Ah crap - my truss rod is stripped

[Johnny5]

That's what I see anyway. On my favorite bass too.
I bought a Highway One P Bass in 05, love it. Great weight, neck feel, tone, everything. The shop I bought it from offers a free setup when you buy any guitar from them, so I had them set up the action lower and tighten some things here and there, nothing major. That was in 05.

I've recently taken a liking to flatwounds, so I decided to throw a set on my P Bass. I noticed that when I put them on, there was too much relief in the neck and I was getting some super high action (or more than I'm normally used to) so I grabbed my hex wrench and went for the truss rod. After closer examination with a flashlight (it's deep in by the headstock) it's totally stripped! Like completely rounded off instead of 6 sides.

I foresee no possibly way of getting this neck back to the way it was. Any suggestions? I could keep it the way it is but it's higher than I like and just annoying to play now in general.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Johnny5

That's what I see anyway. On my favorite bass too.
I bought a Highway One P Bass in 05, love it. Great weight, neck feel, tone, everything. The shop I bought it from offers a free setup when you buy any guitar from them, so I had them set up the action lower and tighten some things here and there, nothing major. That was in 05.

I've recently taken a liking to flatwounds, so I decided to throw a set on my P Bass. I noticed that when I put them on, there was too much relief in the neck and I was getting some super high action (or more than I'm normally used to) so I grabbed my hex wrench and went for the truss rod. After closer examination with a flashlight (it's deep in by the headstock) it's totally stripped! Like completely rounded off instead of 6 sides.

I foresee no possibly way of getting this neck back to the way it was. Any suggestions? I could keep it the way it is but it's higher than I like and just annoying to play now in general.

It sounds like you've stripped the hex recess in the nut, not your truss rod. You need to remove the nut and replace it with a new one. If your wrench will not grab enough to back the nut off (which is easier than tightening it) then you'll have to either get creative or take it to a good tech. You can try a very tiny drop of super glue on the end of your adjustment wrench and hope it can bond to the nut enough to back it off, but be careful you don't use too much or you can get drips that will really make a mess. Check with a machine shop and see if they have a tool for removing those type of nuts that strip. Or maybe a local mechanic.

If you don't feel you can do it easily take it to a good tech. It shouldn't be all that expensive. If you'd stripped the truss rod, that would be a different story.

[Johnny5]

Originally Posted by 62bass

It sounds like you've stripped the hex recess in the nut, not your truss rod. You need to remove the nut and replace it with a new one. If your wrench will not grab enough to back the nut off (which is easier than tightening it) then you'll have to either get creative or take it to a good tech. You can try a very tiny drop of super glue on the end of your adjustment wrench and hope it can bond to the nut enough to back it off, but be careful you don't use too much or you can get drips that will really make a mess. Check with a machine shop and see if they have a tool for removing those type of nuts that strip. Or maybe a local mechanic.

If you don't feel you can do it easily take it to a good tech. It shouldn't be all that expensive. If you'd stripped the truss rod, that would be a different story.

Ok cool, I'll give that a try.
And just to clarify - I didn't strip it. The tech at the shop must've. This was the first time I've ever touched any truss rod.

[steve66]

you may be able to use a reverse tap and tap a few threads into the the stripped nut. Then you can use a reverse extractor to take the nut out. I never done this on a truss rod, but used extractors when I was a auto mechanic.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Johnny5

Ok cool, I'll give that a try.
And just to clarify - I didn't strip it. The tech at the shop must've. This was the first time I've ever touched any truss rod.

Okay, don't take it to that "tech" again.