Correcting Neck Up Bow

[Devon Headen]

Well, today I started doing set-up on my newest guitar to get it ready to play. I noticed I had some upbow (if that's the opposite of relief). Disappointing, but I have a double action rod, so no biggie. When I try to adjust the truss rod it just strips right out . That's not supposed to happen. I'm using a hot rod, so I'm guessing I did something wrong, but I did the same thing I do every other time. It didn't strip the threads, it stripped in the allen head part of the adjuster. Right now I've got it strung up pretty high hoping it will pull into a little relief, or at least straight. I was thinking I could get the allen head that's the right size, put a tiny dab of CA on it, stick it in until it sets, give it a turn, and flow some acetone down in the adjuster to get the wrench back out. I'm just worried about either 1) making a mess, or 2) getting the wrench stuck. I might even have to do the whole process twice, because there's probably at least .04" rise in the middle. Anybody have any suggestions that I'm too ticked off to see?

[doug]

Wow, bummer! Think on the positive side...with the allen wrench stuck in there you won't need to make a truss rod cover! :o)

Be sure to clean the socket with acetone really good and let it dry before trying anything. They have oil in there from the factory.

Use thick CA and either a pipett or toothpick to carefully drop it in. Mask the whole area first. You're gonna half to give it a day to set up though becasue of the gaps. It sounds like a reasonable idea though.

Now this suggestion is a bit on the "rough" side, but they make metal epoxy in these stick looking tubes. You've probably ingnored them at an auto parts store, because they usually have it on the counter with other stuff. You could get some of that and put it in the allen socket. Then use a new allen wrench (the good ones without the burr on the end) to create a new tighter socket. You can remove it once it begins to form. Apply some Dry Coat to the wrench first to keep it from sticking and pulling the plug out. This will give you a more perminent solution.

Hope that helps.

I know I've seen discussion about truss rods in the past. The poor socket on those Hot Rods is another reason I won't use them. Think twice on your next project.

-Doug

[erikbojerik]

How did the hex strip out? Was the rod that tough to turn?

The 6-neck on my doubleneck had this problem; I actually had someone push down in the middle of the neck while I adjusted the rod, no sweat.

[Devon Headen]

Yes, the rod was tough to turn, but not THAT tough. I'm still not sure how it happened, but I'm more than a little worried about using another Hot Rod. I was thinking about trying some of that machinable epoxy stuff, but It's going to be difficult to keep everything neat looking. It's a Fender style slabe head, so there's not going to be a cover to hide everything. It just ticks me off that I'm literally just a couple hours away from playing this thing, and I'm not going to be able to have a decent setup until I get this screwed up truss rod working. I've never heard of dry coat before, is that the name brand of a certain product? Usually I use wax to stop things from sticking, but that's not too good for tight tolerances. Thanks for the advice Doug.

[rocksolid]

in dan erlwine's book, "Fret Work Step by Step" he has a really stiff neck with up bow like that but the truss rod isnt enough to put it in proper relief

this is what he does to fix it, he has something like a two by four about the length of the fretboard, with two cauls on the ends of the board, which leave plenty of clearance between the rest of the two by four and the fretboard, then in the center of the neck he clamps up the weird two by four and the the bottom of the neck so the neck can be adjusted at the truss rod easier, forcing it into relief basically

hope this may be of some help and understandable the way i put it

[frank falbo]

Um, forgive me if you've thought of this already, but did you know that the Hot Rod allen head is NOT the same size as your metric Floyd Rose allen wrenches? Its the US size, same as Fender rods. A metric Floyd wrench will strip out in there. If you're not using a 1/8" wrench then get one before you start clamping the neck or pulling the rod.

[doug]

Dry Coat is used to lubricate saw blades, router bits, and machine surfaces like the top of your table saw. It has no silicone, so it doesn't effect the surfaces that touch it, like if you waxed your saw. There are several brands of this kind of woodworking tool lube. Dry Coat is one I just happen to use.

The other suggestions are also going to help. Forcing the relief will take some pressure off the truss rod nut which will assist with turning it. Just be careful.

I just took it for granted that you were using the correct allen wrench. However, be very careful about what kind you use. Some are made from weak metal, others have a burr on both ends that is bigger than the actual wrench. This could distort the socket right from the start. Others, especially imported wrenches may be a bit under size which is just plain bad. The point here is to make sure a good quality allen wrench is chosen.

For your next neck, you might try pre-stressing it with a slight forward bow. After pressing the frets in it will be perfectly flat even with the truss rod loose. Now you will be able to adjust as necessary without undo stress on the t-rod.

Hope this helps!

-Doug

[Devon Headen]

Frank: I used the correct sized allen wrench, but I suppose it is a possibility that it was a cheap import that was slightly undersized.

rocksolid: I'll probably try forcing it once I get some way to be able to adjust it. I'm going to give it a week or so to settle a little more. With the string tension on yesterday and last night, it's come down pretty substantially. Still there glaring at me, though. It'd be a shame to go through all the work of putting relief in, and then getting backbow after everything settles.

Doug: I'm sure I'll do some kind of preloading on my next neck, but I'd never had a problem before this neck. I had it dead flat before fretting. I changed the saw I was slotting with, so I'm thinking it's a couple thousandths smaller than the last, thus pushing the neck where I didn't want it.