Official Luthiers Forum!

What on earth are people doing to break the head off the Hot Rods?? I use the ones with the 1/8" allen head and have never had a problem. I've never had a failure, never had one stick. I also disagree that the distribution of pressure on the Hot Rod is subtantitively different than the LMI or Allied rods. If you make your slot fit properly, Once enough tension is in the rod to move the neck, it isn't so localized. I have these custom made for me in different lengths for my baritone guitars and basses. I don't use a cover strip, I merely bed the rod in silicone to prevent rattling. If memory serves, this is the same rod that is used by Santa Cruz uses, but they use a different head on it.

I use both rods .
The Hotrod is now my choice for two reasons.
It actually weighs a few grams less and it never rattles .
After the first LMI rod rattle I covered it with gasket (automotive) material & this cured that .
Plus the Hotrod works perfectly -it also spreads it's area of adjustment(not just the middle of the neck) more than the LMI style rod.

But use whatever works for you .
I used to make my own but they ended up costing me more .

My 2 cents !
Mike

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Mike Collins

I can tell you that the problem is that the metal properties are changed with the silver solder process. Most of the times the soldering is fine , but the process must be exceeded every once in a while . This changes the temper of the metal , in all the cases that the head snapped , the metal was over heated and brittle.
The Martin 2 way rod is a much better design .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I'm thinking about giving this two way Martin truss rod a try. Are most of you gluing this rod in? Any need for a wood spline over the rod? I always put my adjuster nuts at the soundhole end. I know on some rods you have to put a spline in just to get the adjusting nut lower, so it will fit under your soundboard instead of level with.

Martin does glue in the rod with silicone but not to glue it , more to fill voids. I have used tite bond for that with good results , and to be 100% honest , I have glued them in and not glued them in . I will turn the rod to make it snug up so it won't rattle and cannot tell the difference.
I don't thing it really matters all that much.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Todd, thanks for the info. I'll give 'em a call.
John, do you have the 12 fret rod?

I just checked John's web site and only saw the 1-way Martin rod. John, do you have the 2-way rods too?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thats what i thought! At work we have installed probably 40 or so hot rods and i have never heard of one breaking. It sounds like there was maybe a bad batch of them, like John H. described? I switched to the lmii double action rod a while ago and like them better than the hot rods, and recently switched to the allied rod and like those best of all, but any of them will work just fine, and it sounds like people like the martin style rods also.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY