Can you add a Bullet to a regular head accessible truss rod?

lamf68

As per title, can you simply add a bullet to a neck with truss rod access at the headstock, assuming you've got enough of a hole up there, or dremmel out the hole to accommodate it, or is the truss rod a completely different design?

I've searched for ages to try and find a telecaster neck with a bullet truss rod and aside from importing from Warmoth I'm yet to find anything.

on another neck related issue, i may try and remove the neck dots off a gammy old fretboard and replace them with clay dots, where the frig are clay dots available? I bought some putty/plasticine type stuff that you can bake that's supposed to go rock hard and resemble clay dots but also need some form of aluminium bar, like a fret leveling bar to drill out the correct sized holes to make the dots...again where can i get an aluminium bar?

sorry for the numb-nuts questions, i appreciate they look to have been written by a tit! 

Sambostar

If you welded a hex head on the bullet why not? It would just slip in and occasionally fall out as a kind of Allen key extender. I don't know if the two are directly interchangeable, you could get a 70's Allparts neck and modify the headstock although you can't modify strat to tele heel, only the other way around.

I haven't seen bullet tele necks anywhere to be honest.

I'm (Trying) to make some vintage 1/4" clay dots later this week, doing the exact same thing.  I'II keep you posted and send you some if they work out OK.

You can get 5mm Ali plate as an offcut off Ebay for a few quid, doesn't have to be channel, just support it when you push the dots out.

Channel will set you back around £15.

Sambostar

I just bought some of this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360940185396

2" x 1" x 1/8" (3.18mm) x 200mm for £3.45 delivered.

ICBM

The bullet is exactly the same as a normal truss rod nut except for the shape. If you've got a neck with a recessed nut and a full-width access hole, you should be able to swap one in as long as the rod thread is the same. Whether it sticks out to the correct visual length is a good question though...

lamf68

Sambostar said:

I just bought some of this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360940185396

2" x 1" x 1/8" (3.18mm) x 200mm for £3.45 delivered.

Top drawer! told you I was a tit, failed to find that in my search.

ICBM said:

The bullet is exactly the same as a normal truss rod nut except for the shape. If you've got a neck with a recessed nut and a full-width access hole, you should be able to swap one in as long as the rod thread is the same. Whether it sticks out to the correct visual length is a good question though...

Am I right in thinking then, that something has to be removed from the existing hole before inserting the Bullet? Dunno if that made sense, having never really messed heavily with a truss rod aside from the odd half turn here and there, I've never gone to the point where if you keep turning something comes outta the hole!!!

ICBM

lamf68 said:

Am I right in thinking then, that something has to be removed from the existing hole before inserting the Bullet? Dunno if that made sense, having never really messed heavily with a truss rod aside from the odd half turn here and there, I've never gone to the point where if you keep turning something comes outta the hole!!!

If you can see the whole of the end of the nut - like on a Mexican Standard or Squier neck - then just unscrewing it all the way will let you take it out. If it's a semi-plugged hole (Biflex rod on a USA Standard) then you'll have to drill it out.

This should help…

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/TrussRodNuts.jpg

WezV

Sticking out far enough will be the issue - I did a faux bullet on a guitar once, it was essentially just acting as a truss rod cover.

For clay dots, I use old harvite/composition poker chips.   Some  have reported this was the material used by fender, it certainly darkens the way originals do - I have not found any others available which are anywhere near as accurate  

These are my tests against a pre-brought clay dot (test dots were cut to 8mm, once it worked I brought a smaller plug cutter)

and installed

ICBM

Don't ever mention that on a vintage gaming forum, a mob with pitchforks will turn up outside…

WezV

I can also offer authentic fender dots in blue and red

Sambostar

I was getting hung up about drilling fret dots properly, but looking at the old 60's strat necks, the dots have shrunk away from the edges and the boards are so worn and all over the place I don't think it matters that much.  As I only had a 6.5mm Brad point which to my eyes didn't satisfy on some test pieces I bought a cheap Chinese imperial forstner drill set which including a 1/4" bit.  It drills ok, but as a cheap set the smallest 1/4" bit is the weakest link.  You actually have to go quite deep to get the full 1/4" and this was on a pre scalloped neck that I drilled today, with a hand drill in the end. 

It's clean enough and the holes look straight from one direction but not quite from the other, I hope it's an optical illusion as the scallop depth varies, if not bugger it looks OK from a front view.  Problem is I can't be arsed to mark up correctly and of course it all hinges on that, with a fretted pre scalloped neck, because of the depth of the scallops, your centreline can vary just enough unless you use a scribe with a block.  Of course even with a punch, the centre of the cheap Chinese tat forstner bit is all over the shop.

Much easier to do it first, clean on a new fretboard, rather than fix a bodge, but isn't that always the way with everything.

Still, at least 10 HSS 1/4" drill bits, a bit of aluminium extrusion and some light flesh Fimo clay is cheaper than clay Allparts fret dots.

normula1

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement bullet for an '85 Squier?

ICBM

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRUSSROD-NUT-BULLET-CHROME-FOR-FENDER-GUITARS-/272183815574?hash=item3f5f6b6d96:g:~9sAAOSwPe1UDt0R

Or

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/parts-c4/nuts-c105/fender-fender-genuine-original-70s-style-bullet-guitar-truss-rod-adjuster-nut-p8115/s8157

normula1

top man thanks

Sambostar

Getting OK at this fret dot business, the badly calibrated Chinese slightly undersize 1/4" forstner bit works OK once I've marked out using the centre of a large brad point as a centre punch.  It only cuts a full 1/4" if you go really deep, too deep.  So instead, then used the 1/4" HSS bit which matched the 1/4" bit I used to drill the aluminium mould in reverse to slightly open up the hole.

Just did an entire neck after a quick Stella with my Makita holding both the drill freehand the neck rested on a beam, came out perfect.  Replaced the smaller dots with larger ones, obviously easier as trail and error until I had the punch in the right place and had to jiggle the forstner bit around slightly to centre it on each hole until it started cutting in as it's rough as guts.

I reckon most of this lark is anxiety and bad tools.  The fret dot Fimo mould baked at 110C for 30 minutes works a treat as well.

I worry way too much.  I mean I have to drill straight holes and make straight cuts by eye at work all day anyway.  This one came out better than the last which was the scalloped neck.  Problem with that being I didn't open up the hole from the off Forstner bit with the HSS so the recesses were a tiny bit too small, not that you'd notice, but enough to mean forcing a dot in rather than having it central and pushing it in.

I suppose my only weakness is marking out as I'm lazy and obviously it takes more time on a pre fretted and radiused and scalloped even, neck.

Ace.

Might have a go at making necks in the future, I think my strengths will be the back profiling, as I've used a drawknife for some 20 off years bodging as in proper bodging.  But having the patience to mark out and saw the fret tangs recesses and route the truss rod, I'm not so sure about.  Well the routing will be OK, but I donno about making a jig for the curved vintage heel truss rod rout and for the hole on the heel that meets it..  Still at least I know what can now be done without a pillar drill.

Sambostar

This is the second neck attempt replacing the tiny fret dots for 1/4" clay ones.  Vaguely OK I reckon.  Got to do some 3/32" 2.38mm side dots now.  Well maybe 2.5mm will do.

GuitarMonkey

I think putting the two at the 14th fret was a mistake.