Truss Rod Nut Snapped Off

[brcflip2001]

Hey Guys,

I've been working on a neck and I glued on the fretboard and shaped the neck. While I was shaping it I noticed that it had a back bow. I adjusted the truss rod figuring it would fix my problem. It's a hot rod truss rod from stewmac. Anyways, left it for a few minutes just snading the neck a bit more, check it again and it's barely moved (about 10 minutes later). Adjust it some more and the nut snaps off. I'm hoping that I'll wake up tomorrow morning and it'll be bent corrrectly haha. I'm kind of at a loss as to what I should do.

Thanks for any and all help!

Peace,

Blair

[Mattia]

Take the fingerboard off (iron, dry heat, thin blunt knife), level the neck, replace the rod, reglue the fingerboard (preferably with non-waterbased glue -> epoxy), level the board, fret.

And in future, I recommend bending the neck by hand and then adjusting the rod to prevent wear on the nut.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Mattia

[brcflip2001]

By leveling the neck to you mean just sanding it down? And could I used a heat gun instead of an iron or is that not hot enough to melt the glue?

Thanks!

Take the fingerboard off (iron, dry heat, thin blunt knife), level the neck, replace the rod, reglue the fingerboard (preferably with non-waterbased glue -> epoxy), level the board, fret.

And in future, I recommend bending the neck by hand and then adjusting the rod to prevent wear on the nut.

Edited July 18, 2008 by brcflip2001

[Mattia]

By level I mean get it flat by whatever means works best for you, so you don't end up with the bow you have now. Heat gun can work, but the heat's not quite as directed.

[Southpa]

I've been working on a neck and I glued on the fretboard and shaped the neck. While I was shaping it I noticed that it had a back bow. I adjusted the truss rod figuring it would fix my problem. It's a hot rod truss rod from stewmac. Anyways, left it for a few minutes just snading the neck a bit more, check it again and it's barely moved (about 10 minutes later). Adjust it some more and the nut snaps off. I'm hoping that I'll wake up tomorrow morning and it'll be bent corrrectly haha. I'm kind of at a loss as to what I should do.

Have you figured out WHY you have a backbow and WHY you broke your truss rod? Heres a golden opportunity to learn something, don't pass it by! Are the frets already installed? When you first decided to adjust the truss rod was the neck fully carved out?

As far as solutions go, its a no-brainer, Mattia says replace the truss rod / retrue the neck and I would like to add that you make sure it doesn't happen again. Backbow causes, in your case, could be fret slots are cut too narrow (if frets were installed), uneven clamping pressure when installing the fb, could be giving a bulge in the center. If your neck face and fb do not mate up closely then clamping pressure can force gaps together resulting in internal stress points. When you remove the clamps something is bound to settle.

And forcing a not-fully-carved neck with the truss rod is folly. If the backbow was slight you could have block sanded the fb flat again. If the frets are already installed then they could have been pulled and slots cut to the proper size. That kind of movement can be very noticeable when you start removing wood from the back of the neck. Another option could have been to "wait 'n see". Continue building the guitar and maybe when strung up the string tension, along with truss rod adjustment would force the neck to the proper relief.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Southpa

[Mattia]

Wait, hang on, read past that.

Do not adjust the neck until you're done carving. Heck, I pre-carve (to within a mm or two of final size before levelling the board surface and gluing the fingerboard precisely because wood will move a little after carving - even stable, aged, perfectly quartered, no runout, laminated wood.

[brcflip2001]

I had glued he fretbroard on and caed out the neck, but I had not installed the frets. I found out that the reason the truss rod wasn't doing anything is because i had installed it upside down (stupid mistake learned the hard way). So stewmac is actually sending me a new truss rod for free which is awesome. So hopefully I'll take off the fretboard soon and replace the truss rod!

Wait, hang on, read past that.

Do not adjust the neck until you're done carving. Heck, I pre-carve (to within a mm or two of final size before levelling the board surface and gluing the fingerboard precisely because wood will move a little after carving - even stable, aged, perfectly quartered, no runout, laminated wood.