Official Luthiers Forum!

This is the one I had looked at recently, which had caused me to ask about welds:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190525479098

Are all these blue ones made by the same folks? There are many sellers so I don't know if folks on this thread are all discussing the same truss rod?

Here's a photo for the above truss rod. That weld is mighty small - looks more like a tack. Worse off - there is no weld at metal to metal contact. That's a weld blob jumping the gap, giving the impression that something is held together well. Anyone here with professional welding experience will have concern with this - kind of like a blob of Titebond that touches two piece of wood that don't join. There is this frustrating concept called, "sheer". Nonetheless, it would not pass my QC.



Truss rods seem to be a squirrelly subject. I'm now using mostly Martin double and Allied's rods (http://alliedlutherie.com/truss_rods.htm). The latter especially on electrics where my neck thickness at the first fret is very thin. Stew Mac's stuff was too thick for my application. There are other manufacturers. People seem to be concerned about breakage - shall we assume it occurs in the wild? Experience?

Here's a photo of the Allied rod welds:



Filippo