Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi

On a new build Does anyone do anything to the truss rod and/or put anything in the channel to pre stop any future buzz or rattle when completed/strung

My truss is going in soon ..so just checkin

Cheers

I make sure it's snug on a left to right basis.

Then I lay a bead of silicone calking in the channel.

Yep, I use a few dabs of RTV in the channel.
A rattling rod will drive you nuts.

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I use a dab of latex caulk. I worry about silicone contaminating the glue surface if I was to get careless.

I wrap mine with teflon plumber's tape, overlapping each wrap by about half the width of the tape as I move along the rod. I glue in a spline on top of the rod. I use one-way compression rods (which a lot of people don't use) and I scrape a curve into the bottom of the channel.

You only need to worry about rattle if you've got rattle. Of course, if you've got rattle, then it's too late unless you're prepared to tear the neck apart. So....yes...we all worry about rattle and we try to obviate it as we build our necks. But I realize this last little bit doesn't really answer your question. I added this part for the benefit of those who have never built a neck, but who are reading along with us and contemplating this wonderful task.

Here's another one for a few dabs of caulking in the channel.

I've only had one guitar with a rattle, and I hated it. The guy that bought it could care less.
You can pump rubber cement down the channel with a syringe...

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I used cauk at first, then based on something someone posted a long time ago wax from a toilet bowl seating ring. Now I just glue a spline pushing on the rod a bit during the clamp up based on Mark Blanchard's recommendations. Also make sure each end fits snugly in the canal.

It's actually pretty easy to fix a rattle by drilling two holes through fret slots around 2 and 10 areas to the rod and injecting diluted rubber cement with a hypodermic needle with the bevel cut off.

If it's a double tenon bolt on neck you can take the neck off and snake a long 18G spinal needle around the end of the rod into the cavity and inject.

I have done this three times on some early guitars that had neither shim or cauk and it worked great.
Thanks Frank Ford.

Whoops, David beat me too it on the rubber cement. Yup it works great

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