westhemann Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 the ones I've gotten have had flat steel bar stock on top, as opposed to a rounded rod. The great benefit of that is the distribution of pressure on the fretboard. With the Stewmac hotrods the top rod is round, so all of the pressure on the fretboard is hitting only one point on the arc, though I guess their covering helps a tiny little bit. I'm not saying any problems would occur from that, but by using a bar that comes in contact with far more surface area, your odds of having it crack the fretboard are lessened. Though I should add that if you are using a thick enough fretboard and are building your neck correctly you should have no worries one way or the other. well that is a good point and solid reasoning.i guess i just don't worry about that because my fretboards are always a full 1/4" thick but i will take that into consideration. i hate ordering from lmii though.those guys are so disgustingly slow...and they can't seem to follow simple,specific instructions. i ordered some fretboards from them,and specified when slooting to leave the leftover length at the top of the fretboard,not the bottom,so that i could make a shelf for a locking nut...i even called and talked to them personally twice,and they agreed. but when they came in,both boards had all the excess length at the bottom...causing me to have to shim my locking nuts with scrap wood like some sort of moron i am super pissed about that...especially since it took them 2 months to get them to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 God, that sucks Wes. I think I will check out Melvyn's books, I've heard good things. So, you have to buy a special router bit, what was it 7/32"?? That seems kinda dumb. I don't plan on being a professional luthier, or hobbyist really. Well, maybe hobbyist, but I just wanna build a few nice guitars then PLAY. Thanks for the help guys, I think I'll be in good shape either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 as for westheman's issue can't say it's been a problem for me. they have their "quirks" though. LMII is in california, and i'm in new york state. every order has taken them no more than 2 days to be shipped, and of course ups ground is 5 days to here. admittedly, i don't like buying from them overall, but i don't let that stand in the way if they have a "better" product. specifically i like that flat bar type rod because i don't like the idea of a single point of contact, the arc of the top rod, on the hotrod style. second negative with hot rod is the larger area under the nut (neck/headstock joint) that has to be milled out to accomodate the larger brass chunk. in my opinion, this area of the neck needs to have as much wood as possible to maintain structural integrity in the even your guitar falls over or some other even occurs that might otherwise break the headstock off. my opinion is unbiased as to the 2 companies themselves. my choice, is based on experience with both types of rod. it's all opinion here.... -Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 So, you have to buy a special router bit, what was it 7/32"?? i bought the bit from stewmac as well.it was worth the money imo,because it is a quality bit. with lmii there are a few other members here who have recived questionable service from them...i can't remember all of them but i remember guitarmaestro had the same problem as me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 I have never had a problem with Hot Rod Truss Rods that Stew Mac sells and also never had a problem with the LMI dual rod. The complaint about the depth of the slot isn't a issue if you address it ahead of time. The Hot Rod needs a 7/16" depth and the LMI a 3/8" (6/16"). So basically that's a 1/16" difference, so just know what kinda neck your wanting and use the appropriate one you need. I don't have a problem with using either one. I've been tempted to buy some from Allied Luthiere also since I've heard they was basically the same as the LMI ones, but not sure of the quality though. Also, I've been quite intrested in trying out some of the ones that Grizzly has started handling. Grizzly Truss Rods I plan on buying one soon to see how good they work. From the Catalog page 316, they use a 1/4" wide slot, but doesn't tell the depth. Would be interesting to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I measured the ones i use: 9mm vs hotrod 12mm. Measurements included the nut, which drops slightly below the block on both types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 What do you think about the Grizzly ones? They look real thin. I think I'm gonna call them for some more specs on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 no idea, grizzly is US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Frenzy, are you talking about theses: Grizzly rod #1 or these: Grizzly rod #2? The latter looks like a Gotoh model. I dont know the exact specs but they appear to have a rather wide channel, 3/8 or so if I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Frenzy, are you talking about theses: Grizzly rod #1 or these: Grizzly rod #2? The latter looks like a Gotoh model. I dont know the exact specs but they appear to have a rather wide channel, 3/8 or so if I remember. ← Jay5, I meant the one that's made for electric guitars, which you list as rod #1. I called them today since they don't tell the depth of slot you'd need to install these, but they didn't have an answer. I'm gonna end up buying one just to find out, but they look much smaller in size compared to the Hot Rod or LMI's, the only spec they give you is 1/4" wide slot. I'm planning on ordering some stuff from them soon, so I'll let you guys know when I get it in and get the digital calipers on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Well, I just got 2 LMI 2-way rods today in the mail. One had a small piece of metal on the threads that I had to break off in order for the nut to work. Looks like it was a tiny piece that landed there when they were welding it. Kind of annoying but it works fine now. I opted for these as they were only $12.25 and I plan on using carbon fiber rods as well so I didnt think the $21 double action rod was needed. Here are some pics; Truss pics I do have a question for you all. Since the one end has the piece of square bottom stock and the other is round on the bottom would you suggest a round bottom channel or a flat one? I am going to have to mill out a little bit more wood where the nut is as it sits slightly lower than the actual rod. I am also going to have to file the top of the square piece to be flush with the square length of bar. Both things that LMI states need to be done. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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