Anyone fitted a Warman truss rod?

axisus

I'm not 100% sure about the fitting - anyone done one?

WezV

not used that particular one but it looks like a pretty standard modern two way design.   

route a straight channel 6mm wide and 10 mm deep, measure to check exact dimensions though, the nut may require a bit more clearance .   you can extend the channel onto the headstock or out the heel end, not really much else to worry about.  insert it with the flat bar towards the fretboard

ICBM

It's about time someone did this right.

Rickenbacker have been using truss rods which can be removed without taking the fingerboard off the neck since the 1950s, and although it's true that their pre-1984 version is a bit prone to damage if wrongly adjusted, it's not just Rick being different for the sake of it… just for once, everyone else is wrong!

Warwick and others have also used anchorless removable rods since at least the 1980s.

There's really no excuse for using a rod that can't be replaced without major destructive neck surgery now. Gibson, Fender and at least 90% of other makers please note!

axisus

Thanking ye kindly good people! A couple of specifics:

1) the 'depth' of the rod is 10mm at the adjusting end, as the adjuster sits a bit proud of the underside of the rod, but the rest of it is more like 8mm deep. Is that not going to give a lot of play in a 10mm channel? (they suggest a 10mm channel).

2) I don't quite get how it would be removable unless you have a great gaping hole to pull it out of? I plan to have the adjustment at the headstock end, but surely it would need a big hole to remove it? Is one supposed to use a plug that could be drilled out?

GuitarMonkey

axisus said:

2) I don't quite get how it would be removable unless you have a great gaping hole to pull it out of? 

That what a Warwick bass is like. If there is no tension on the rod, it just slides out of the hole in the headstock end. Having an angled headstock reduces the length of the hole that's required.

ICBM

You can just pull the rod out of the channel, which does not need to have a closed end because the rod develops its tension internally and not by being tightened against the neck. So with the rod slack, you can just slide it out.

Even with a conventional rod you can allow access at both ends, so you could still replace a broken rod without taking the fingerboard off - post-'84 Rick rods are like that - and it could be just as easily done on a Fender with both a headstock adjuster (bullet or US Std type) and a vintage-style nut, or on a Gibson by allowing access through the neck pickup cavity... which can be done in any case if you really need to.

If you don't want to leave a big hole at the headstock, just carry the channel through to the heel end if you're using a bolt-on neck. If it's a glued neck you do need to leave the channel open at the head and put a cover on it.

ThePrettyDamned

On a side note, I quite like not seeing a truss rod cover.

You know, just a hole. Seems rock n roll.

WezV

axisus said:

Thanking ye kindly good people! A couple of specifics:

1) the 'depth' of the rod is 10mm at the adjusting end, as the adjuster sits a bit proud of the underside of the rod, but the rest of it is more like 8mm deep. Is that not going to give a lot of play in a 10mm channel? (they suggest a 10mm channel).

2) I don't quite get how it would be removable unless you have a great gaping hole to pull it out of? I plan to have the adjustment at the headstock end, but surely it would need a big hole to remove it? Is one supposed to use a plug that could be drilled out?

1)go for an 8mm channel all the way along and enlarge it for the adjuster

2) if you route the channel all the way through the neck  you can push the rod out from one end, but it still functions as it should without any permanent fixing   

axisus

Thanks guys, interesting idea from Wezv and ICBM, running the channel right through and out the heel. I like the sound of that - although I imagine it could do with some kind of removable 'stop', otherwise I could just poke it further in when trying to adjust from the headstock. I'm off work this week so hopefully I can get stuck in and have a go.