Last night I pulled the truss rod ...

allthumbs · Dec 9, 2007

For those of you who are wondering, NO, this isn't some maturbation euphemism.

I live in Western NY State (USA) and the closest reasonable guitar techs are about 100 miles (give or take) away. So, when a friend of mine and I were setting up my vintage 1986 Thumb 4NT (the white one that was on eBay recently), we noticed that the truss rod was very loose. Knowing that the older truss rods were removable, we grabbed some foreceps and whammo -- pulled it right out.

It was a unique experience. Once we understood the mechanics of the truss, we put it back in, tightened it back up (counter-clockwise), and voila -- perfect set-up.

Just wanted to share my experience. It was pretty cool.

Indianerdaniel · Dec 9, 2007

Wow... :shock: I simply wouldn't have the guts for that! :lol:
Glad to hear it went well though!

elpelotero · Dec 9, 2007

that's awesome! I'd love to do something like that.

aldog1330 · Dec 10, 2007

Awesome....wherebouts in western ny are you? I'm near Albany.

ThirdthumB · Dec 17, 2007

You sound like a dude who'd pull out his own tooth instead of going to a dentist to save some cash.......... :lol:

jay · Dec 17, 2007

Glas it worked out for you. I wouldn't have the nuts to do it either...

JUZ · Dec 18, 2007

and on a beautiful vintage thumb, those things are worth their weight in gold! must a been pretty interesting

allthumbs · Dec 20, 2007

Actually, it wasn't a big deal. Yes, I had second thoughts, andyes, I was nervous, but actually, it was a lot less scary than tweaking an old Fender neck -- you know, a vintage Jazz neck that needs just a little more tightening ... don't do too much ... oh shit I'm gonna snap it ... OK, whew, that was close .....

The Thumb truss just came out and went back in.

I was happy when I was done, though.