Ok my Squier truss rod is not working. It’s a nice neck and plus what an opportunity to learn. I could have pickup a fender neck for a couple of bills but fixing this neck seen to be more fun.
Ok here’s the skinny. The hex screw seems to be separated from the rod. I can take off the hex but when I screw back it doesn’t do anything as far as adjustment are concerned.
Is it easier to get the truss rod rescue kit from stewmac, or replace my truss rod by opening up the fingerboard or skunk strip? Those are the only 3 ways I’ve seen.
I’ve used a truss rod rescue kit on a friends guitar with success.
As a carpenter I’d advise against trying to separate the fingerboard from the neck. It’ll be glued on, then pressed into place. You’ve got a pretty good chance of just destroying the fingerboard trying to separate the two. You could try steaming it to soften the glue bond but then you run into other issues such as unintentionally warping the neck.
If it’s already broken, then you have nothing to lose with the Stewmac route. Good luck. Pictures please, so we can all learn.
Good call. I’ll order one. I’ll do some research on the size for Squier and fender. Want to make sure I can use it for both. They are $250 shipped each size. Ouch!
One local at the top of my Yelp listing was not even good. I took a bass for a setup and pretty simple electronics work(Fender aerodyne) with EMG Passive and Dimarzio relentless with emg wiring kit. After a week got a call back saying their tech, independent guy who works at fender custom shop, said emg can not be mix with other pickups. What? I said just finished the setup and leave the electronics. It took additional 3 weeks.
I did it myself for the first time an it was easy, come on, it’s Emg. From then on I just diy anything could.
I love that they felt the need to mention a free setup after ripping the neck apart and putting a new truss rod in for $750. Like, imagine if they didn’t
“Here, we just performed major neck surgery on it, but can’t be bothered to adjust it to make sure it’s actually in good relief range. Good luck!”
Sort of related, on the Frank Bello bass I have an issue where the hex key nut is a bit stripped out on the truss rod. It appears some joker (my guess is previous owner is a do-it-yourselver-but-kinda-sucks-at-it as the nut was all wrong too along with setup) was using the wrong size hex key and made it rounder.
Are these easily replaceable?
I can still turn it but have to be very careful and forceful at the same time to get the wrench to bite in.
I am guessing that truss rods are mostly replaced on classic guitars and ones worth alot of money, but you need to keep it as stock as possible to keep the value, as in, Not replacing the neck.
Hence the $750 price.
Not worth it unless the bass is worth like 5k or more, and old enough that replacing the neck would be very noticeable.
There is a little trick. you may try. Go to your local Horrible Fright or Homeless Despot and look for a set of Stanley Allen keys, but specifically the Diamond Tip ones like these: Canadian Tire listing
The ends have diamond dust on them, so they give you lots of friction. You have to be careful using them on a (cough) virgin hole (sorry, just had to), but they’re great if the socket is wallered out a bit.
If you can’t get them where you are, PM me and I’ll buy a set at Cambodian Tire and send it to you.
@Al1885 why not try a little machinist’s trick if the hex nut comes out of the hole? Your local hammer gettin’ spot will have a selection of super glues (Krazy Glue II, cyanoacrylate, etc.). Loctite-brand superglue seems to be by far the best, but Gorilla brand is good too.
Again, if the hex nut falls out, put a wee drappie in the threaded hole and then thread it back onto the truss rod. Give it 15 minutes to set (it’s a confined space with not a lot of air flow, and it’s moisture in the air that catalyses the glue) so that the glue fires off slower. When the glue works it’s way through the threads and sets, this should give you plenty of mechanical hold to work the truss rod with untensioned strings. I’ve seen this trick used to butt-join two pieces of brass so that one could be machined on a lathe, and the forces there are much greater than your average 1/4 turn with an Allen key.
And you can always take it off if you want the proper truss rod fix. You just need to carefully heat the hex nut to about 60-70 C (140-160 F) and thread it off when its warm. For example with a sodding iron at low temp.
The method seems simple enough but I’m pretty sure the leaning curve is steep, you have to make a few mistakes before you are decent at it. Kinda like soldering, after you burn a few you learn.
Free setup except for the $30 for materials. Guess he has to run out and buy some hex keys to set the neck relief What a joke.
Sounds like a place to stay away from to me.
To be fair to 13th St Guitars, and their practices and policies, which are truly stellar,
A set up from them also comes with a 1 year warranty, and you can take it in ANY time you feel it needs attention.
So, Stating it comes with a FREE Set Up, pretty much is the words used to imply they will warrant the SET UP part of it, for a year.
EDIT: Oooops, I see it is not 13th St. Guitars, somewhere else, but I bet it is the same idea.
What a joke.