nearly out of truss rods

[old_picker]

what is everyone using?
what's available locally?

[rocket]

I use LMI rods.

[kiwigeo]

Got some LMI rods on the shelf if you need one urgently.

[Nick]

Double acting I have a mixture of Stewmac's and Allied. Single acting I either make one or have a few of the Martin style (with the Aluminium channel surround) I get from LMI or Stewmac (depends on who's got the best price). ALS has them locally in both configurations, as does Gerard Gilet's luthier supplies shop if you are in a hurry.

[old_picker]

just got a two way in from guitaraust. similar to other two way rods in design with a handy little twist
it is enclosed in a sheath of plastic and the adjusting head is inside a chromed metal tube -
the attraction is that the mechanism is protected from the incursion of glue - downside is you cant see the mechanism

very neatly done and turns true unlike some i have had here from well respected makers

[demonx]

just got a two way in from guitaraust. similar to other two way rods in design with a handy little twist
it is enclosed in a sheath of plastic and the adjusting head is inside a chromed metal tube -
the attraction is that the mechanism is protected from the incursion of glue - downside is you cant see the mechanism

very neatly done and turns true unlike some i have had here from well respected makers

If they're the ones I'm thinking they are, they're one of the cheapest and nastiest truss rods on the market. About a centimetre wide give or take and nearly as deep? First of all, that much timber removal in the neck is something that i'd like to avoid, which is one reason the welded LMI or Allied rods are good.

Another thing wrong with your El cheapo bar type and the Gotoh rods are, they use cheap nasty bolts on the end that will strip like custard and then you won't have a usable truss rod in the guitar. When I was going through a "truss rod discovery" phase years ago I bought about ten of the rods you have. Used about three of them and gave the rest away. I bought every type of rod I could get my hands on and I now stick to the Allied/LMI style.

[old_picker]

If they're the ones I'm thinking they are, they're one of the cheapest and nastiest truss rods on the market. About a centimetre wide give or take and nearly as deep? First of all, that much timber removal in the neck is something that i'd like to avoid, which is one reason the welded LMI or Allied rods are good.

Another thing wrong with your El cheapo bar type and the Gotoh rods are, they use cheap nasty bolts on the end that will strip like custard and then you won't have a usable truss rod in the guitar. When I was going through a "truss rod discovery" phase years ago I bought about ten of the rods you have. Used about three of them and gave the rest away. I bought every type of rod I could get my hands on and I now stick to the Allied/LMI style.

these are 6.35mm wide and 9ish deep. see pics below.

i also have some allparts doubles that look reasonable. nice low profile and turn smoothly.




apologies for the long winded post

i have one left from a batch of 10 I imported from A?????????? 3 years ago. Everybody raved about these and I saw threads about group buys and how really good they were etc. Apparently these rods were the best thing since sliced bread with their new thread design so i ordered some. They still seem to be well regarded.

I never mentioned the problems I had with them on the interwebz at the time as they sent replacements for the first batch. Out of a total of 10 (including the replacement units] only 3 ended up in necks. The rest ended up in the bin mainly due to the blocks being out of line and the associated binding this caused. Some also had the turning head welded on way out of line which is not a good look when turning it. I had two left and thought they were good uns. So this week i pulled them out and tested them as prospects for my current project. The result was that one was so badly off line that the top rod was nearly 6 mm off line at the centre of the assembly and the back block popped off when i wound it out. I have grave misgivings about using the one that is left. I am a bit shy about buying from there again.

i resent having to pay exhange rate and exorbitant freight charges from the US especially when there is so much guitar hardware available in Australia these days.

[demonx]

i have one left from a batch of 10 I imported from A?????????? 3 years ago. Everybody raved about these and I saw threads about group buys and how really good they were etc. Apparently these rods were the best thing since sliced bread with their new thread design so i ordered some. They still seem to be well regarded.

I never mentioned the problems I had with them on the interwebz at the time as they sent replacements for the first batch. Out of a total of 10 (including the replacement units] only 3 ended up in necks. The rest ended up in the bin mainly due to the blocks being out of line and the associated binding this caused. Some also had the turning head welded on way out of line which is not a good look when turning it. I had two left and thought they were good uns. So this week i pulled them out and tested them as prospects for my current project. The result was that one was so badly off line that the top rod was nearly 6 mm off line at the centre of the assembly and the back block popped off when i wound it out. I have grave misgivings about using the one that is left. I am a bit shy about buying from there again.

i resent having to pay exhange rate and exorbitant freight charges from the US especially when there is so much guitar hardware available in Australia these days.

Well, from the 100+ that I have bought from there I've had only two fail. They replaced it. I can only talk from my own experiences. Those two were from the batch they admit they had some faulty ones and they've since changed the way the welds are done so it doesn't happen again. I have had to file at least two blocks where the weld had been missed being taken back flush, but that is a small price to pay considering they're the best rods I've come across.

The rods that you posted a pic of are not the elcheapo rods I was imagining that I said were too wide, they're different ones again. I have tried similar rods but they had blue shrink instead of black. I didn't like how the bolt route had to be deeper than the truss rod route, it creates a even weaker spot on what is already the weakest point on a guitar. I had one of the bolts thread the first time I used it. Threw the rest in the bin as I wasn't going to risk it. I think I bought those from ALS in QLD. Having had to remove that fingerboard which I had days of inlay work in, install a new rod and then respray the guitar etc just because the truss rod was ten bucks cheaper, I'd rather pay the extra for a rod I know is safe.

[old_picker]

update to the info on the guitaraust double action truss rods.
these look very similar if not identical to the new stewmac low profile double action truss rods