Facilitate and Enable the Job to be Done. Right First Time. With the Greatest Possible Ease so Avoiding these Type of Issues in the First Place. They are another Good Reason for Musicians to routinely utilise the Services of a Good Luthier.

It may cost them far less in the Long Run.

 

In the friendliest, most helpful manner possible, I try to educate New Guitar Owners that would typically be making these adjustments, regularly, ad infinitum if left to their own devices. Explaining how easy it is with the best of intentions, to do more Harm than Good with Cheap Tools that Slip and cause Costly Wear.

To make them aware of and very wary of the Greater Problems they might and usually are creating for themselves, and of the Benefits of Getting the Job Done with the Proper Tools. One aspect of this is that Less Adjustment is always preferable to obsessively constant playing with these Parameters, and the Advantages of Allowing the Instrument to Properly Settle.

Today, I have to go with someone to advise and help them choose a New Guitar from our Local Guitar Store. I will take a Christmas Present with me for the Manager, who the last time I was there was telling me of the difficulties he had working on a Certain Instrument. It is of course the Specialised Tool for the Job, that I imported in from America to surprise him with, and a Book on the History of his Favourite Instrument.

I usually end up talking with a Lot of People when I am around such places, about Guitars and the Best Approaches to take to Owning, Adjusting and Performing with the Guitar. Beyond the Individualistic Artistic Criterion of the Musicians themselves, most of these Interactions either tend to Focus upon the HISTORY of whatever Guitar Brand they are Interested in. WHY they Manufactured their Instruments the way they did or Needed to Enact Change to those Manufacturing Methods, or Focusing upon HOW to Best Handle their Instrument, and thereby Prevent Problems Occurring in the First Place, both to the Instrument and their Own Physical Finger, Hand and Wrist Stresses, which they always intrigued to learn more about.

Guitar Enthusiasts always seem Totally Fascinated by such Intercourse, because they always learn something they hadn't a clue about even though they are usually quite experienced.

I think the discussion is simply on such a different level to their interactions with Salesmen in such places.

But Prevention being Better than Cure, is my simple theme.

 

 

The Strange Thing.

I find about all this, and what prompted me to respond in the first place.

Is that I have a number of Fender Instruments myself, but other than setting up the Saddle Height and Intonation on these Instruments. I have never needed to Adjust the Truss Rods Ever, on my Own Instruments. And I started to wonder, WHY?

I think that it largely comes down to very Judicious Instrument Choice at time of Purchase, where the Instruments Truss Rod was Ideally Set from the Get Go, and Simply did not Require Further Adjustment, the same goes for my Fender and Music Man Basses.

But although many Other Brands of Instrument have required simple Initial Truss Rod Adjustment. Many, simply haven't, and the ones that have required quite normal tweaking, have needed nothing further done, through Many, Many Decades.

Then I am a Great Believer in Looking and Trying until you find the Instrument that is Perfect in Every Respect, before you buy. And Avoiding like the Plague, the Idea "I can make this, into the Instrument I want".

To my mind. The Instrument I really want, is the only one, to ever buy. This Approach saves reams of trouble, but I also think it's down to How the Instruments are Kept, Handled and Stored.

Safely, in an Ideal Way in the Best Possible Environment, and Climatic Conditions.

Those that Promote and Reinforce, Basic Wooden Instrument Stability.

 

 

P

[Robbie Collins]

Hey Greg...where are you in Georgia? I'm in Macon.

[Paul Verticchio]

Guys,

I don't know why everyone is posting advice again. This post was 7 months old when it was unceremoniously revived. By virtue of Greg's 'silence', I presume he got the task successfully completed.

I wish there were a way to "close" all posts after a month or so of inactivity. I know this is an impossibility as that would tax our gracious host, Mr. Ford :) It would prevent situations such as this.

After a post is in a 'coma' for a month, it's probably just as well to start a new thread.

[Gregory Hites]

Gentlemen, Gentlemen!

Yes, we can cease and desist on this topic.  The guitar is long gone.  As a follow up the plug was removed, truss rod nut R&R'd, then replugged without further trouble.

May you all have a happy and blessed Christmas!

(Robbie, I'm in Douglasville.  My business name is GUITARx, look me up on fb.)

peace,

littleguitargreg

[Paul Verticchio]

Thanks, Greg.

Glad to hear everything worked out....but then again, this is a forum full of pro's AND several extremely humble practitioners who call themselves 'amateurs' or 'hobby guys'. Those folks, as demonstrated via their consistently great advice and thoughtful posts, SHOULD call themselves pro's. I consider them as such and I don't think that I'm the Lone Ranger on that count.

May you & yours, too, have a Joyous Christmas, Greg :)

Paul :)

[Thomas James]

I don't mind threads resurfacing. It's good to review, and sometimes new info is added. I view this forum as a an ongoing data base.

However, hubris might not be the best way to introduce yourself to a group of well meaning folk.

[Andrew]

Seconded.

[Andrew]

Shortly after viewing this thread I came across this stuff ( I spend a lot of time browsing Lee Valley). Seems like this stuff might be worth a try.