Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Weird Truss Rod Nut Issue
- Thread starter JC87
- Start date
Difficult to make out the finer details but it appears whatever is visible would accept a narrow flathead screwdriver. I'd hold off until some of the Fender experts chime in.
Edit: is there anything at the butt-end of the neck?
Riis
Edit: is there anything at the butt-end of the neck?
Riis
Yep, Use a flat head and remove whatever that is and get a real Fender nut to put back in. Remember to relieve the tension before removing it by placing it on a flat surface and pushing down in the middle. ie; a kitchen table or a workbench.
Have you ever seen anything like that before?
To the OP: if you're able to remove the component in question, please post a pic. If resistant, leave it be and at least determine if it works.
Riis
If that is a split type locknut, it's not in original condition.
Doesn't look like enough space to get a socket on it.
Any way to get a super-macro photo with a bit more light in there?
Maybe a large Torx bit will get a good enough purchase on 6 points, but like was mentioned previously, sure need to relieve all pressure from the trussrod first.
A very small drop of penetrating oil applied with a needle tip an hour or so before trying may help, also.
Really hard to see what that is in there, tho, from the one photo.
Doesn't look like enough space to get a socket on it.
Any way to get a super-macro photo with a bit more light in there?
Maybe a large Torx bit will get a good enough purchase on 6 points, but like was mentioned previously, sure need to relieve all pressure from the trussrod first.
A very small drop of penetrating oil applied with a needle tip an hour or so before trying may help, also.
Really hard to see what that is in there, tho, from the one photo.
Sort of looks like those locknuts posted earlier, but with no flats on the outside. And the inside hex corners don't line up with the 6 outer slits...weird.
Looks like maybe a filler, glue or something over the outer hex flats.
Did you try a spiral grooved Easy-Out?
Looks like maybe a filler, glue or something over the outer hex flats.
Did you try a spiral grooved Easy-Out?
Watcha got right there is called a castellated nut. And a damaged one at that. It may take some doing to get it out. Worst case scenario, a saw blade on a dremel, at parallel to the neck/fretboard joint, saw right through the wood and cut a slot into the nut so you can remove it with a flat blade screwdriver. Before you install a new "proper" nut you'll have to repair the saw slot in the wood with a piece of veneer and glue. Not an easy job at best. First I'd try futzing about with various other tools to try to get a good enough purchase on that nut to loosen it off.
^That's a great idea. NOT.
My eyes say that is a stripped our Allen nut. Am I seeing things? I see a socket a with score marks in it from something like an easy out. I see a truss rod in the center that is corroded and frozen to the nut that the easy out chewed out. I see splits at the points of the old hex where it split when someone tried driving a larger Allen in after it was stripped to try and gain purchase to turn it out. Next the easy out was used and just chewed it out because it is split in six places and couldn't get a grip.
I could be wrong but not as wrong as slicing the neck in half! At some point you'll likely have to either get the board pulled to replace the rod or get a new neck.
My eyes say that is a stripped our Allen nut. Am I seeing things? I see a socket a with score marks in it from something like an easy out. I see a truss rod in the center that is corroded and frozen to the nut that the easy out chewed out. I see splits at the points of the old hex where it split when someone tried driving a larger Allen in after it was stripped to try and gain purchase to turn it out. Next the easy out was used and just chewed it out because it is split in six places and couldn't get a grip.
I could be wrong but not as wrong as slicing the neck in half! At some point you'll likely have to either get the board pulled to replace the rod or get a new neck.
The second pic appears markedly different from the original. Did pieces snap off during your attempts to remove it? As Walter points out, the component may be chewed beyond redemption. The only last-ditch thing I can think of would be:
*Zap it with some type of thread-buster.
*Heat it with soldering iron.
*Use a Dremel burr bit (mounted on a flex cable) and working from the inside-out, "trench" the existing slots I see at the 10 and 4:00 positions. Again, I'm working on the pretense the remnants will accept a FH screwdriver tip. I've done this before w/ 3mm truss rod nuts (stripped / dual acting).
Edit: after reviewing the pic for the umpteenth time, the nut (or whatever it is) appears to be sitting in some sort of well or receiver (shiny outer perimeter) which, in all likelihood, does not turn. OTOH, the score marks on top transcend both the nut and receiver. The point being that when introducing a tool of any type, make sure contact is focused on the nut itself and nothing else.
Riis
I may the kind that gives up too easily, but by the time I made it to the second pic, my replacement neck would be on its way to my house.
Geri O
Geri O
It appears that the end of the truss rod is somewhat mushroomed over then end of the nut (thingamabob). If this is correct, it seems that the first step should be to grind away the mushroomed portion of the TR. Then, I would try some of these:
great picture!
yeesh, that looks to me like no truss rod nut at all, no truss rod end either (sheared off flat at the "bottom of the well" there) and some sort of metal collar or sleeve around the whole thing.
bad news, i don't even know if the Invalid Link Removed thing will fix this since that collar or whatever is in the way.
we might be looking at a fretboard removal and truss rod replacement to have any hope here.
yeesh, that looks to me like no truss rod nut at all, no truss rod end either (sheared off flat at the "bottom of the well" there) and some sort of metal collar or sleeve around the whole thing.
bad news, i don't even know if the Invalid Link Removed thing will fix this since that collar or whatever is in the way.
we might be looking at a fretboard removal and truss rod replacement to have any hope here.
OR...
it also looks like the entire thing is the truss rod nut! i have a faint memory of some weird pre-american standard basses using a really big hex wrench size, like bigger than 3/16" or 5mm. i can just see 6 little ridges down the sides of the well, that may be what's left of the hex shape.
it also looks like the entire thing is the truss rod nut! i have a faint memory of some weird pre-american standard basses using a really big hex wrench size, like bigger than 3/16" or 5mm. i can just see 6 little ridges down the sides of the well, that may be what's left of the hex shape.
That was my guess some posts back. The splits could be caused by banging a larger Allen in to try and gain purchase on the stripped socket.
not the splits on the top edge there, i can see what looks like 6 faint grooves on the sidewall, a good 5 or 10 degrees counterclockwise from the splits.
