Official Luthiers Forum!

The adjuster end of my 2 way rod broke off.
It's installed with a blob of silicone at each end.
anyone know if I can remove and replace without removing the fingerboard?
The neck joint is a bolt on so not bad to remove.

What make rod was it? And did you glue it in?

It's an allied rod.
It has a blob of silicone at the head and the heel of the neck

If it's not glued in,you might be able to pull it out from the heal side if you can grab it somehow.Also depends on how much tension is on it.Do you have it locked in to keep it from sliding into the soundhole or is there just silicone there? Also, did you put a spline on top of it?

What were the circumstances of the break? Were you leaning into it or did it break with just a light twist. I'm interested as I just started using the Allied rod. I wondered if the finer threads would allow more torque with less apparent force and increase the risk of breakage.

If there is something to grab onto at the heel end you might be able to rig up a sliding slap hammer to get a straight line pull. Maybe even try to drill and tap the allen socket on the rod and put a bolt in it to grab onto. As an Orthopaedist I've pulled a lot of intramedullary rods out of bones and we use a threaded slap hammer that is screwed into the end of the rod.
Terry

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

If the rod has tension on it, that will have to be addressed first.If you ca drill the threaded rod end and put an easyout to it to back the tension off the rod it will come out easier.If it won't drill you might be able to take a dremel cutoff wheel and slot the rod and back it off with a screwdriver.

Oh yeah, the adjuster broke off didn't it. Hmmm that complicates things. Mark had good ideas. Might still be able to drill and tap the end block of the rod to put something in to grab onto. Sounds like the fretboard might be coming off though.
Terry

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I haven't taken the neck off yet.The guitar is a commision and it was returned to me with a "what the He__!!!" "I was just adjusting the action" .

So I'm not really sure what he did, he says he didn't crank it hard. I've used several of allieds' rods and never had any problems.
Yes it does have a spline on top of it and I can't honestly remember if i glue the spline to the rod, I sure hope not, I do realize if I did that the fretboard must come off.

all of these repair ideas sound great, I'll know more when I take the neck off.
Thank you all for your quick responsess.

Peter is it a new style Allied rod (stainless, 2 different threads) or the older style Allied rod?

The reason that I am asking is the new style, designed by Mark Blanchard replaced the older style and I do remember reading some posts such as yours with the old style. Some folks here, like me......, who use the new style Allied rod would probably like to know which vintage of Allied rod this is.

Thanks.

First, you need to explain to your customers that action shouldn't be adjusted with
the truss rod. The rod os for adjusting neck relief and, even though action can be
slightly affected by truss rod adjustments, it should not be the primary adjustment
used to achieve the action a player is looking for.

It sounds like the customer was trying to avoid doing the proper things to adjust his
action which would be working the saddle and then possibly the nut to achieve what he
was looking for.

I use a very high quality rod assembly that I have made for me from the materials
and to the standards that I specify to the manufacturer and I've never had a rod fail
yet. I know that the rods sold by Allied are a good rod and shouldn't fail under
correct tension and use.

It's pretty easy to see whether a rod was turned too tight or not and I base the repair
on what I see when I get to inspect the guitar. I had a rod that was cranked pretty tight
by a tech who was local to the guitar's owner last year. Once he had really pulled the rod
tighter than any truss rod should ever be cranked, he was afraid to move it anymore and
told the owner that the rod was defective and that it had bound up.

Th owner contacted me telling me that his newish guitar had a bad truss rod in it and
that it was going to have to be replaced under the warranty. I explained that I would have
to see the guitar to determine whether or not it would be covered under the warranty
since I had no idea what the tech had done to it.

It ended up that the tech was trying to achieve what your customer was trying to...
lower action without doing the actual work that is necessary and correct to achieve it. Had
it ended up needing to be replaced by removing the fingerboard and then refinishing the
neck, it would have ended up being an expensive repair for the owner that he could have
asked the tech who had broken it to cover for him. I tell my customers to check with me
before they have work done on their guitars so that I can recommend a tech who actually
knows what they're doing to take it to. I then contact that tech and let him know exactly
what size the rod adjuster is and other pertinent things that have to do with the set up
and adjustment of the guitar. It's always worked out well.

It ended up that the guy was using the wrong or a worn out size hex wrench to try to adjust
it and had stripped out the adjustment nut on the rod. Once it was on my bench, it was a
matter of about three minutes and I had the old adjuster off and out, a new one on and
was giving the guitar a fresh set up to be sure that the action was just where the owner
wanted it.

This bumble had cost the owner over a hundred bucks and the tech tried to blame everyone
and everything but himself and his lack of skill and good tools for the trouble....not an
uncommon thing.

Your customer probably twisted the rod beyond its capabilities just because he doesn't
understand the limits and actual purpose of the rod.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

The rod is allieds old style.
I can't be certain that it is a faulty rod or that it was overtightened.
I do test the rods before I install them to see that they are working.
I may be able to tell when I take the neck off.
Yes Kevin, I'm sure this guy did not understand the intended purpose of the truss rod.