Off Center Truss Rod

[Rocket]

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

It almost looks like they've aligned the channel along the bass side of the neck but that would be about 5 mm off... Anyhow, as the channel is at an angle fixing it would require filling the entire length with a slice of veneer at least as thick as the offset is and then realigning and rerouting the channel. Not too much of an effort if you have the tools, jigs  and materials at hand. Trying to fix that with individual small pieces is not worth the hassle and it can even make things worse.

Then again, you never know about wood. What if the wood is stiffer by nature on one half? In that case an offset might be a valid option, Or, if you carve the neck asymmetric? Wouldn't that change the behaviour of the truss rod as well? Plus the thickness of the strings... There's already many unknown variables so adding one more may not make any difference.

So it's doable, actually getting the fretboard off may have been the hardest part of the process. But would you have noticed that had you left the original fretboard on is another question.

This is a Chinese $40 neck, FYI. What I discovered is that the frets were not spaced to 25.5" as their specifications stated. They were spaced at a longer scale, and wouldn't have worked for the body I want to attach it to. They gave me a partial refund and because I've replaced fretboards before I thought what the hey. I also discovered once the fretboard was off the truss rod sat much too deep in the channel. It was not flush. So to adjust it I would've really had to crank on it (had the frets been spaced correctly).

So in all I'm almost glad the frets were improperly spaced so I could solve these problems. Although rerouting the channel after filling it would be a hassle for me as I don't have the right tools for that. Meaning a router. I could do it with a combination of a Dremel and chisels. That's How I did one other neck. It looked like hell but it works. But like you say, who knows? It might be okay.  

Edited November 25, 2021 by Rocket
Missing a word.

[Bizman62]

With my mediocre skills with hand tools I wouldn't try to fix that. Carving a new channel sounds easy enough but making the inside of the current channel match the patch i.e. preparing both the side and bottom of the groove for gluing a planed piece is something I wouldn't do freehand. That said, there's people who make better looking cavities with a drill and a chisel than I can do with a template and a router. As you said your other neck looked like hell so I guess our hand tool skills are alike.

[ScottR]

I wouldn't mess with that channel at all. Odds are good that it never becomes an issue. If it does you are only out the $40 minus the partial refund. Buying another would be less hassle and trying to fix it without the proper tools isn't really worth it.

On the other hand, the experience gained from trying to fix it could be well worth the $40, if you plan on making more, and you are only out another $40 if it doesn't work out.

SR

[Rocket]

1 hour ago, ScottR said:

I wouldn't mess with that channel at all. Odds are good that it never becomes an issue. If it does you are only out the $40 minus the partial refund. Buying another would be less hassle and trying to fix it without the proper tools isn't really worth it.

On the other hand, the experience gained from trying to fix it could be well worth the $40, if you plan on making more, and you are only out another $40 if it doesn't work out.

SR

I have to agree. I've thought about it and decided to leave it. I found some graphite rods from an older project and am going to put those on either side of the truss. Hopefully they will reduce the amount I have  to adjust the truss rod.