whalehazard Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hey everybody, I'm working on a guitar for a friend right now. It's got an angled headstock and he doesn't want a truss rod cover. The headstock will be painted white. What's the cleanest way to cut the truss rod access and make it look nice? I'm using an LMI two way rod. Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 I would treat it like a fender headstock where you drill a hole out. Now, with an angled headstock, you will need a jig to keep it straight, but those are easy to make. Just drill a straight hole through a piece of scrap, cut the scrap at the same angle as your headstock (so that when your jig is on your headstock, the hole is right in line with your truss rod) and drill with a 12" long 1/4" bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Sack off the headstock adjustment option and adjust at the heel end instead . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Sack off the headstock adjustment option and adjust at the heel end instead . Now that's problably a better idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Just another one for consideration, that is all. If they worked, those Gotoh side adjusters would be an option also perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i know warmoth offers a side adjustment trussrod. if you could find one that could also be a option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I believe that is a pre-installed Gotoh device. Not 100% on this however, but either way it is the same idea. http://www.g-gotoh.com/international/?btp_product_category=others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 From what I have researched the side adjuster is bad mojo that break on a regular basis. I will try to cover doing truss rod access cut out on the next build as moving forward I am not going to use truss rod covers. It is relatively simple process it just depends on how you are assembling things. If you install the headplate before the fretboard you just need a really long bit to slide down the trussrod channel and drill the hole from behind. If like me you install the headplate later after the trussrod/fretboard is installed it is a bit more complicated but not impossible. Basically you mark the back of the headplate were the start of the trussrod nut would be. I then drill a small hole the size of the trussrod nut (3/16"). I put scotch tape over the trussrod and glue the plate on. Then after it is dry I use a dremel and a 3/16" rotary rasp to cut a clean allen access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I won't use a gotoh truss rod. I don't care what kind. As someone who has built a guitar in the past and used a gotoh rod, only to have the hex bolt on the end round off when I did the first ever setup on the guitar - I refuse to every use a **** truss rod again. I had to remove the fretboard, re route a new channel for a decent truss rod which was longer, reinstall fretboard and sand/repaint the whole guitar (was a neckthru) just cause of a cheap truss rod... Not going down that road again! Back on topic though, I'm also ears up for solutions on making a clean truss rod adjustment area. So far the best sounding is drilling the hole, which I can imagine is qwuite fiddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjiscooler Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I did this by hand with a round file and it came out pretty well, unfortunately you can see part of the trussrod under the nut. I think using a drill bt its the way to go to avoid that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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