WTF: Truss rod horror show

Kelly

24 Steel Wheels of Shoegaze
I got a Steinberger synapse 4 string several months ago. The action has been unbearably high though and I went to adjust the truss rod and this is what I found.

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That is a...errrr...custom-slotted truss rod nut. Thankfully we have several junk guitars lying around and I was able to salvage a better nut from a DeArmond with a warped neck.

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And a comparison

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Proof that you should not attempt something if you don't have the right tool.

I have always wondered why stainless steel isn't used more often on truss-rod nuts......instead of Chinese junk pot metal.
 
I wonder how that thing got so mangled. The synapse line is fairly recent, like in the last decade or so, so how much could anyone possibly adjust a truss rod? I have several guitars that I have never even used the truss rod, including a few that go back to the late 1980's. :messedup: I really like the old plastic neck steinbergers as they don't even have a truss rod.
 
It's cheap steel in the nut and was abused with good steel wrenches by a dumb owner who repeatedly pushed the rod as far as it would go.
It's not steel. I'm pretty sure it's aluminum. :facepalm:

Also when trying to torque down the new nut I found out that the threads engage enough to work the screw but not tight enough to hold any pressure :mad:

I ended up putting the original nut back on, only after putting about 1/8" of rubber tubing on the end to space the nut out a bit more. It worked. If it's stupid, and it works, it isn't stupid.
 
It's not steel. I'm pretty sure it's aluminum. :facepalm:

I assumed that was the case but I wanted to give Steinberger some credit. Using aluminum for fasteners is such a shitty way to cut a corner. And shitty engineers just keep doing it.
 
I assumed that was the case but I wanted to give Steinberger some credit. Using aluminum for fasteners is such a shitty way to cut a corner. And shitty engineers just keep doing it.
It doesn't even make economic sense. Aluminum is more expensive than steel.
 
It doesn't even make economic sense. Aluminum is more expensive than steel.

Just thinking about that makes my head hurt. Are they doing it just to get the look of stainless but do it cheaply for a part most people only look at once a year?
 
I wonder how that thing got so mangled. The synapse line is fairly recent, like in the last decade or so, so how much could anyone possibly adjust a truss rod? I have several guitars that I have never even used the truss rod, including a few that go back to the late 1980's. :messedup: I really like the old plastic neck steinbergers as they don't even have a truss rod.
I’ve played for a long long time (not well). I did my first truss rod adjustment last weekend. It’s the first time I’ve ever had the need.
 
theres no "you folks"... there's just me. i am "suddenly bumping this" because im currently in the middle of the repair/modification described in the 2 videos... and like the any responsible artist in common community, i see it as a responsibility of mine to share any knowledge that others could benefit from.

thanks.
david
 
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