Cracked and stuck truss rod nut - '78 Musicman Stingray

[wallyman]

Hello all, I’m looking for opinions /advice for an issue on my 1978 Musicman Stingray bass.
Last week I was adjusting the relief on my neck when the truss rod nut cracked. (I’ve adjusted this a handful of times over the past 27 years and never had any problems.)
The bullet style nut has 2 –possibly 3 hairline cracks in it and cannot be turned either way. An allen wrench will only spin inside the nut.
I took the bass to Mike Lull in Bellevue Washington to see if he could remove and replace the cracked nut. Mike tried applying heat to the nut with a soldering iron while gripping it with a needle nosed vise grip in an attempt to loosen and remove it. That didn’t work and he had no further recommendations.
The bass plays excellently. The truss rod is not broken. But the truss rod nut is definitely cracked and stuck.
I’ve spent the last few hours here looking at some really excellent suggestions for a fix to this problem but in the end, I know I’m not skilled enough for this job. I know my limitations!
The goal is to have the nut replaced without causing further issues.
My question is: can anyone recommend a very skilled luthier in the Seattle area who might be able to tackle this delicate repair?
Thanks much.

[Bobster]

Hi Wally,

Penetrating oil applied directly (only) to the truss rod and nut to loosen it up?

Also, this list might help:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=174743

Best of luck with it.

Bob

[Rick Auricchio]

You might call EBMM customer service. Their number is on www.music-man.com and they're very helpful.

[wallyman]

Thanks guys.
I'll be taking the bass to Parsons and Emerald City Guitars (and anyone else that EBMM can recommend when I hear back from them) for opinions. I'm not about to try anything else myself for fear of making the situation worse.
But I'll ask both shops about using some penetrating oil before attempting to loosen the nut. That makes a lot of sense. (I'm surprised that Mike Lull's shop didn't try that.)

Hopefully this works out!
thanks again,
Wallyman

[walterw]

i'm surprised they didn't try dremeling a straight slot into the nut so it could be backed out with a big flat-blade screwdriver.

i just rescued an old G&L bass nut that was locked-up and rounded-out (who's idea was it to use an 1/8" hex hole on a bass?) by jamming an EZ-out in there and backing out the nut with vise-grips on the other end.

[wallyman]

Update on the Musicman w/cracked and stuck truss rod nut:

Took the bass to 4 different luthiers before I found the guy who had the right trick. Emerald City guitars in Seattle referred me to him - Gene Nygaard in Kent WA.

The nut had 3 deep cracks in it that ran nearly to the base of the allen slot. Not good.

Gene was able to get the nut off by carefully drilling a hole straight into the front side of the nut between 2 of the 3 cracks. Then he took the drill bit out of the drill press, reversed it, and inserted it into the freshly drilled hole, and turned the nut out using the drill bit as a leveraged handle - sort of like a drill chuck key. Elegant solution.

I'd already ordered and received a new nut from Ernie Ball customer service. It was a direct replacement. (thanks Rick for suggesting that I contact EB customer service)

In the process I found out the bass and neck have a stamped manufactured date of Jan 1977....always wondered about that.
I'm now back in business with this great old bass!