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Bass Truss Rod Q


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SO I bought a bum neck off the local shop who sold it to me under the pretense that it had a broken trussrod. It rattles pretty bad, so I went ahead with it. After glossing over the fingerboard removal tutorial, I removed the fret board. I dug out the trussrod to find that IT WASNT BROKEN, just a little rattley. I took the rod out of the bar and looked it over. Now I'm a little stumped. Aside from adding a piece of tape to reduce rattle, I don't know what I should do. Should I replace it or repair it?

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If its still in good shape ie. no threads stripped and adjustment key fits snugly, then you may as well reinstall. Regardless of the fact that its not broken you would have had to remove the fretboard anyway to deal with the rattling. I use a dab of latex caulking at each end.

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If its still in good shape ie. no threads stripped and adjustment key fits snugly, then you may as well reinstall. Regardless of the fact that its not broken you would have had to remove the fretboard anyway to deal with the rattling. I use a dab of latex caulking at each end.

What about gorilla glue or locktite?

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Are you looking thru your kitchen junk drawer? I don't put my faith in any product with the name "gorilla" in it, whether its the glue OR the snot. :D I heard it expands while curing, I wouldn't want to use it there. And loc-tite is for making sure nuts don't fall off bolts. You want the truss rod to turn. Just go buy a tube of latex painter's caulking, only costs a couple bucks. A little blob on each end, nest the truss rod in and wipe up the excess with a damp rag. Use the rest to seal up the windows on your house. :D Don't buy "silicone" caulking, it has a potentially damaging effect on lacquers. If you accidentally get it on bare wood you can't just wipe it off and forget about it. NOTHING will stick to it and it has to be sanded out.

Edited by Southpa
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I have never had to deal with a loose "rattling" truss rod yet, but everything I have read suggests that if the rod channel is a bit larger than the rod itself, wrap it in enough tape, or even plumbers thread tape, to make it fit snug in the channel. I would question (no offense to those who suggested it, particularly if you have done it and know it works) caulking because it is maleable and would simply give under the pressure of the rod and perhaps effect the efficiency of the rod. It won't rattle, but still may move in the channel requiring more adjustment to affect the same action. Once again, I have no direct experience with this issue, but everyone, including Melvyn Hiscock (if I am not mistaken, I don't have the book in front of me), says to wrap it to fit snug.

Peace...Rog

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this is just a single action rod. It slides into the bar and has a "mushroom" at one end and threads on the other. I shouldn't be able to move.

Just so we are all clear what yiou are talking about, is it a metal bar in a aluminium channel, like this:

truss rod

Yeah, I eyed that one in case I needed a visual comparison. Its almost exact.

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