What do you do when your truss rod is blocked?

[CaptainD00M]

Ok that title is a bit missleading, what i mean is, what do you do when the guitar you recently bought needs to have its rod adjusted (man that sounds dirty) and what looks like the end of an allan wrench is jammed in there:





I know those arent particularly good, but i oppened up the cavity only to find the wrench socket was obstructed... any advice?
Or do i need to order a new neck?

[S-man]

That's a different type of truss rod adjustment. It requires a socket type wrench as opposed to an allen wrench.

[CaptainD00M]

Ah So.

Thanks, the guitar is older than many i have dealt with... Can i hardware store a socket wrench as the guy who sold it to me didnt send one.

ED: Never mind i can just sorce one from the net. Thanks.

[GuitarBizarre]

7mm hex socket will do you proud there.

[CaptainD00M]

Thanks man!

I feel like such a n00b for making this mistake hahaha!

[stratoskier]

FWIW -- I have 2 old Ibanez (one is a 442R and I can't recall which other one) on which it's virtually impossible to get a socket + ratchet (or nut driver) onto the nut. That is because of how deep the truss well is relative to the surface of the headstock. None of the usual Ibanez tools, including their mini socket made specifically for truss rod nuts, would work. The only thing I found that worked was to take a 1/4" drive socket and drill a hole all the way through both sides of it so that I could stick a nail in the hole and turn the socket.

[GuitarBizarre]

I don't know how deep your truss rod channel is, but the socket I used attached to basically a screwdriver with a square end that it latched onto. It was a little fiddly because I had to use pliers to apply enough torque to turn it at first, but it worked fine, if not being completely bolt straight onto the nut.

Normal ratchets of course would be impossible to use.

[stratoskier]

Yes -- that's a nut driver and they normally work for me too. But I think there were a few models/runs where the channel just wasn't cut right.

I forgot to mention it above, but part of the problem was zero clearance below the nut -- that is the nut rests on the bottom of the channel so that there isn't any room for the wall of the socket. In those cases, I've had to shave away a little wood below the nut using sandpaper. Seems to only be a problem on a couple of models in years 92-93.

[Tonelover]

Don't feel bad about the N00b question. I've recently been posting all over the Jackson forums asking for help because I thought my truss rod nut was stripped on a brand new RR1. I've been talking to techis and was even getting ready to have it returned under warranty. Turns out it that there is a little round collar on the very end and my wrench just wasn't long enough to go in far enough past that to reach the actual nut, which works just fine. Doh!