Loose Truss Rod

[deadmike]

as some of you may know, im a complete amatuer at guitar builing and repair. my knowledge doesnt extend past changing the strings really so...

i took one of my guitars (an epiphone gibson SG) to my friend who has a lot of experience with guitars/repairs/customising and the like.

its been bugging me for a long time that theres a buzzing on the bottom string and ive always raised the bridge to compensate. but recently i decided enough was enough, it was a cheap guitar and looks very good but id rather have it in tip top condition rather than make do with a quick fix. so i let him see it.

he looked it over and said everything looked fine, no frets out of place or any problems with the nut or saddles. so we checked the relief on the neck... and there was practally none.

i let him go ahead and muck about with the truss rod. silly i know. but i didnt care, ive got other guitars so i was wiling to take the chance.

we adjusted the truss rod.... nothing.... more .... nothing..... we left it over night.... nothing. (no more than a quarter turn in total)

then as i pulled out the allen key, i could of sworn the truss rod came out a little.... so i pushed it back in!

so it looks like the truss rod is sitting loose in the neck, he says its a drastic repair but im not prepared to fork out on a repair of biblical proportions for what is still a very playable guitar. yet i would like this fixed. hes raised some issues with the neck warping by not having a properly set truss rod and of course that demands attention.

he says its knackered, but ive done some reading and read similar situations where glue can be injected in to fix the problem.

possible? nonsense? expensive?

any advice is greatly appreciated as usual.

[Southpa]

So it looks like the truss rod either broke (ie. was broken before), has become unscrewed from the anchor block at the other end or the threads on the block and/or rod are stripped. I guess the only sure way to find out and fix it right is to pop the fretboard and have a look. Its not really a big deal so long as the board is removed intact and matching faces are cleaned up, glued and clamped properly when reassembling. Might have to do some fretwork afterwards, ie. levelling and recrowning. I'm not sure what a pro would charge and can't give you advice on whether or not the guitar is worth that expense. But for a do-it-yourself job its definitely worth the experience, .

[deadmike]

thats the thing... when i bought the guitar it played absolutely fine. then exactly one month later the buzzing started and has been that way ever since.

on no occasion did i bang it, knock it, leave it next to the radiator or drop it on the floor. so how it happened i dont know.

i just wish there was some way to determine its condition without the fretboard popping!

the truss rod bolt is still stiff, but dont know what that tells you, i cant see far enough down to tell if the whole thing is loose. theres also no rattle when i tap or shake it.

[Setch]

If the thing is broken, it'll come right out with a good firm tug from some pliers. If it doesn't ,stop worrying about it.

As for the neck warping - nonsense. Most of my guitars have the rods totally slackened off, you only need the rod tensioned if you're getting excessive relief, and as you stated, you have too little relief, not too much.

So far, all I see is you worrying about something you're not even sure of. "i could of sworn the truss rod came out a little." Did it or didn't it? Until you know, quit worrying.

[deadmike]

it must of come out because i was able to push it back in..

as long as it doesnt warp, if thats nonsense, then ive still got a very good looking playable guitar with (hopefully) some life left in it.

cheers guys.