Mr. Hall,
I bought a 1958 Combo 400 guitar and have found the truss rod cannot be adjusted. At least it can't be adjusted by me. The adjusting nut apparently has "frozen" onto the threads of the rod and attempting to move the nut only succeeds in flexing and bending the rod rather than applying pressure to the neck, in other words, the nut doesn't turn.
Can the Factory repair this or install and new truss rod? If so, what might it cost and how long might it take?
I have some high res pix of the nut but didn't want to fill your inbox with them until i have your OK to send them. You probably don't need them to understand the problem.
I appreciate any info or suggestions you can give me.
Thanks much!
m.
Mr. Hall
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jingle_jangle
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This is a bit whack, but it does work:
At your local hobby store, pick up a small spray bottle of something called "Zip Kicker". It's a super-glue accelerant. That's not what you're gonna do with it, however, because it's also pure liquid ether and the best penetrant around.
Spray a bit into a bottle that has an eye-dropper. Add a few drops of WD40 to the ether. Shake it up and using the eyedropper, place a couple of drops of this stuff onto the offending area, meaning around the area where the hexnut contacts the rod. This should be done several times. Now, with a good six-point socket attached to an extension bar which is in turn attached to a 1/4" breaker bar, just wiggle it back and forth and keep trying to break the nut a tiny bit. Once you've got it to budge a bit, apply more of the penetrant over a period of a few days, moving the nut a bit more each time. Just don't soak the wood too much, although this stuff evaporates from exposed surfaces very rapidly.
At your local hobby store, pick up a small spray bottle of something called "Zip Kicker". It's a super-glue accelerant. That's not what you're gonna do with it, however, because it's also pure liquid ether and the best penetrant around.
Spray a bit into a bottle that has an eye-dropper. Add a few drops of WD40 to the ether. Shake it up and using the eyedropper, place a couple of drops of this stuff onto the offending area, meaning around the area where the hexnut contacts the rod. This should be done several times. Now, with a good six-point socket attached to an extension bar which is in turn attached to a 1/4" breaker bar, just wiggle it back and forth and keep trying to break the nut a tiny bit. Once you've got it to budge a bit, apply more of the penetrant over a period of a few days, moving the nut a bit more each time. Just don't soak the wood too much, although this stuff evaporates from exposed surfaces very rapidly.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
― Kurt Vonnegut
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bmi_guy
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jingle_jangle
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jingle_jangle
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OK, Chris and Michael. (And, Mike, I thought I had mentioned it somewhere in an e-mail once...) It takes some words to kind of set it up...
This is an abbreviated version of events, BTW.
I trained in college as an Industrial Designer. I worked as a designer in the early '70s, and I designed power tools, boats, stereo equipment, bathtubs, medical devices, etc.
But I hated sitting at a desk. I wanted to DO stuff.
So I took an apprecticeship at a very high-quality precision appearance model and prototype shop, learning how to build, by hand, working and non-working prototypes that looked and sometimes acted, just like the real items. In most cases, however, the real items hadn't been built yet, and a prototype of a $200.00 stereo component might cost $10,000 to handbuild (early 70s cash).
In the mid 1970s, I set up a company to manufacture some cars that I had designed while in high school. I built 47 of them, lost a lot of $$$, then went into toy design, working as a designer for Playskool. I moved to California from Chicago in '79, and immediately got lucky--I sold several toy designs to different companies and one of them (Wrist Racers) hit big in '81. It became a Top Ten Toy worldwide in '83 and gave me enough money to retire, which I didn't.
Kept up my toy design company for quite awhile and eventually became a contractor for Mattel, largely involved with Hot Wheels and Max Steel. I also worked for most of the car manufacturers' advanced concept studios in Southern California, doing a bit of design but mostly handbuilding show car prototypes. I also taught Toy Design at the Otis College in LA for 2 years.
Started a company to market Mazda Miata accessories which I designed, which fizzled in the wake of 9-11.
In the process of working as a consultant to Mazda R&D, I met the legendary Tom Matano, the man who designed the Miata and a lot of other beautiful cars. We became professional cohorts and friends.
In 2002 I moved to Brazil and started a product and car design studio there. When things got too slow for my taste, serendipity stepped in again and Tom, who had retired from Mazda and taken over the Industrial Design Department at a large University in San Francisco, offered me a position teaching and managing the 3D program within the department, where I have been the last couple of years.
So now I teach design students the basics of how to "think design" and then how to build what they think so they can show their ideas in 3D. The biggest fun is managing and instructing the Transportation Design students in making and painting their 1/5 scale clay models. My shop at the University is very big and well-equipped, and in the last two years I've taken it to pretty much the state of the art. And, of course, I use it to build and modify guitars in the little spare time I've had. I also do some fereelance design and prototype work.
Now I'm in the process of taking all the modelmaking classes into an online format--the first time it's ever been done anywhere, to our knowledge. Should be interesting to see when completed (2007 or '08).
So, I've been handbuilding one-offs for about 35 years, mostly in my own studios, mostly under the gun of tight deadlines. So I just can't keep my fingers from typing whenever I see a problem that I have a solution for.
And, yes, my reputation is "Ask Paul the time and he'll tell you how to build a clock." I can't help it--I like sharing my experience and methods with others. It's why I teach and a large part of why I post on this Forum. The other part is what I'd call kinship.
This is an abbreviated version of events, BTW.
I trained in college as an Industrial Designer. I worked as a designer in the early '70s, and I designed power tools, boats, stereo equipment, bathtubs, medical devices, etc.
But I hated sitting at a desk. I wanted to DO stuff.
So I took an apprecticeship at a very high-quality precision appearance model and prototype shop, learning how to build, by hand, working and non-working prototypes that looked and sometimes acted, just like the real items. In most cases, however, the real items hadn't been built yet, and a prototype of a $200.00 stereo component might cost $10,000 to handbuild (early 70s cash).
In the mid 1970s, I set up a company to manufacture some cars that I had designed while in high school. I built 47 of them, lost a lot of $$$, then went into toy design, working as a designer for Playskool. I moved to California from Chicago in '79, and immediately got lucky--I sold several toy designs to different companies and one of them (Wrist Racers) hit big in '81. It became a Top Ten Toy worldwide in '83 and gave me enough money to retire, which I didn't.
Kept up my toy design company for quite awhile and eventually became a contractor for Mattel, largely involved with Hot Wheels and Max Steel. I also worked for most of the car manufacturers' advanced concept studios in Southern California, doing a bit of design but mostly handbuilding show car prototypes. I also taught Toy Design at the Otis College in LA for 2 years.
Started a company to market Mazda Miata accessories which I designed, which fizzled in the wake of 9-11.
In the process of working as a consultant to Mazda R&D, I met the legendary Tom Matano, the man who designed the Miata and a lot of other beautiful cars. We became professional cohorts and friends.
In 2002 I moved to Brazil and started a product and car design studio there. When things got too slow for my taste, serendipity stepped in again and Tom, who had retired from Mazda and taken over the Industrial Design Department at a large University in San Francisco, offered me a position teaching and managing the 3D program within the department, where I have been the last couple of years.
So now I teach design students the basics of how to "think design" and then how to build what they think so they can show their ideas in 3D. The biggest fun is managing and instructing the Transportation Design students in making and painting their 1/5 scale clay models. My shop at the University is very big and well-equipped, and in the last two years I've taken it to pretty much the state of the art. And, of course, I use it to build and modify guitars in the little spare time I've had. I also do some fereelance design and prototype work.
Now I'm in the process of taking all the modelmaking classes into an online format--the first time it's ever been done anywhere, to our knowledge. Should be interesting to see when completed (2007 or '08).
So, I've been handbuilding one-offs for about 35 years, mostly in my own studios, mostly under the gun of tight deadlines. So I just can't keep my fingers from typing whenever I see a problem that I have a solution for.
And, yes, my reputation is "Ask Paul the time and he'll tell you how to build a clock." I can't help it--I like sharing my experience and methods with others. It's why I teach and a large part of why I post on this Forum. The other part is what I'd call kinship.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
― Kurt Vonnegut
thanks for your input, Paul.
Mr. H instructed me to push the rod out from the body cavity end. Repairing it might necessitate cutting off the offending part of the rod, refitting a new bolt and putting it back into the guitar. Very simple solution and Thanks Mr. Hall!
I'll give it a shot 'cause i'd like to go to 11s on this guitar.
And thanks to John Williams for the nice deal and helpful support, too.
Mr. H instructed me to push the rod out from the body cavity end. Repairing it might necessitate cutting off the offending part of the rod, refitting a new bolt and putting it back into the guitar. Very simple solution and Thanks Mr. Hall!
I'll give it a shot 'cause i'd like to go to 11s on this guitar.
And thanks to John Williams for the nice deal and helpful support, too.
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bmi_guy