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I ran into trouble last night with my first guitar (rosewood/sitka OLF SJ) and was hoping someone could help point me in the right direction. I glued up my fretboard to my rough carved neck with an LMI Double Action Welded Nut truss rod installed in the slot. Per LMI's instructions, the flat part of the rod was to bear right on to the underside of the fretboard. The fit was flush with the fretboard at the top and tight in the channel. As you might have guessed by now, when I pulled off the clamps a couple of hours later, the trussrod rattled. I tried tightening it up a bit, but it still rattles. Rather than plow ahead with a built in buzz, I heated up the fretboard and loosened the glue and got all of the parts disassembled.

The question is, now what? A more careful review of the LMI catalog suggests adding caulking to the channel to prevent rattling. Any suggestions on this? Should I also route the channel deeper and add a filler strip to the top? Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

-Peter O

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]
Peter I may be misunderstanding what you wrote/said but the flat part of the LMI truss rod should be up and exposed in the truss rod channel.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, and it is. Sorry to be unclear. With the fretboard off, the flat part of the trussrod is "up" in the slot and lies flush with the neck.

 

-PeterO

I just reviewed Mr. O'brien's DVD (wonderfully helpful, by the way), and he does not show adding any caulking. He does cover the entire back of the fretboard with glue, bonding the truss rod to the fretboard to some degree (not sure how strong that bond is or how robust it is over humidity and temperature cycles). Following someone's advice, I was carfeul not to get glue on the trussrod when I did the glue up. Could that be the source of my troubles?

 

-PeterO

Hi Peter,
If you don't use a filler strip on top of the rod, I would "strongly" suggest
that you place some caulking underneath the rod at both ends as well as
a couple spots in between. In my opinion, if you don't use caulk it is just
a matter of time before you get a truss rod rattle.

However, the ideal way is to use a filler strip that you glue to the top of
the flat bar. In fact, Allied Lutherie just update their website with new
instructions a couple months back. When you use a filler strip, you can
rap on the neck as hard as possible and never hear anything from the
truss rod. The filler strip acts to take up the slack in the rod, which is
impossible to achieve without it.   

Peter, if you haven't glue your headstock veneer on yet, you can still
easily do the filler strip method.

I use a dab of caulk about every two inches and have had no rattles so far.I think I might use a filler strip on the next guitar just for some added strength and stability. I hope you get your rattle quieted down Peter.
I put a 1/4" strip of masking tape on the rod before applying the glue.

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Hey ,I see it's only your 4th post Peter....Welcome to the OLF !

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Thanks, Dave, Simon and Hesh. I appreciate the help. I'll try a "belt and suspenders" approach with filler strip and caulk.

Thanks, too, for the welcome. I've been a long time lurky but recently jumped in with my first build. The depth of knowledge from the members of this forum is quite impressive ... perhaps only matched by your willingness to share it. I know I've avoided many pitfalls that would have caught me, if not for OLF. I've also tried things I would not have attempted without you.

Now its back out to the shop to glue up the fretboard then reroute the binding channels correctly this time ...

-PeterO

Peter-
Thanks for asking the question.
One of the things on todays shop list for me is to install some trussrods and glue fingerboards, and the answers you got will help me avoid some problems.
Cheers
John

I like the Shoe Goo because it is not silicone based.

Al