Frozen truss rod help!

BellBottomBlues · #1 07-17-2007, 01:51 PM

Found a beat up squire bullet in the trash last night on the way home from work.

I brought it home and it has grover tuners, added shielding, and a brass bridge, as well as a set of schaller straplocks. Pretty good find I'd say.

I plugged it in and it didn't sound to good as well as having an intermittent signal.

However, I liked the feel of the neck, it played like butter. Its slightly bowed, nothing a little truss rod adjustment wouldn't cure.

Problem is, its frozen in place. Any help?

202dy · #2 07-17-2007, 04:38 PM

Unfortunately the term frozen is not one that exists in the Luthier's Lexicon. More specifics will be necessary before a semi-knowledgeable diagnosis can be made.

Here are a few ideas.

Is the truss rod nut immobile?
Can the nut be loosened?
Or does the nut move but the rod does nothing?
Or does the nut move and the end of the rod move through the nut toward the open air?

BellBottomBlues · #3 07-17-2007, 10:22 PM

The nut on the end of the truss rod won't budge a millimeter. I used a screw driver and tried to turn it. It didn't move. Tried it again with a little more force, nothing happened. I did dent the metal though. I also tried a little bit of machine oil (2-3 drops) and I still have the same problem.

202dy · #4 07-17-2007, 10:35 PM

A screwdriver is not the proper tool to use to adjust a bullet style nut. Using the wrong tool can turn a simple adjustment into a major PITA repair. Get the proper sized allen wrench.

Have you tried to loosen the nut first?

If a nut will not tighten the first thing to do is loosen it. Sometimes this is good advice even when the nut will tighten.

owensea777 · #5 07-18-2007, 03:51 PM

You should get a set of allen wrenches, or jsut one of correct size, before the nut strips out

BellBottomBlues · #6 07-19-2007, 09:47 PM

I have allen wrenches and this truss rod doesn't have a way for them to go to it. This may or may not be the original truss rod end. It looks like the head of a phillips screw, only bigger. It is recessed in the bottom of the neck, like a traditional fender truss rod.

202dy · #7 07-19-2007, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

I have allen wrenches and this truss rod doesn't have a way for them to go to it. This may or may not be the original truss rod end. It looks like the head of a phillips screw, only bigger. It is recessed in the bottom of the neck, like a traditional fender truss rod.

If this is at the headstock end of the neck it is incorrect hardware. Remove it and replace it with a proper bullet. That piece of hardware is available from Fender dealer.

BellBottomBlues · #8 07-20-2007, 04:56 PM

Its on the heel end of the neck. This is OLD school Squire Bullet. The neck date is 5-13-84. I think you folks might either be thinking of new bullets, or this is a replacement truss rod that wont move.

**Thor** · #9 07-20-2007, 05:02 PM

Call this guy

Noll Guitars

Ask for Stan or Jim. Tell them the Big O sent you.

These guys are real pros and they will tell you how to do
it without screwing it up.

401-275-0880

( Keep looking for my strat bro )

202dy · #10 07-20-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

Its on the heel end of the neck. This is OLD school Squire Bullet. The neck date is 5-13-84. I think you folks might either be thinking of new bullets, or this is a replacement truss rod that wont move.

If the adjusting nut is at the heel of the neck, and looks like it has a big deep X in it, then the proper tool is a flat screwdriver. Loosen it first. If you can loosen the nut it will be easier to diagnose the problem.

Failing that, take it to a pro.