Help! Ibanez truss rod

[gr8avocado]

I have an Ibanez SRA 305 with a stripped truss rod nut. Now, can anyone tell me if this bass has a dual action rod? I tried to unscrew the nut off but it will not come all the way off. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[STRINGSLINGER]

I have an Ibanez SRA 305 with a stripped truss rod nut. Now, can anyone tell me if this bass has a dual action rod? I tried to unscrew the nut off but it will not come all the way off. Any ideas would be appreciated.

It sounds like you are trying to remove the nut entirely and I don't understand why you would want to do this. The truss rod nut should only ever be turned a 1/4 turn at a time and let it come to rest for a couple of hours before any additional adjusting.

How out of whack is the neck?

 

[gr8avocado]

I'm trying to remove the nut because it's totally stripped out. Completely rounded out. An allen wrench won't work at all anymore. I can get the nut to come up out of the hole a little then it won't turn anymore. I don't want to force it.
I've read that if it's a dual action rod I will have to remove the entire truss rod and replace it.

 

[David Jayne]

I just read all of the available manuals, online. Never do they mention it being a dual-action rod. This practically guarantees that it is not one. I'll bet the nut doesn't quite line up with the hole in the neck, causing the binding you've encountered. Might need to open the hole a bit. Or, if it's a nut with a 'blind' hole (you can't see the rod in the center of it) the end of the rod may be mushroomed a bit due to overtightening. In this case, you might as well twist it hard- it will probably come off- but if something breaks, well, you were gonna have to yank the fingerboard anyway....

 

[Pilgrim]

Try an EZ-Out in it, or perhaps a Torx bit. In some cases I've heard that a slotted screwdriver may catch and generate enough purchase to turn it out. If the wood doesn't give room, Dremel lightly to permit passage room.

 

[96tbird]

It sounds like you are trying to remove the nut entirely and I don't understand why you would want to do this. The truss rod nut should only ever be turned a 1/4 turn at a time and let it come to rest for a couple of hours before any additional adjusting.

How out of whack is the neck?

I think its pretty clear why the nut has to come off. He said why, in plain English: it Is stripped.

Anyway, he also says in his post that it backs off but then stops. There's probably a nick in the threads or a mushroomed end (or its bigger than the access hole) like dmusic said and you don't have enough grip on the nut to back out over it. Try what Pilgrim and dmusic say.

 

[darius8]

Did you loosen the strings?

 

[lethargytartare]

A thought:

If you can get it to turn, and assuming you can't be sure you can get it off safely, you might just want to leave it be. When you want to tighten it, physically bend the neck to get enough room to tighten it down.

My reasoning: #1 the risk of aggressively trying to remove the nut is damaging things badly enough that you absolutely can't get it off or adjust it any more, and #2 it's not really worth enough to justify the cost of replacing the truss (you could probably get a "new" used bass of the same type for the same cost). So fighting to get the nut off means risking the neck completely. And if you're going to do that (risk the neck completely), why not just risk the neck by a bit of forceful relief adjustment. Not what I'd do or advise with a properly functioning instrument, but if you can get a good setup with the existing nut, who cares if it's stripped.

I had a schecter with that exact situation -- stripped nut that I was able to get down to a proper setup. I always wanted to replace that nut, but ultimately thought "why -- it works, it's set up nicely, so might as well leave it."

Good luck!
ltt