avoiding stuss rod

Bob Harrison January 25, 2011 at 8:01am

Yep, The reso without the trussrod sounds better.

Bluesdog said:

This is a cool toppic.

I'm in the neckreinforcement camp, if you build a neck for a thrussrod your building it to move. And if you building it to move you can bet it will move and not allway's in the direction you want it to go. Better to build them as rigid as you can.

Martin also used neckreinforcement rods like stated before but they also used bar type frets well into the late 30's, the combination of the two seems to create superior stiffnes in the neck. (Bar frets are straight bars instead of t-shaped ones)

And i think it just sounds way better, i have 3 low-end guitars without adjustment rods and they have a sort of Mojo that just is not in thrussrod guitars.

Cool example for this is Daddy Mojo's Resophonic Dolerosa video's, in the first prototype he made there was no adjustable rod and later he built one with a adjustable rod wich (i.m.o.) sounded ... well i wouldn't say bad but the prototype sure did win hands down.

Decide for yourself wich sounds better:"

No adjustment rod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EkzMkz6QkA

Adjustment rod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXlYWMNtW-o&feature=mfu_in_order...

Bluesdog January 25, 2011 at 7:03am

This is a cool toppic.

I'm in the neckreinforcement camp, if you build a neck for a thrussrod your building it to move. And if you building it to move you can bet it will move and not allway's in the direction you want it to go. Better to build them as rigid as you can.

Martin also used neckreinforcement rods like stated before but they also used bar type frets well into the late 30's, the combination of the two seems to create superior stiffnes in the neck. (Bar frets are straight bars instead of t-shaped ones)

And i think it just sounds way better, i have 3 low-end guitars without adjustment rods and they have a sort of Mojo that just is not in thrussrod guitars.

Cool example for this is Daddy Mojo's Resophonic Dolerosa video's, in the first prototype he made there was no adjustable rod and later he built one with a adjustable rod wich (i.m.o.) sounded ... well i wouldn't say bad but the prototype sure did win hands down.

Decide for yourself wich sounds better:"

No adjustment rod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EkzMkz6QkA

Adjustment rod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXlYWMNtW-o&feature=mfu_in_order...

Glaze January 25, 2011 at 1:50am

Bear

Good information. I want to make a CBG with a Gibson or Fender scale length and through all of my research, personal testing and experience a truss rod is needed with the longer scale lengths. I watched my favorite You Tube vid of a CBG and the builder stated that the higher tension tunings would bend the neck on his build without a truss rod.

I'm going to build mine with a truss rod because I want the longer scale length.

Said:

I can only add what own experience has shown me after making numerous 6-string CB guitars and 5-string banjos WITHOUT truss rods. Some of my guitars are 5 or 6 years old, and have had no problems for lack of a truss rod.

Many folks worry about the idea of spending a lot of time making a neck that they're afraid might not hold up to the tension of 6 strings. I used to worry myself. But you'll never know till you do it.

I'll just make a few recommendations to eliminate any squeamishness. Some have already been mentioned: Use quartersawn hardwood like maple (actually I use cherry mostly), or boards laminated to create quartersawn orientation of the grain. This makes the neck more resistant to bending. Try a shorter scale length than standard (for me, a 23" length looks good on a typical small-bodied CGB) which decreases string tension. If you find an excessive amount of relief (i.e., neck bow), try lighter gauge strings. Remember that some degree of relief is necessary for buzz-free playing.

Enough for now. I gotta go to bed. G'night!

Bear January 19, 2011 at 12:36am

I can only add what own experience has shown me after making numerous 6-string CB guitars and 5-string banjos WITHOUT truss rods. Some of my guitars are 5 or 6 years old, and have had no problems for lack of a truss rod.

Many folks worry about the idea of spending a lot of time making a neck that they're afraid might not hold up to the tension of 6 strings. I used to worry myself. But you'll never know till you do it.

I'll just make a few recommendations to eliminate any squeamishness. Some have already been mentioned: Use quartersawn hardwood like maple (actually I use cherry mostly), or boards laminated to create quartersawn orientation of the grain. This makes the neck more resistant to bending. Try a shorter scale length than standard (for me, a 23" length looks good on a typical small-bodied CGB) which decreases string tension. If you find an excessive amount of relief (i.e., neck bow), try lighter gauge strings. Remember that some degree of relief is necessary for buzz-free playing.

Enough for now. I gotta go to bed. G'night!

Bob Harrison January 18, 2011 at 5:59pm

Don, thanks for the link. I will post photos of the making of a pattern on the Eli Whitney and clone page.

Cheers

Bob

Don Thompson said:

Bob, That style of truss rod has been around awhile. Jon copied one here:http://pluto.spaceports.com/~fishbake/lpc/truss/trusr.htm

I look forward to seeing what you do with the neck.

Don

Don Thompson January 18, 2011 at 4:13pm

Bob, That style of truss rod has been around awhile. Jon copied one here:http://pluto.spaceports.com/~fishbake/lpc/truss/trusr.htm

I look forward to seeing what you do with the neck.

Don

Bob Harrison January 18, 2011 at 3:51pm

I purchased an old 6 string, D size mid 1970’s Korean guitar for the neck . The neck will be used for a pattern for my duplicator machine “Big Green“.

Please note this neck has both an adjustable truss rod and an alloy channel. I guess it’s like wearing a belt and suspenders at the same time. After all these years the neck was as straight as an arrow, it appears the alloy channel and adjustable truss rod was the best of both worlds.

Cheers
Bob

Jason January 18, 2011 at 11:38am

I rout a channel in the neck and fit a rectangular piece of carbon fiber as a support prior to gluing down the fretboard.

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) January 17, 2011 at 8:26pm

Laminate two or three pieces of wood together lengthwise and you can get away with not using a truss rod. The changing grain directions should be good. If you have the tools then the best way to do it is to rip one large piece into three long pieces, run them flat on a joiner, and then glue them together with the middle piece in the reverse direction. Changes the grain direction and relieves all the stress and tension that the wood is naturally carrying.

Bob Harrison January 17, 2011 at 11:32am

Wow, I like that !!! Could you show us how you made it.

ChickenboneJohn said:

Here's an example of that "inserted vee" joint on a Panormo repro...you can see exactly where that Martin volute came from..even tho' they might have stopped using the joint itself.

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