Truss rod hard to turn on Yamaha BB2005

[NovakD]

I bought it second-hand five months ago and the previous owner didn't tell me that truss rod is that hard to adjust. It works, but it is awfully hard to turn in any direction. It doesn't matter if it needs to be loosened or tightened, I have to apply a very big force to turn it. Occasionally, I hear something cracks. I tried to apply the WD-40 trick but it didn't help. Do you have suggestions?

I tried to loosen it by turning it for the 360 degrees, but it was still very hard to turn, so I don't believe it is maxed

This is the bass:

[T_Bone_TL]

Likely the previous owner didn't adjust it much, or at all, or knew it was bad and kept mouth shut during sale.

Sometimes the smart move even (or perhaps especially, since it saves dollars in the long run), for cheapskates is to take the thing to a professional before it gets broken (or broken worse) due to our trying to fix it ourselves.

[96tbird]

You need to make sure the nut is turning on the threads and not twisting the rod in its anchor at the far end. The nut might be seized on the threads. Get help.

Btw, that's a very nice bass. You don't want to mess it up by DIY.

[dtripoli]

First thing asked in reference to truss rod,
"Did you loosen the strings first?"
I've got a beater Yamaha RBX250 and I took the neck off to get at the truss nut more easily and loosened the nut before tightening.
It's actually a nut rather than an Allen nut cap as on Fenders and such.

[96tbird]

Cool. Just mark the nut and rod with an index line. Loosen the nut a bit.

Is the rod staying put and only the nut is turning?

Yes: Good take the nut off, clean the threads, lube with Vaseline and put it back and do what you need to do.

No: oh oh, time for professional intervention.

My G-3 has a brass nut. Is yours brass? Mine is hard to turn and squawks and creaks; it could be because they are dissimilar metals causing galvanic corrosion that makes it squawk . Could be just rough threads on the rod and brass is too soft to smooth the steel down when it's threaded on. I think that brass is used because it won't rust solid onto steel over time.

[NovakD]

To answer a couple of questions: Yes, I always loosen the strings before truss rod adjustments.

I can't tell what is happening with the rod/nut because I can't see it (it adjusts at the place where neck meets the body).

I'm thinking it is best to take it to someone more qualified than me. You are right, it is too nice bass to be messed up.

[Oren Hudson]

One more thing to try is a mail order product called Kroil. It's a creeping lubricant and will work its way through sprayed areas real nice while loosening and lubricating along the way. I first heard of it when I broke a spark plug off in an old car I was working on. It had rusted tight. Sprayed the Kroil in and all of the plugs came right out. I use it on tons of things now. It's way better than WD40, although more expensive.

[96tbird]

You have to be careful with stuff like that, it saturates wood and softens it making for an unstable bearing point for, well, truss nuts for instance.