Truss rod gone bad!

[poundround]

Well a buddy of mine borrowed my Cort Curbow for marching band(no he doesint really march). To my amazement he somehow stripped the inside of the rod. What am I supposed to do, besides make him pay for it. Can I get a new rod or what? I hope it aint trashed!

[KeithBMI]

Wasn't there an article like this in BassPlayer? Seems like the cheapest route would be to get a new neck.

OT: Do you know what kind of amp he uses? I also play bass in the marching band and want to know what other players use.

[JimmyM]

Take it to a shop. Hard to say if it's trashed without seeing it. There's a possibility it can be fixed, but there's just as big a possibility that it can't. And then kick his ass for touching your truss rod and never lend it to him again.

[Franklin229]

Second on the kick in the ass!! I have found that you can take a slightly larger size driver and tap it into the head of the Truss Rodd. Of course, any adjustments to the truss rod need to be done with the (unstrung) neck clamped down in such a way to give is a slight concave bow-to take the stress off the truss rod.

[BurningSkies]

I don't understand why anyone would think it ok to borrow a bass then mess with the set-up. Make him get it fixed, or at least make him guarantee that he's gonna pay for the repairs.

Then once he does pay for it, kick him in the teeth.

[Chasarms]

Some friend. But, it may not be that big of a deal.

Most responsible makers use a nut on the trussrod that is of softer metal than the rod itself. That way, the threads on the nut strip rather than the rod.

You should be able to simply replace the nut. It'll be a fairly easy fix.

If the hex head of the nut is what is stripped, it should be fairly easy to remove once all the tension is taken off the neck. You might even be able to do it with the next size up hex wrench. If that is too big, I have had pretty good luck by dipping the wrench in grinding compound first. One alternative may be to cover the wrench with a layer of aluminum foil before you insert it. That might take up a little of the slack.

The nut should not be that tight without tension on it. You can further relieve it by having friend use two hands to slightly straighten the neck while you are trying to remove the nut.

[ddnidd1]

I had a similar situation on one of my basses. The opening for the hex wrench had been stripped. I tried every technique imaginable with hex wrenches with no luck. Since I had nothing to lose at that point I tried the appropriate sized torx driver and it worked perfectly. You do have to lean on it to make sure it really grips the metal.

[poundround]

Thanx to everyone that replied to my thread. You were all very helpful and im going to take it to a shop soon. Well first Ill see what I can do. Then im going to kick the SOB in his ass. Oh and he uses a Yorkville combo.

[jondog]

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure my truss nut is stripped. It only needs to be loosened 1/2 a turn but I can't get it to go.

Those of you doing the foil or other tricks, are you just using that for an adjustment, or do you use the trick to fully remove the nut so you can put a new one on? Is it possible to put a new one on?

[Chasarms]

Originally Posted by jondog

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure my truss nut is stripped. It only needs to be loosened 1/2 a turn but I can't get it to go.

Those of you doing the foil or other tricks, are you just using that for an adjustment, or do you use the trick to fully remove the nut so you can put a new one on? Is it possible to put a new one on?

Yes, it can be replaced, and if it is stripped slightly, that is probably the right thing to do.

Just loosen it until it comes off and install a new one.

[jondog]

The foil trick isn't working. I tried some flat bladed screwdrivers but none seem to be just the right size to catch. Any other ideas?