# Busted Truss Rod



## wayne086 (Jan 22, 2010)

The unthinkable happened,broke a truss rod,on my 62 Reissue neck!!!!Loosened the nut,took it off, lubed the nut and thread,done this a dozen times over the years,put it back on tightened to straighten the neck then SNAP!!!!broke right at where the thread ends.Whats the best thing to replace the truss rod?Called one place,said he was going to cut a hole in the 1st fret.Is that good? First time for me for a snapped truss rod.Never thought I would be this upset,well the Strat neck is 19 years old,has had many differant bodys,like an old friend.So I need adviceon how to go forward to replacing the truss rod.


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## PTModIT (Oct 4, 2006)

Remove the fretboard.Get a iron and set it on the fretboard starting a the heel.It takes a while and don't try to rush it.Get something like a thin putty knife and started lifting the fretboard very carefully .If the glue has softened it will lift as you slide the putty knife along. If it's not moving it needs more heat.It could take 5 to 10 minutes in each spot the iron is set on the fretboard.The iron will cover about 4" at a time.Depending on the finish of the neck you might have to use a razor blade along the length of the fretboard where the fretboard meets the neck.


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

Stew- Mac sell a Rescue Kit #5680. It is a bit pricey but for a well loved neck it may be worth it.


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## Telenator II (Jul 20, 2009)

I did this one a couple years ago and thought I'd post just in case someone else could use it.

I bought a Precision Bass with a broken truss rod.

In the first photo, I routed a channel into the heel of the neck to release the end pin.









Then I pulled the rod out and re-attached it to the end pin by first peening the edges around the truss rod hole, and then brazing it in place.

In this photo, I have re-inserted the rod and made a hardwood filler piece.









The filler piece gets glued into place and trimmed.









It's not the prettiest repair, but it's solid as can be and the neck was saved.


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Truss Rod Rescue Kit

In this day and age, money can be tight so it's great to hear the different ways other people have solved their particular problem. Since I've never broken a truss rod, I would try to find out as much as I can before I make a decision on repairing one. Good luck and keep the ideas coming fellow forum users.


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## PTModIT (Oct 4, 2006)

If you read the last 3 words of his question it says replacing a truss rod .So I gave him one way to do it.There was nothing amateur about it.It's done all the time.Now he's going to think your way is the only way.I've done it and it was easy.There are also alot of videos on youtube on this topic.Amateur .....right.


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## John Watt (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm always into woodworking, but, Telenator 11, what does "peening" and "brazing" mean?
And is that oak? It might be ash. It looks like oak. 
I was just looking at an English Oak at the Niagara Horticultural Gardens last night, bike-hiking.
It's not the kind of tree you might expect.

Truss rods are like that. 
That's why I asked for a Martin truss rod, getting a lefty, '60-'64 Strat-style neck, custom built.
Ring Music, Toronto. They're like that too. George Ferlinetto, too.

and that is a pretty repair. Pretty tight too.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

wayne086 said:


> The unthinkable happened,broke a truss rod,on my 62 Reissue neck!!!!Loosened the nut,took it off, lubed the nut and thread,done this a dozen times over the years,put it back on tightened to straighten the neck then SNAP!!!!broke right at where the thread ends.Whats the best thing to replace the truss rod?Called one place,said he was going to cut a hole in the 1st fret.Is that good? First time for me for a snapped truss rod.Never thought I would be this upset,well the Strat neck is 19 years old,has had many differant bodys,like an old friend.So I need advice on how to go forward to replacing the truss rod.


So did the threaded portion snap off with the adjustment nut? If that's the case, the peened end should be fine, and you should be able to do the repair from the heel, similar to the Stew mac set up, and get a longer nut made up so it is still flush with the heel end.

Not a difficult repair at all, but you need the right tools.

I see where Jimmy is coming from. I have had some luthiers on various forums get upset with me for promoting home/hobby building and repairs. Mainly over on HCEG forum... some of you might be surprised how some so called professionals get pretty upset with me when I suggest someone with decent woodworking ability can actually do many guitar related tasks quite easily and well.

Similarly to the higher end & antique furniture world, repairs are often not hard to do but many with no knowledge of woodworking will gladly pay top dollar to those who do. 

But I see Jimmy's point without criticizing him... if you cant do work in a timely manner than dont take people's cash and promise delivery times that are not achievable. In my custom woodworkign business, I am often booked for several months ahead. Once I get to a certain point, I refuse to take orders and tell people to call me back in "x months". Promising work that takes 4X as long to get to just makes people angry.

Also, a lot of these repairs are not "voodoo" or some kind of crazy hard to understand science. When I need to do a repair on a fine piece of furniture, I carefully explain what has to be done to my customers whether they understand me or not. And I also explain why it costs what it does in terms of how many hours it will take me to do X my shop rate.

I can see how a guy who paid $400 for a guitar seems it odd that it might be as much to do a repair on, or a refret, etc. But maybe explain why it costs what it does, and they will be educated instead of insulted.

There are always two sides to every story... and whether you are the repair man, or the man wanting the repair (or woman) you tend to see things differently.

Also, I have seen some so called pro repairs done that were pretty bad. A friend of my mothers had her dad's old mid 40's Gibson acoustic tuned up at the 12th fret several years ago, and charged several hundred dollars. Shortly after, I was looking at it, and went to play it and noticed right away that the top was lifting off of the linings/sides in a large section. Rather than have her send it back to get another $400 or $500 worth of work, that should have been taken care of, I did the repair with some hide glue from Lee Valley, and at the same time glued a few top braces I also found were loose. And I am no pro... but I would have charged 1/4 of the repair cost in my shop even at $60/hr. Not to knock the 12th fret, but this was a real world example.

I also bought a strat once that was supposedly "pro refretted" at some well known west coast shop. WHat a hack job! I did better fret work when I was 15 and just starting to dabble in guitars... seriously.

Likewise, I am sure there are many places that do excellent work, and dont over charge, or take forever. You just have to find them 

AJC


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

John Watt said:


> "peening" and "brazing"


Peening is a metal working term. It is when you hit a piece of maleable metal to make it "mushroom", or lock it onto another part. Often the truss rod is peened onto a block or cylinder of metal to basically lock the two together. Riveting is peening... you peen the rivet so it cannot pull out of the backing washer or metal sheet it is going through.

Brazing is "one step up" from soldering. It can be thought of a high temperature soldering (not correct terminology but I am trying to explain this in easy to understand terms). Brazing is when you join two metals together with a binding metal (for instance, truss rods made from steel are often brazed to the end block which can be steel or brass) with either a brass/bronze based brazing rod or a silver bearing rod. You use a flux to clean the oxides off the metal, and when the applied heat gets the metals hot enough the brazing material is applied and flows around the joint like solder does. Only it is done at a much higher heat and is much stronger. The next step up from brazing would be mig welding, or tig welding.

AJC


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## John Watt (Aug 24, 2010)

ajcoholic! Hey! Thanks for the detailed explanations. I never heard the word peen before, and I'm hot with pop rivets.

I wouldn't worry about myself if I got a rough reception at HCEG, or any other forum or thread there.
It's a very predatory domain, and outsiders aren't completely welcome, especially if they're real musicians.


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