Strat Truss Rod Nut/Relief Question

[Platefire]

I've got this 1998 Affinity Squire Strat project guitar. I tighten the truss rod to get the relief out, get the neck straight and everything is find and then I come back a few days latter and relief is back. I tighten it again and it's good for a while and then gains back too much relief again.

I've never had a guitar do that before and my best guess is the truss rod nut is bottomed out at the end of the threads?

The relief is very close to being right for my purposes but a little too much. When I tighten it up from 1/4 to 1/2 turn clockwise
and stop, it had a tendency to pull back counter clockwise. Even though I hold it in position and it seems to temporarily hold with the extra relief out, it don't hold long. Within a few days it's back.

 My first thought is to pull the nut all the way off/out and install a washer or tow the same footprint as the nut and re-install nut and hopefully get the tightness I need.

This is just a guess, so I would like to hear from someone with experience on this before I go diving in flying by the seat of my pants. Platefire 

[Platefire]

To answer my own question, I tried adding two lock washers under the nut and re-adjusted it straight but since adding the washers I've had to adjust it another 1/4 turn to keep it straight since the initial tightening. So I'm now playing on it and watching to see if it will hold. Platefire

[jjasilli]

That's common, and a good reason to do your own setups.  The thing is: wood has "memory".  (So do some other things like mono-filament fishing line).  After being in a certain position they take a "set".  If you later change the position, it tends to revert to the "set" position it got used to.  It can take several "re-sets" over time to overcome the old set-in position.  But, don't force the neck, just keep re-doing the process.  Only tighten the trussrod nut with the strings loosened.  I.e., don't fight string tension to take out neck relief.

[Platefire]

Thanks! I've made three minor adjustments over the last 8 days since I put the washers on. Didn't know I needed to loosen the strings? Anyway I hope it holds!!! I sent a e-mail tech question to Aaron at Stu Mac and he recommended the washers also. He was highly suggesting if this failed, to be sure and buy my new neck from Stu Mac:>) Platefire

[BeeLectro]

The truss could be binding, holding where it bound for a day or two, and then breaking free. There could be some rust in there, and saw dust. I spray a little wd40 in all my truss rods. It won't hurt anything. Let it sit upright in a corner for a day, gravity will pull the wd40 down. Then, when you adjust it, it will move the neck immediately, and often times stay right where you put it.

[Platefire]

No problems with the threads on the nut or rod, they turn freely. I don't think the treads are stripped because the tention get stronger as you turn the wrench. I also left the Allen wrench inserted in the nut so I could observe any turning back/UN-screwing counter-clockwise and never observed the wrench moving any over a period of days.

So my thought is the wood the washers I installed + the nut pushing on them is compressing the wood and the wood underneath them is gradually collapsing losing its original tightness. Plus after tighening it several times since I installed the washers, the truss rod may have run out of threads and is pressing on the metal wall that separates threads from the Allen wrench fitting. But I don't think its run out of threads because an adjustment will make the neck completely straight for a few days and then the relief returns.

 The guy from Stu Mac says if it don't settle out and stop, the only feasible alternative is a new neck. Installing a new truss rod on a squire neck would be to expensive/labor intensive for the cheap original neck. So I'll keep tightening it until it either stops or runs out of play, and then call it quits. Platefire

[jjasilli]

The nut is under pressure & cannot unscrew.  It's hard to believe the wood is compressing under the washers.  The neck is simply trying to return to its original state.  You can add more washers until you run out of threads. 


I have a mid '80's Japanese Squier Strat.  The body is fine and the PU's sound right.  But the neck sucked, so I replaced it with a quality neck.

[Platefire]

Well after the last adjustment a week and a day ago, it hasn't moved. Neck is straight, action is low and I'm praying it holds cause I do like this strat a lot. Platefire

[jjasilli]

 

[Platefire]

As they say in south Louisiana, AAAEEEE!