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I've just pulled the fretboard on a guitar I'd like to repair and the truss rod doesn't seem to be quite right. This is a 12 fret guitar that has adjustment access through the soundhole. There's a 1 inch long nubbin at the headstock end of the truss rod channel that looks as though it were previously glued in place but is loose(and was loose upon inspection after fretboard removal) now. The truss rod seems to have too much movement in the channel and seems as though it's ripe for buzzing.

Does the truss rod need to be glued in place in the channel? Is there a specific length for this little nubbin thing? Any truss rod caveats I need to be carefully aware of before I glue this back together?

Thanks for your help.

Looks like the litle wooden dowel needs to be reglued. I would remove it and replace with another same size dowel and make abt 6 ,1/16in lengthwise grooves which will better adhere and glue to the walls of the slot. or you could use a rectangular plug (maple) or mahog.to fill the slot, an glue.

Do not glue the truss rod in place. It looks like a decent fit in the pic but if it feels loose you can shim it with a piece of paper along side of it in the channel.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

If the rod seems a little loose you could wrap it with plumbers teflon tape. This would also help keep it from being accidentally glued in when you reglue the fretboard.
Were the tuners originally intended to be vertically mounted or is that an unusual style horizontal shaft ? (just curious)

Thank you all for the good advice. Clay S., the guitar is a factory built 12 fret and the tuners are OEM, so most likely an unusual shaft design.

I lay a bead of clear bathroom caulking underneath the rod to prevent buzzing. Mind you, I use a square channel....

I would glue in a section of wood to fit the empty part of the slot, and plane it flush.
Then wrap the truss rod in teflon tape, insert in slot, and put a strip of masking tape (about 1/2") over the truss rod area before applying glue to the neck surface.
Remove the tape, locate the fretboard, clamp with caul,
I normally leave for 36/48 hrs to dry (water based glue).

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

That looks like it could be either an LMI or Allied rod. You have had good advice. One additional thing I would do is take it out and test the welds. There are good instructions on the Allied site as to how to do that. There have been some bad batches in the past, now corrected. I had defective welds in something like 5 or 6 out of an order of 10 a couple of years ago and one broke inside a brand new instrument.


http://www.alliedlutherie.com/truss_rods.htm

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