shinjiakari22 Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) Anyone have a tutorial on how to change out a broken truss rod in an acoustic? Its an Alvarez AJ60sc **Also, anyone know where I can purchase a new truss rod? Edited February 4, 2005 by shinjiakari22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 There's a tutorial at Frets.com. You can buy truss rods for acoustics from Stewmac and LMII. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) It depends on what kind of trussrod is installed, hard to say. It would be nice if it was the same kind of setup at frets.com but you can't be sure. I guess the sure way is to pop the fretboard and exchange with a similar trussrod. Heres how you can do the neckwork. http://www.dbeweb.com/guitar/ Edited February 4, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2005 All this applies to acoustic correct? What about the white plastic trim around the fret board, will that come up with the board? And also...will i need to recoat the edges with clear to make it look new again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Ok so I started the removal..Everything was goin fine (just a little bit of wood messed up under the begging of the board). But when i was using the Iron to heat the board i used a towel for the first part and all went well. In one of the tutorials it explained i didnt need the towel for dark fret boards. So I tried w/o the towel and now the white plastic trim on the board is melting...How can I replace this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 I'm surprised that no one else here has any input. I guess you will need to replace the binding if its badly melted, too much heat. Personally, I haven't had a lot of experience at messing around with bound necks so the only advice I can give you revolves around common sense. First, understand that too much heat can cause warping as well as melting. So don't go overboard with the heat. I would only apply heat as a last resort. At the first sign of melting you should stop what you are doing and let things cool down. The fretboard needs to be gently pried up with a very strong, thin blade. I would pry out the binding first, hopefully still intact, so you can get at the bottom edge of the fretboard. Gently insert your blade and apply a little bit of pressure. Keep working the blade in everywhere until things begin to loosen up. Work along all seams and slowly push the blade deeper and deeper as you move along. If you hear any splitting or cracking noise then stop and work at it from another angle. Once you have the board off you can assess what kind of repair or replacement is needed for the truss rod. If the binding is still intact you might be able to reuse it, otherwise you can order some of similar dimension from StewMac. The fret ends on bound necks will be notched, ie. the tangs notched out so they don't interfere with the binding while the top of the fret overhangs the binding to the edge of the board. You can either try to work around these sharp little fret ends or pull all the frets and reinstall them when the truss rod has been repaired/replaced. If you do have to pull them then lay them out or label them in order, don't mix them up. If you leave them in the fretboard be sure not to unseat them or knock them out. There is a chance that you might not find the right size replacement binding and wil have to resort to the next closest match. If that is the case then I would pull all the frets, glue/clamp the fretboard back onto the neck and glue/clamp the binding. Then shape the binding down to where it should be to match up with the surface of the fretboard and sides of the neck. Then reinstall the frets. If all of this sounds like a bit too much to handle then you shouldn't have undertaken the job in the first place. Sorry, but thats usually the way the chips lie. From there, you have to assess whether or not the guitar is worth the expense of letting a professional do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 the binding is melted pretty bad...but the fret board is comming up quite nicely, a lot better then planned. Where can I puchase new binding and how would i go about installing it. BTW, thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_trim.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Heres the truss rod, well the part that i think is borken. Notice the weld is snapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 (edited) I beleive this is te rod that fits. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Hot..._Truss_Rod.html Im fixin to go measure it now. Is there a tutorial anywhere on how to install binding? Edited February 7, 2005 by shinjiakari22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 (edited) I honestly don't know what to say. I guess you could call this a lesson at fretboard removal and replacement that did not have to be learned. Maybe the attempt to remove the truss rod thru the adjustment hole, as per the tutorial at frets.com, should have been made before following my advice of going thru the hassle of removing the fretboard, ruining your binding etc. Did you try that before taking my advice? Thats right, because your truss rod is the same type as in the tutorial, you might not have had to pop the fretboard after all! And I also apologize for not mentioning this and am feeling like a piece of dung at the moment. For anyone else reading this, its a lesson to be learned. If you have a busted truss rod, try to slide it out of the adjustment access first. If that doesn't work THEN pop the fretboard. The truss rod can easily be rewelded for next to nothing if you want to continue using it. And have another look at the stewmac url I posted for you for instructions on "How to install binding". Edited February 7, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 This wont be bad..I removed all the old binding. The new binding seems pretty simple. Yay And btw i doubt it would have come out the adjusment hole i had to pry that sucker out to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsherman2006 Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 I wish i could help you out with your problem....good luck on getting it working. I just wanted to say that that guitar is a beatiful instrument, i have one here and i've neglected all my other guitars to play it. Good luck on getting yours fully functional, just PLEASE be careful around that 12th fret inlay, messing that up would be terrible. Git 'R Done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoser Rob Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 I don't think binding necessarily fits perfectly anyway ... you'll probably have to use a scraper and do some finish touchup anyway. There's probably a lot of information on this at www.frets.com - that's the web source you should be looking at. However, you're not going to get a tutorial that explains every little detail. I hope it works ... take your time if you've never done this kind of stuff before and do as much research as you can. Find some books too. Many luthiers make a good part of their living fixing home repairs. For a replacement rod try www.lmii.com - they seem to have the best selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 I finally have the money to order a new truss rod and some binding...can anyone please tell me exactly which truss to put in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 (edited) should I go with this one? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Hot...Truss_Rods.html With this binding? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_trim...ing:_Cream.html Edited March 6, 2005 by shinjiakari22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted March 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 anyone? I'd like to order this soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 7, 2005 Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 (edited) Can't say yes or no to truss rod or binding you need. The easiest way is to make sure whatever you order has the closest dimensions the originals. The hotrod requires a 7/16" deep slot that is 7/32" wide. Is that a close match? Your main concern is that the brass blocks on each end of the hotrod fit nice and tight in the slot. Edited March 7, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinjiakari22 Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Ok so I had a cousin re-weld the truss rodd and I re-glued the fret board... Problem now, the first 3 frets and a couple other buzz like no tomorrow. What can I do about this? (im takin it to a luthier so he can redo the binding arond the fret board) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 (edited) Problem now, the first 3 frets and a couple other buzz like no tomorrow. What does a straight edge say when you lay it on top of those problem frets? Any gaps or rocking? And have you adjusted the truss rod for the proper relief? Check for loose frets and/or your fretboard might be a little warped from the heating when you removed it for the repair. Just to be on the safe side it would be a good idea to relevel and redress all the frets after your binding has been installed. Worst case scenario, yank all the frets, level the fretboard with a sanding block with the proper fretboard radius and then refret. Truss rod should be in relaxed state while working on fretboard/frets. Also, when you reglued your fretboard did you make sure both matching faces were reasonably flat (once again, straight edge is handy) and clean? Edited March 29, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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