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Help please with stripped nut? On Squier CV 60's P bass

Hello,

I've had the some troubles with my Matt Freeman and had to extract entire truss rod. Unfortunately, the "brown insert" is not plastic it is a piece of walnut. So ironing it out will probably not work. Also hex key is 5 mm, not 4. I've heard torx keys sometimes help as well. But in any case you WILL need to remove the insert...

If you have tools, courage and correctly installed hands you may try to drill the insert out as I did. Just get the long drill:

DSC_0548.JPG


When you get your problem solved you will may want to reverse the drilling. I was lazy and just used black tape. But now I have access to the nut if I need :)

DSC_0599.JPG


It is not too hard to do just take care of neck's finish - scratches are hard to remove. So protect it with masking tape or other kind of protection. I've put the plastic bag (mangan strings :) ) on the headstock while drilling :)
 
Last edited:
Hello,

I've had the some troubles with my Matt Freeman and had to extract entire truss rod. Unfortunately, the "brown insert" is not plastic it is a piece of walnut. So ironing it out will probably not work. Also hex key is 5 mm, not 4. I've heard torx keys sometimes help as well. But in any case you WILL need to remove the insert...

If you have tools, courage and correctly installed hands you may try to drill the insert out as I did. Just get the long drill:

View attachment 2814730

When you get your problem solved you will may want to reverse the drilling. I was lazy and just used black tape. But now I have access to the nut if I need :)

View attachment 2814754

It is not too hard to do just take care of neck's finish - scratches are hard to remove. So protect it with masking tape or other kind of protection. I've put the plastic bag (mangan strings :) ) on the headstock while drilling :)
Damn good stuff, Thanks!!!
 
Hello,

I've had the some troubles with my Matt Freeman and had to extract entire truss rod. Unfortunately, the "brown insert" is not plastic it is a piece of walnut. So ironing it out will probably not work. Also hex key is 5 mm, not 4. I've heard torx keys sometimes help as well. But in any case you WILL need to remove the insert...

If you have tools, courage and correctly installed hands you may try to drill the insert out as I did. Just get the long drill:

View attachment 2814730

When you get your problem solved you will may want to reverse the drilling. I was lazy and just used black tape. But now I have access to the nut if I need :)

View attachment 2814754

It is not too hard to do just take care of neck's finish - scratches are hard to remove. So protect it with masking tape or other kind of protection. I've put the plastic bag (mangan strings :) ) on the headstock while drilling :)
Do you recall the bit size on that bit?
Thanks!
 
Try this thread. I did a write up a while ago on how to remove a stripped nut. My post is #29 in the thread.
Bad neck
Hey 72,
Thanks!
I've got both of those sets and tomorrow's the day.
I was all ready to heat & remove the walnut (?) truss/nut sleeve before I tried but it looks like you were able to just muscle it out. I'm getting mixed signals on this.
Kinda looks like if I want to preserve the sleeve, take it out. If I don't mind some scratches, go for it.

Took a closer look at your pics. I think your sleeve dia. is a bit bigger than mine (made in China 60's CV Squier)
 
I think it is not possible to force the walnut sleeve out. It may broke out with surrounding wood/lacquer badly. Heating is not an option because of lacquer on the headstock as well the sleeve itself will be damaged. At least when I've tired to force it out using the truss rod nut - I've failed. It acts like a bi-flex truss rod.
 
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Yeah, don't try to force the sleeve out with the truss rod nut. The normal way to get the sleeve out is to drill it out in steps. Several sizes of drill bits, increasing in size. Usually, when you get close to the final size the glue joint will fracture and the remains of the sleeve will pull out as one shell. If not, clean the hole out to 3/8" (if I remember right, that's the OD of the sleeve).
 
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tubestuff, I just carefully backed the truss rod nut out and it did scratch the sleeve a bit. If it's an issue you can always lightly sand the scratches out with some sand paper wrapped around a cylinder moving up in grits to say 400 and once that's done apply some clear poly or something similar to the sanded area. It should hide any sanding marks and look good. Just my .02.
 
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tubestuff, I just carefully backed the truss rod nut out and it did scratch the sleeve a bit. If it's an issue you can always lightly sand the scratches out with some sand paper wrapped around a cylinder moving up in grits to say 400 and once that's done apply some clear poly or something similar to the sanded area. It should hide any sanding marks and look good. Just my .02.
Hi 72,
Thanks for all your input. I have a calibrated heat gun I've been dying to use for more than just shrink sleeving. It has small nozzles that will fit in the opening so now I want to try to pull it just because.
I'll try to post some pics as I slowly destroy my neck. :-)
 
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Yeah, don't try to force the sleeve out with the truss rod nut. The normal way to get the sleeve out is to drill it out in steps. Several sizes of drill bits, increasing in size. Usually, when you get close to the final size the glue joint will fracture and the remains of the sleeve will pull out as one shell. If not, clean the hole out to 3/8" (if I remember right, that's the OD of the sleeve).
Thanks Bruce,
Your method was the winner, along with the other drill out folks, and you nailed the 3/8".
Thanks.
 
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What a stupid design! But after a 3 hour cluster, I finally popped the nut.
The heat gun did squat from 150-250F except start burning. Solder iron may have applied a more even heat but the nut was so stripped there was no chance to to gain purchase to back the sleeve out.

It took 5 drill sizes ending at 3/8" and even a chiseled tip eyeglass screwdriver to bottom out the hole to squeeze it out with the reverse drill bit.

Thanks to all of the TBers who walked me through my first nut job.

Also thanks to Chris at Reverb for his assistance.
.
IMG_20171117_193939_resized_20171117_095759344.jpg
 

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I tried a lot , i planned and tested the idea on spare parts

I will provide some photos and if you need some help i can also help you personally BUT the responsibility for the outcome is yours :) don't blame a guy on the other side of the globe , ok ?
Think I'm going to blame you for inspiring me to follow through.
Thanks! From across the globe...
 
Just purchased this on Reverb from a guy "As is" but he didn't mention the stripped nut, so my bad.

Anyhoo, never tried fixing one so any help is appreciated. I not only want to enjoy the supposed goodness of these necks but also to tell the seller to suck eggs... with a smile.

I have a set of the Screw Out screw removal tools bot the OD of their shafts is larger than the ID of the truss rod access hole.

I may have to order a Stewmac "Gripper Truss rod Wrench" but I can't find the correct nut size for a 60's CV P Bass neck so I can try to fab my own Gripper or buy the appropriate size from SM.

Anyone know the correct hex size for a Chinese CV?

Any tips, tricks, kluges or otherwise is greatly appreciated from this August community.
The access hole is a LOT deeper than what I'm used to but this is my first "P" bass so... ?

Do the terrible pics I attached show what I'm describing? I don't have any frame of reference so I can't tell.

ANYTHING is appreciated,

Thanks!View attachment 2813049

StewMac's 4mm Gripper Truss Rod Wrench was the key to removing mine. Hope you finally figured that out!
 
^^^This^^^ Mine was rounded out just as bad...at least it looked so. Three hours farting around with other methods, nothing. Three minutes and $18.29 later it was out. Mine had the plastic sleeve, not the wooden plug. Stew-Mac tools are costly and not for everybody, but it worked for me.