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Fender T wrench is a bad tool.

#21
OP, it may be worth your time to remove the truss rod nut and apply some light grease. It will prevent the nut from binding in the future and make it slightly easier to adjust.

It will not fix the inconvenience of having to remove the neck but that’s not the fault of the wrench, that’s the fault of the heel-adjusted truss rod being an awkward design.
 
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#22
Lo-E said:
OP, it may be worth your time to remove the truss rod nut and apply some light grease. It will prevent the nut from binding in the future and make it slightly easier to adjust.

It will not fix the inconvenience of having to remove the neck but that’s not the fault of the wrench, that’s the fault of the heel-adjusted truss rod being an awkward design.
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Agree on lubing the thread, but that should make the second part redundant. If the threads aren’t binding and you manually backbow the neck slightly while adjusting, you should be able to turn the nut with very little torque, well within the ability of a ball end hex key.
 
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#23
Lo-E said:
OP, it may be worth your time to remove the truss rod nut and apply some light grease. It will prevent the nut from binding in the future and make it slightly easier to adjust.

It will not fix the inconvenience of having to remove the neck but that’s not the fault of the wrench, that’s the fault of the heel-adjusted truss rod being an awkward design.
Click to expand...
Removal of the neck is not required.
 
#24
basseux said:
I tried with a regular allen key, and finally the trussrod turned normally, without feeling that you would wreak something.

I had a bit more success on on my 2012 american standard precision some years ago, but for my American Pro 2 it was really bad bad bad
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i love my '96 american standard P with its heel access cutout and nice big 3/16" hex drive nut but i have to agree, that T-handle ball end wrench is the wrong tool for the job! it usually works but is kind of "on the verge" and still risks gouging up the pickguard

far better would be a "stubby" 3/16" elbow allen key; better engagement in the hole and better leverage for finer control

i had to make my own but fender could have easily included that instead, it probably would have been cheaper

1739509558642.png
 
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#25
Lo-E said:
OP, it may be worth your time to remove the truss rod nut and apply some light grease. It will prevent the nut from binding in the future and make it slightly easier to adjust.

It will not fix the inconvenience of having to remove the neck but that’s not the fault of the wrench, that’s the fault of the heel-adjusted truss rod being an awkward design.
Click to expand...
I though about it, but thinking the nut was at fault, I bought another one, and this didn't change the trussrod behaviour.
So if there is some grip it might be on the trussrod itself, not the nut
walterw said:
i love my '96 american standard P with its heel access cutout and nice big 3/16" hex drive nut but i have to agree, that T-handle ball end wrench is the wrong tool for the job! it usually works but is kind of "on the verge" and still risks gouging up the pickguard

far better would be a "stubby" 3/16" elbow allen key; better engagement in the hole and better leverage for finer control

i had to make my own but fender could have easily included that instead, it probably would have been cheaper

View attachment 7151522
Click to expand...
You just gave me the idea of trying to make one out of one of the 3 Fender T wrench I have.
 
#26
basseux said:
So if there is some grip it might be on the trussrod itself, not the nut
Click to expand...
It’s far more likely that the thread is binding than that there’s anything wrong with the truss rod itself, so there’s no harm in trying this before you do anything else. It really should only be 15 minutes work to take the neck off, remove the nut, give both threads a little brush, put a tiny bit of petroleum jelly or similar grease on the thread, then reassemble and set the neck relief.
 
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#27
basseux said:
You just gave me the idea of trying to make one out of one of the 3 Fender T wrench I have.
Click to expand...
not sure how you would bend it!

better to just get a regular 3/16" allen key, and if you can't get one that's already short then saw off the end just past the curve
 
#30
mikeGJ said:
1.5mm too small, 2mm too big, 1.875mm just right. Can do serious damage with the 1.5!
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yeah, especially with small wrenches like those jamming in the nearest equivalent from the "other" measuring system is a recipe for damaged and stripped parts
 
#33
Fun Size Nick said:
It’s far more likely that the thread is binding than that there’s anything wrong with the truss rod itself, so there’s no harm in trying this before you do anything else. It really should only be 15 minutes work to take the neck off, remove the nut, give both threads a little brush, put a tiny bit of petroleum jelly or similar grease on the thread, then reassemble and set the neck relief.
Click to expand...
I have seen that done in a stewmac video.
For now I will let it like that and get at it a bit later, because I thin spent way to much time already, watching many videos to understand how trussrod works to not do stupid things, even looking to get shims, trussrod washer and all, I feel like exhausted and relivied.
 
#34
basseux said:
Anyway I lack the tools to bend or saw at the moment, but I have familly that does.
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if you have people with the metal-working equipment to bend a 3/16" tool steel hex shaft into a sharp elbow (flame torch heat perhaps?) they could probably just make you a tool from scratch
 
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