Strat truss rod does nothing

[Keith Somerville]

Well, I exaggerate, but it in no way is doing a good job of taking the significant bow out of this neck. Looking for cost-effective options. Compression refretting? Should I simply recommend a replacement neck?

[Mike Kolb]

Hi Keith....

   There's been a ton of info discussed here on truss rod problems.  Go to the very top right-hand corner of the page and enter a search into the white box. If you enter "truss rod" you'll get page after page of discussions.

   Some may apply to the specific issue you have and some probably won't.... but they're all worth reading.  Good luck!  

[Thomas James]

Have you tried: loosening the nut, clamping/jigging the neck straight, and re-tightening the nut?

[Keith Somerville]

Yeah, tried all that! Didn't really help in any significant way, I'm afraid.

[Mike Kolb]

Yep, what Thomas said.  If it were mine, I'd probably want to remove the nut entirely, clamp the neck into a fairly severe backbow and leave it for a few days to acclimate. 

Then find a suitably thick washer -maybe two- that can fit over the rod (and, of course, into the hole... a trick unto itself) and reinstall the nut with the clamps still backbowing the neck.

Release the clamp pressure slowly, in degrees, and start to run the nut down and see what sort of improvement you may get.

The idea is to grab some fresh threads on the rod. There's a chance that the nut had run out of threads to engage, so it wasn't allowing the neck to adjust as it should. In any event, let the clamping do the "heavy lifting" while the nut is being run-down.

Short of other drastic measures, your first instinct may have been correct:  maybe a new neck's in order. 

(graphic courtesy of strat-talk.com)

[Keith Somerville]

Unfortunately, this is a modern strat with the nut at the headstock end. =S

[Mike Kolb]

Shouldn't matter which end the nut's on....  same info applies. The access is trickier but the theory's the same.  

If this is an inexpensive import, it's starting to sound like it's time for the new neck. 

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Keith.

Some additional info seems to be required at this point.

Such as:

The country of manufacture of the guitar?

Make & model? Strat seems to be an overused generic term nowadays.

Age of the guitar?

RW or Maple FB?

Is the instrument still under warranty?

Given the wide range of "Strat" spec's over the years, all of that info will allow responders to better assess the issue & suggest possible outcome options.

Thanks & good luck.

[Keith Somerville]

Thanks for your help so far, chaps. It is a Fender US standard strat about five years old. Rosewood board. General condition is very good except for this horrible neck.

I'd be interested to know if anyone's come up with a nice efficient way to remove the walnut truss rod plug. =D

[Mike Kolb]

http://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/fender-biflex-trussrod-repair...