Truss Rod Frozen in Place

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ConeyIslandFrank
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Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by ConeyIslandFrank » Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:57 pm

I have a one year old MIM Classic Player Jazzmaster and am a little concerned with the fact that the truss rod screw can be turned counter clockwise to give the neck relief if needed, but has absolutely no play clockwise when trying to take out some neck relief. It's as if it left the factory with the truss rod not being centered, for lack of a better word or explanation. My intension was to add a touch of back bow into the neck after having it shimmed because it came from the factory with the bridge bottomed out on the guitar leaving me absolutely no room for adjustments. Has anyone come across this before? And if so, what is the fix for something like this? I'm beginning to loose my feelings for this guitar.
Thanks in advance,
frankie

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timtam
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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by timtam » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:31 pm

Truss rod adjust is at the heel on that CP neck right ? A common fix to get a little more tightening range on maxed out rods (to lessen relief) is to remove the adjust nut and insert a washer between it and the rod. But I would put the question to the gurus on the luthier/tech forum over at www.thegearpage.net who will have better advice on your best option.
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oid
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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by oid » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:55 pm

A washer will solve the truss rod issue, it is an issue of that style nut, there is no way to know how much the aid is going to compress and the threaded hole in the nut can only be so deep.

But it sounds like what you actually need is a shin in your neck pocket so you can raise that bridge up some.
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ConeyIslandFrank
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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by ConeyIslandFrank » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:11 am

I had already shimmed the neck to give me some adjustment at the bridge. The issue is that the neck has way to much relief. That's how I found there is no adjustment on the truss rod to take out some of the relief. I'm really surprised this guitar left the factory like this. $800 without a case isn't a cheap guitar.

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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by Con-Tiki! » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:31 am

i don't know how long you've had it, but i would send it back.
if you can't, the washer thing works, although it won't be easy to find something withe the correct i/d and o/d.
if you over-tighten it, and the threads are already bottomed, those nuts will split.

also, when i tighten a truss rod nut, i don't use the nut to change the flatness of the neck. Usually, I'll brace it, and bend it by hand, and then tighten the nut in small increment. Sounds more dramatic than it is...
Last edited by Con-Tiki! on Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by MKR » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:39 am

it happens with new guitars unfortunately. It happened to fender pawnshop bass VI that i bought new. I got a new neck out of it using the fender warranty. I also remember talking to the guitar tech at the store and he was saying that around the same time they were dealing with a similar issue on a Johnny Marr jag. I don't know why this stuff can happen on a new guitar, but i guess it can.

If you bought the guitar new and have a receipt then by all means take it back and get a new neck. (you'll keep your guitar in the meanwhile and when a new neck arrives the shop will swap it out for you).

Issues like this used to be covered under a lifetime warranty by fender, but recently they changed it to a 2 year warranty. For the warranty to be in effect you have to be the original owner and have the receipt / proof of purchase.

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ConeyIslandFrank
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Re: Truss Rod Frozen in Place

Post by ConeyIslandFrank » Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:19 am

Thank you MKR. I didn't even think that would be an option. I must look into that. Thanks again.

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