I picked up this 1992 Norman B-25 on kijiji for a really decent price. Great shape, just needed a truss rod adjustment and setup. Except when I got it home I realized the truss rod was broken. Well, damn! I’d never done a truss rod replacement before. How hard could it possibly be?!?
Start working a thin scraper between the fretboard and the neck. SLOWLY DAMMIT. Then keep heating it and working the blade down the neck only a few centimetres at a time.
Once part way down the neck, the scraper was too short, so I switched to a thin metal ruler and worked it down towards the end.
A&l Americana Bourbon Burst Cw Qit #042432001814
Now …. let’s get a new truss rod …. how hard could that be? So, either I’m the world’s worst shopper, or a major metropolitan centre like Winnipeg does not have a single storefront business that stocks items like this. So … then let’s shop on line …. limited choices still …. the standard go to is usually StewMac luthier supplies, but they didn’t have anything the right size and the price was ridiculous. So then what about Amazon? Well Amazon.com if you’re south of the border was a great option. Amazon.ca, not so much. Finally …. I found a Canadian luthier supply shop in Ontario – Solo Guitars. Lots of options, Canadian dollar prices, reasonable shipping rates, nothing crossing a border, affordable sticker price. Done and ordered! Delivery was unbelievably fast too. 3 days with regular (ie cheapest) parcel post.
The truss rod channel was a fraction too deep for the new truss rod, they need to fit snugly. So I whittled some paper-thin strips of spruce with my trusty Swiss Army Knife and shimmed the truss rod up to be flush with the top of the channel. Ready for glue.
Cover the channel with some masking tape to make sure you don’t goop it up. I used Lepage carpenter glue (I use that on anything I want to hold hard). Then peel off the tape and “give ‘er”.
How To Adjust The Truss Rod On A Bass Guitar
Some light clamping for just a few minutes to let the glue tack up. In the foreground of the picture you can see the clamping block that I’ll apply next. It’s made of two pieces of thick maple hardwood flooring laminated together. It’s dead flat and has no flex at all. Then I used some carpet tape to affix a piece of cardboard to the top of the wood just to add some cushioning for the frets. I didn’t want to squish the fret wire.
Made sure the fretboard was still exactly in place and then clamped the whole thing onto my maple brace. Making sure the truss rod was in the neutral position of course. Let sit 24 hours and voila ….
The truss rod was successful, so then I had to put new tuners, new nut and new saddle. Plays pretty good now. I sold it for $200 to a young girl who had been saving her allowance money to buy a decent guitar, but she only had $200. Used market value on this guitar was probably $350-$400. I really wanted to see this kid get a good guitar for her money, so I took the hit. I took a net loss of about $100 (after repairs), but I learned a new skill and I made a kid happy. That’s way more valuable than a hundred dollar bill.
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