Fix my v68.

[sloop_john_b]

Hey John, glad it's back and fixed. Did Chris do the super glue fix? I though doing that was as good as new and string tension shouldn't matter? Paul W?

I'm pretty sure he just added washers to the E-A side rod for more clearance.

Were they the original rods?

They were.

[wints]

OK....

The first thing I thought when I saw this thread was string tension. As we all know, some necks simply handle it better, and some don't. Hopefully the TI's resolve this John.

[sloop_john_b]

Bump. I hadn't played my v68 much over the past month, and finally broke it out this week because I had a bass gig. The action had jumped quite a bit, so I decided to adjust the rods (assuming it was just due to the weather). This is what I found:



I'm no expert, but I know that doesn't look good. I couldn't even get the truss rod tool (a very small one at that) around the nut.

What now?

[ben_brown]

Hmmmmmm.....
That looks nasty!
Maybe the other end in getting sucked into the wood....

[rickenbrother]

John, I think your bass need to be modified to have a the same type of plate that is on the adjusting end, at the anchored end as Ted mentioned in another thread. I think that might help alot if it is possible.

[rickfan60]

I used bullet-shaped bits of maple dowel drilled out to allow the rod to pass through on the ones I have fixed. Unfortunately the anchorage of the rods is very small and depends entirely on the strength of the wood. The vast majority of them won't have problems but there are those like yours that compress too far. That is why I strongly advocate the technique used to set the old-style rods for the new style rods. I know this does not help you at this point but could be a caveat for those reading. Have you tried contacting Mark Arnquist? He is well acquainted with the problem and was a great resource to me when I did my first one.

[ben_brown]

What about instead of putting a hollow dowell in there, use a steel sleeve?

[rickfan60]

That is an interesting idea. I never thought of that. A short piece of steel tube might work.

[weemac]

Looking at the picture, My first thoughts would be that It has stripped the acorn nut at the other end, as it has let go in a fairly graphic way. Which would just alter the repair method...
Eden.

[aceonbass]

Looks to me like one of the rods has rotated 180 degrees in it's channel. Have you tried pulling and straightening them? If you're coming out to NAMM next week and can bring the bass, I'd be happy to see what I can do.

[sloop_john_b]

She's gotten worse. I summoned up the courage to take her out of the case today and the action was bad.

If you think you can fix it, i'd be keen to hear from you!

[antipodean]

That's Ooooooooogly! You could almost perform a hire wire act on those strings! Gotta get 'em rods out young man and see what's what!

[aceonbass]

John.......Here's an idea that's just simple enough that it might work. Pull the bass side rod out, take the acorn nut and washer off, then tap the threads further down the rod equal to how far the wood has compressed. Then slide the nut with the star washer back on, adding additional nuts, then the small star washer and acorn nut. Be carefull when tightening additional nuts as the increased torque allowed by the additional length could snap the rod. If the wood continues to compress, I know that Dale Fortune has a fix for this, but this method will cost almost nothing to try.

[rickenbrother]

JB, if all else fails, someday I'd like to take a try at fixing your 4003V68.

[T.A.R.]

I wonder if the Cyanide glues are too brittle, an epoxy (MAS or West)possibly thinned soaked into the surrounding wood, very precisely, so as to not bugger up the hole might be better. Gluing a dowel or a bung and redrilling, as stated earlier, would add the strength of the glue bond to the fix and you could choose the grain and to a degree the hardness of the wood.