Best Nut Driver For Truss Rod Adjustment

[cassius987]

This thread will likely be met with some opposition... as well as, I suspect, several responses in agreement. (We'll see I guess.)

For the third time now, I've offered to help a new Ric owner do a basic setup just to find out that they couldn't adjust the truss rods on their instrument. What, you ask, was wrong with the truss rods? Absolutely nothing. The players were all just unfortunate enough to buy the Excelite driver that everyone seems to ubiquitously recommend for Ric truss rods. I guess RIC was the original voice of support for this product and that meme spread through our camp like wildfire. Well, I'm pretty sick of these things. They are some of the thickest-walled drivers I've seen for sale; everything at my local ACE has narrower walls around the socket. As a result, a significant proportion of Ric instruments can't be adjusted by them.

While I'm sure the Excelite drivers have their benefits, such as apparently slipping in your hand before breaking a rod, most players never get into those extreme adjustment scenarios. For instance the player I helped tonight needed a 1/8 or 1/4 turn clockwise on one rod at most, and both were just past fingertight. That's a very common scenario and not one where you worry about breaking a truss rod.

We need to stop telling people to go buy these and expect it will work. There's got to be something better. Maybe even one very much like the Excelite but with a thinner socket wall. Maybe one of you knows what it is and could share that information, and we could start directing people to that product instead. As things stand right now I just don't see the Excelite as an appropriate recommendation as it has failed a lot of people simply because it won't fit in the truss rod cavity. Call that failure on a technicality, but it's still a failure, and people should not be expected to grind down the tool themselves even if it is a relatively simple task for some of us.

I welcome your dissent and other opinions... As well as feedback from those with similar leanings to myself.

joshua

p.s.: The instrument tonight was a 2013 4003, I did play it a bit on my gig since the player came to see me, and I was very impressed with the quality of it. Fit and finish were top notich. The new "D" profile neck felt better than I thought it would since I like the skinny "C" of my 2008 4003FL. Tone was nice and even, output a bit light on the G string side but nothing a minor setup (including truss rod tweaking) won't fix. So that's some positive news for sure.

[collin]

Really no big deal IMO.

I ordered one ages ago and when it arrived with its thick walls, I spent about a minute bummed out before taking it to a disc grinder and thinning the edges/rounding the tip.

Problem solved!

[deaconblues]

That's a rather dramatic title for a thread about nut drivers, no?

[Ashgray]

Not sure that a "policy change" is the right phrase but I do agree with Joshua on this - the only Rick TR adjustment tool I've ever been recommended to use is the Excelite one but unfortunately they fit only one of my four Ricks, due to lack of space available under the TRs to get them in to do the job. I could grind then edges down if I had a grinder or knew someone with one, but I don't, and in any event, why should I go through such hassle if these are the recommended ones? They SHOULD fit, and all that would need to be done by the manufacturer to ensure this would be to make the walls thinner.

I now need to shop around to shop around to find one that does fit, and I'd rather not cart a few basses around the hardware stores to do this. Buying one online on a "trail and error" (and likely wasted outlay) basis is not an option for me. Can anyone recommend any alternatives that they've used successfully?

Ash

[cjj]

Yeah, the thread title is a bit over the top, but it does get your attention...


I've never used the Excelite tool, mostly because I've got a LOT of tools around (I've even got a few sets of Excelite nut drivers, just not the long ones).

I have mentioned on this forum somewhere, I think, the tool I've found to work rather well, it's a Qualtool 732 1/4 inch hex driver handle. It has a compartment in the back to hold different screwdriver bits and such so it's more versatile than a plain nut driver too ( I can't remember if it came with any bits). So far it seems thin enough to fit every Rick bass I've tried it on. Admittedly, that's a fairly small sample set...

[cassius987]

Maybe I take this a little more seriously than the subject deserves but I do consider it a big deal when people are told, "Hey, Ric newb, go buy this tool" by multiple sources and it doesn't work, and this story repeats itself over and over. Telling people to go grind it down really doesn't seem like the right solution either.

Basically I'm frustrated on behalf of all the new Ric owners who experience this annoyance.

CJ, thanks for your recommendation!

I could grind then edges down if I had a grinder or knew someone with one, but I don't, and in any event, why should I go through such hassle if these are the recommended ones? They SHOULD fit, and all that would need to be done by the manufacturer to ensure this would be to make the walls thinner.

Exactly. If these aren't going to work for all Rics, they shouldn't be the ones we're suggesting people go buy. I feel especially bad when I see this because usually the person is "playing it safe" and talks about reading Ric forums because they really want to take care of their new instrument the right way, only to get misled into buying a tool that doesn't work for all Rics (and I'm only just thinking of new ones here, not your occasional messed up vintage truss rods of yore).

[admin]

I have changed the subject title to aid in searching.

[cassius987]

I have changed the subject title to aid in searching.

lol, okay. Probably a wise decision. Perhaps I could have titled it "We need to change what nut driver we recommend" instead of being so vague.

[teb]

I had the same problem. I thinned mine out with just a file in less time than it took to read this thread. Crude, but quite effective. It would be nice if there was a perfect tool for the job, but there are options if you can't find one.

[kiramdear]

You beat me to it, Todd. I was going to point out the virtues of a simple file.

[Ric5150]

The one I got from Stewart MacDonald seems to work OK.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Wrenc ... nches.html

[johnallg]

Josh, say what you will but mine fits all 6 basses and the Boutique is still selling them. I will not recommend it again.

"Trussrod Adjustment Tool. 1/4 inch. Works for all RIC models."

[iiipopes]

http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/WRENCH ... p_691.html

[cjj]

http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/WRENCH ... p_691.html

And... we're right back where we started.

Unless, of course, the ones from the RIC boutique are modified versions of the Xcelite nut driver.

I think where Joshua was going with this is that the Xcelite nut driver is often too big to fit and yet everyone always suggests buying it. I don't have one of these, either the one from RIC or a standard one (assuming there is any difference) so I can't comment on how well they fit.

So, does anyone know if the ones from RIC are just a stock Xcelite nut driver, or are they modified to make the end a smaller diameter?

Maybe we should have folks who have one (or any sort of driver they like) measure the outside diameter with calipers.

OK, I'll start. My Qualtool driver I mentioned above measures 0.3770 inches (9.58mm)...

[cassius987]

I had the same problem. I thinned mine out with just a file in less time than it took to read this thread. Crude, but quite effective. It would be nice if there was a perfect tool for the job, but there are options if you can't find one.

Hadn't considered a file, this is certainly not a bad idea and something accessible to more people than a powered grinder.

The one I got from Stewart MacDonald seems to work OK.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Wrenc ... nches.html

Those do look to have a much smaller outer diameter. Hopefully with the same benefit of not being so easy to over-torque like the Excelite part, but then maybe not. Then again with all these new Rics I work on for people the necks are nearly straight with the truss rods just beyond fingertight so I don't think there's likely to be much over-tightening in the future if this trend keeps up, except when a rod stops doing its job properly in conjunction with a bum neck. That instruments needs to go back to Santa Ana at that point anyway!

Josh, say what you will but mine fits all 6 basses and the Boutique is still selling them. I will not recommend it again.

"Trussrod Adjustment Tool. 1/4 inch. Works for all RIC models."

I'm in the same boat as you John, the tool has always worked for me (just barely in one case). But then guys come to my place or a gig for some help and sure enough...

I got word that RIC has gone to some greater lengths to make sure no one has trouble in the future so maybe things are fine.

I think where Joshua was going with this is that the Xcelite nut driver is often too big to fit and yet everyone always suggests buying it. I don't have one of these, either the one from RIC or a standard one (assuming there is any difference) so I can't comment on how well they fit.

So, does anyone know if the ones from RIC are just a stock Xcelite nut driver, or are they modified to make the end a smaller diameter?

Thanks CJ, you nailed it. Based on a private message I received, RIC does modify these drivers but has not always done so from year to year so it's hit or miss. I got the impression they would be ground down from now on. The sticky wicket with the case that inspired me to post is the player definitely got his tool from a RIC dealer, but not RIC, so that makes it even more confusing. I just assumed the dealer stocked the part from RIC but it was definitely unmodified.