Allen key size 5mm (Metric)

[3notesAbar]

Help?

I have an european bass that quite old, with a slight neck down-bow. I lost the old allen key that came with it The screwed up part is, I've been poking all sorts of keys into the poor truss hole *ahem* Nothing fits lol.

I have problems deciding whether the truss nut threding is worn out, or whether the keys really DONT fit. Anyone knows where i can get an L-shaped metric size 5 allen key? I need to be sure before i send the neck for resue work. help!!

 

[rottenramone]

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There are hardware shops which sell the mm unit allen keys... just make sure when u put it in, it ought to fit in perfectly and turn.

u sure its in mm and not inches?

 

[thor666]

u need the L-shaped one. yesterday was having trouble with my truss rod till my dad found the L-shaped one.

anyway i couldn't and didn't turn it too much... ended up putting an ugly shim under the neck joint instead.

 

[3notesAbar]

Re: ..

There are hardware shops which sell the mm unit allen keys... just make sure when u put it in, it ought to fit in perfectly and turn.

u sure its in mm and not inches?

hey ramone, yeah i checked, its in mm, because its metric (german) bass lol. Damn sian....

 

[3notesAbar]

u need the L-shaped one. yesterday was having trouble with my truss rod till my dad found the L-shaped one.

anyway i couldn't and didn't turn it too much... ended up putting an ugly shim under the neck joint instead.

Sometimes dont turn also can sleep better at night...my bass neck is beyond shimming i think

 

[rottenramone]

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thor666

you can take the neck out and clamp it. then loosen the truss nut all the way. that way, the truss rod insied is completely free to move.

i did that before and saved my neck.

 

[3notesAbar]

I cant wait to do that man. How long did you clamp the neck ramone?

 

[rottenramone]

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the whole job takes about 30 mins...

ok.. i learnt it from this guy who's in aust studying now.

(1) two small blocks of wood. Any size will do. Or anything small and hard, then, use musking tape to tape one surface till it is 'cushioned'.

(2) Go and buy yourself an F clamp. (Measure your table or void deck marble table first to buy the correct size jaw opening)

(3) Buy a cork sheet (Available from Art Friend at Bras Basah or Park Lane)

(4) Dbl stick tape


Dbl stick the 2 blocks of wood between the first fret and last fret. Dbl stick the cork sheet to your neck. You will be clamping the neck, so the cork sheet will protect your neck from being squished. Make sure the cork sheet is thick, at least 1/4" folded over twice to make 1/2".

Loosen your truss rod all the way, take it out and lubricate it wil grease or singer oil. Put it back in, but don't tighten.

Go downstairs to your void deck and find a marble table. Better get someone to help you.

Put the neck fret down on the table. Open the F clamp, position the top jaw on the cork sheet. Clamp it LIGHTLY
to the marble table, making sure it is snug.

Sight your neck. SLOWLY tighten the clamp until you see the forward bow disappear.

At this point, turn the truss rod nut until it is snug. By clamping the neck, the truss rod is not fighting the wood, as opposed to when the neck was not clamped, it had to fight the wood to straighten.

Slowly tighten a bit more and introduce just a bit of back bow. Just a bit. Tighten the truss rod snug. Then give it a quarter turn.

Loosen the F clamp. Look at the neck.

DId it spring back into a forward bow? Did it remain straight?

If it bowed again, repeat everything, except this time tighten the truss rod more. Introduce a very obvious backbow before loosening the clamp.

Sight your neck, if it is back bowed (Warped backwards), its good. Leave it there for a day. Sight it the next day to see if it has straightened or bowed forward again. If it has remained the same as the day before EXCELLENT.

If the neck has bowed forward again or straightened, it means your truss rod nut is stripped (Someone overtightened it last time).

TO solve this problem, take out your truss rod nut. Measure the hole of the nut and hole of the neck. Go and buy a few washers that correspond to these dimensions. Slip in one washer, tighten your rod. If the neck still slips back to a bow, put in another washer. That should solve the problem.

Hope this helps, lemme know if you need more info. Trust me, lotsa people have this problem and after doing the above, problem solved.

All the best!

 

[3notesAbar]

Thanks for the very informative post Probably see you at Soundmix sometime!

 

[thor666]

woah. big project here 8O

hmm... what if u need to tighten it further? i read tightening it too much will strip the thing so i didn't tighten further.

on the other hand putting a paper shim seems to always work best for me. just putting a < 1mm folded piece at the end works wonders. now my guitar is just at the right action with (still a bit but managable) fret buzz.

the only annoying thing now is that i feel my floyd rose is "loose" and kills a bit of sustain. thinking of dropping 5 springs behind to keep it tight since i don't do divebombs, just vibrato-type tremolo.

 

[rottenramone]

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the general rule of thumb for truss nuts is to loosen completely, then count the no of turns till it reaches full tightness. loosen it by half the no of turns and then just add a quarter turn.

let the neck 'rest' for a day or two to settle in its new position and it should work out fine.