4080 Truss Rods Help Requested

[doctorwho]

My 4080 has a high second fret on the bass neck, so I have started working on fixing that. I have loosened the truss rod nuts (the right side one was WAY over-tightened by a previous owner or tech). I noticed that the aluminum space bar was a little offset (probably by the over-tightening), so I tried moving it (by careful prying with a screwdriver) towards the tuners end of the neck to straighten it. When I did that, both truss rods moved with it, as if they were not attached to the heel end. I stopped and pushed the bar back in (with the truss rods stuck on the bar).

Anybody have experience with 4080s that can shed some light on what's going on? The rods shouldn't be stuck to the bar, right?

Any input will be appreciated.

[jps]

If the rods are jammed up into the spacer bar I suppose they could move along these aren't the droids you're looking for with it when you moved it. The rods are not anchored at the heel end (that is normal for the hairpin rods).

[doctorwho]

Thanks, Jeff, that helps me to figure out how to continue.

[jps]

Thanks, Jeff, that helps me to figure out how to continue.

I'd love to get together with you and get this all working, but you live too far away. When you planning on coming out this way? Lots of cool things to do here.

[kennyhowes]

If the rods are jammed up into the spacer bar I suppose they could move along these aren't the droids you're looking for...

oh dear

[jps]

[doctorwho]

Finally, progress!

4080 with replaced truss rods

DSCN4194.jpg (217.09 KiB) Viewed 9941 times

There was a minor snafu: the thrust plate that came with the replacement rods from RickySounds was too wide to fit in the cavity, so I repurposed the original one (after a little clean up).

RickySounds on top, original on bottom

20250820_134949[1].jpg (91.19 KiB) Viewed 9941 times

I will call RickySounds and let them know. They may have inadvertently put the wrong plate on these (I got two of them while I was at it, and the other one also has the wider plate), as they sell one that is not intended for hairpin rods.

I'm working on cleaning and polishing it before I put the strings on.

[jps]

Too wide, or too tall? The thrust plate is aluminium (it came from the UK), right? One could file/sand it down to fit, I'd think.

[doctorwho]

Too wide, or too tall? The thrust plate is aluminium (it came from the UK), right? One could file/sand it down to fit, I'd think.

(1) Too wide, the two are the same height. I guess the dimension should be called "length" rather than "width". New and old differ in only one dimension (I've only examined three ... ).
(2) Yes, they are aluminum (American name for the element) and came from RickySounds in the UK.
(3) Yes, the replacement plate could be filed/sanded down. The differnce between new and old is small, about a millimeter. The trick would be to remove material equally from both sides, so that the holes for the rods stay on center to avoid inadvertently introducing a side torque into the adjustment equation.

[jps]

Too wide, or too tall? The thrust plate is aluminium (it came from the UK), right? One could file/sand it down to fit, I'd think.

(1) Too wide, the two are the same height. I guess the dimension should be called "length" rather than "width". New and old differ in only one dimension (I've only examined three ... ).
(2) Yes, they are aluminum (American name for the element) and came from RickySounds in the UK.
(3) Yes, the replacement plate could be filed/sanded down. The differnce between new and old is small, about a millimeter. The trick would be to remove material equally from both sides, so that the holes for the rods stay on center to avoid inadvertently introducing a side torque into the adjustment equation.

Doesn't sound all that difficult to do.