Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys, just wondering what truss rods you guys use and why. And while we are on the subject do you add any neck stiffening material.

I'm pretty "old school" using LMI's compression rod and no alternative material in my dovetailed necks.

Stan T. in Oklahoma, supplied a double-acting truss rod for the OLF guitar so I got a peak at it before sending it on to John K in Georgia.

The only reason I use the compression rod is tradition, and I purchased a dozen when starting out.

Dickey38364.4062962963

StewMac Hot Rod - Double action. No neck stiffeners.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

StewMac Double...works great...both directions. Two carbon rods to make it stiff ( they like it that way).

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

I use a Martin style truss rod in all of my acoustics. No carbon fiber. I get
the rods from Saga, San Francisco. They are about 1/3 the price from
other vendors. I use Stew Mac's double action in my electric instruments.

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

I use LMI double acting truss rods. They seem to work well enough for me. Of course my knowledge of truss rods is not vast or complete. No stiffing material either.
Just an aside here ,Bruce, I was thinking about you last night as I pulled into the mall parking lot and there was a Jetta with Arkansas plates parked in front of me. (I am still amazed that I am sharing info and talking to people around the globe through this forum.)Up here in the 20 degrees below weather. The Artic winds they be blowing for sure. Would love to move south right about now. Oh well, its only for another two months.

I use a double-action rod, either from LMI or Allied. The old rods from Allied had some quality issues, but they've since corrected them and the rods are now very good. I also use to carbon fiber rods of 1/8" x 3/8". It makes for a very stiff neck, which is great for sound transmission.
Don W38365.5089930556

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

It's sixty-five degrees and threatening rain.

Don, if your neck is overly stiff (Back bowed) for more than 4 hrs, see a qualified Guitar repairman immediately

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Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I'm considering a truss rod change.

LOL !

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Help this thread was high-jacked!

I started out using the compression rod and liked it because it was simple and fairly light. But it seems people want the dual action so now I use the LMI/Allied design. I think it's the lightest of the adjustable that I've found. I've kinda wanted to check out the martin design though. I've tried adding the graphite stiffeners but found the neck very hard to adjust (too stiff) and it seemed to last way more than 4 hours. If I could find a more available source of different sizes I'd use them. I'm looking for 1/8"x1/4" if anyone has seen carbon fiber rods that size.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Use my name as a customer. Be sure and tell them you are a guitarmaker.
Saga Musical Instruments
PO Box 2841
San Francisco, CA 94480
(800) 742-1150

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

Thanks Sylvan

Stewmac's HotRod was the first rod I ever used, it worked great, and it still does. Used it on all my electrics, and I've got a good 6 lying here for future acoustics (and electrics). I've been adding 1/8" x 3/8" CF rods to all my necks since guitar number 3, pretty much. I like the added stiffness, and I find it makes them nicely stiff, not too stiff.

Bruce--thanks for this very timely question. "Truss rods" is a sore subject here at KBWest. Seems I've tried everything at least once: two-way, one-way, & no way (solid steel bar as well as that square aluminum tube). I don't really like any of them. The two-way makes the most sense to me, and I've been using the Stew-Mac hot rod of late. But it has its weaknesses. So...would someone kindly state which is the best rod--period? Put it persuasively, and I'll fall in line. Thanks, Steve.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

In 25 words or less.   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I use the double from LMI as my standard and two CF rods, they keep the neck stable and stiff. As part of my design I use the CF rods to support the tongue of the fingerboard to prevent any hump at the 14th.

It was needed when I did my first fanned fret because the customer wanted to be able to play all the way down to the 24th fret, after thinking it through I came up with this solution and have stuck with it.

Cheers

-Paul
Sprockett38364.7229166667

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

StewMac Hot rod Double - that's 4 words

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

I only use Martin style one way rods only.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I use the classical guitar equivalent of a truss rod, a laminated neck with an ebony strip between spanish cedar or mahogany ala Ramirez. I have used rosewood (several) and even lignum vitae once for the "reinforcement" strip but the lignum was too heavy.

For Archtops (I have only done three) I used the LMI/allied but would probably use the hotshot if I did a steel string. I have seen them and they look very functional.

Hi,
In my vast experience (one guitar so far) I've found the Stew-Mac Hot Rod to be easy to install. It was even easier to adjust after I figured out which way to turn the nut!
Skip

I use the stew-mac hot rods, but I am considering looking at other rods. The problem I am having with the hot rod is that the brass nut at the end has some play in it which can rattle. What I am finding is happening is the rods have play in the threaded ends where they thread into the brass nut. My customers have noticed a rattle when they knock on the guitar neck behind the nut. I have found that I can fix the problem with loc-tite but would rather not have to deal with this issue.
also Stew mac recommends that you use bath tub silicone around the hot rod when you install it, which I have done but I dont like using silicone for anything in my shop.
Matt

I've used LMI's single action rod and their double action rod. They seem to work OK. I just bought some Stewmac Hot Rods for my next two guitars. The hot rods seem to get the best reviews.

I have heard that they can rattle. Stewmac sells a router bit for cutting the channel that is an odd size (.225). Perhaps 1/4" is a too sloppy for the hot rod. I bought the bit figuring that a snug fit was better than a loose one.

As I said I have been using the LMI double action and when I install it I put just a dab (very little) of silicon calk in a couple spots in the bottom of the channel. It doesn't take much and no rattles. Also make sure you turn the truss rod one way of thed other whether it needs it or not just to take out any looseness. I prefer this rod the SM rod beacuse it doesn't seem as loose.John How38365.615787037

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.