Truss nut question

[drbassman]

Did Gibson ever use truss rods that required a 3/8" hex nut?

[Dave W]

Possible, but not that I've ever heard of. They always made them in-house back in the day, don't know about now.

The only one I ever heard about being different was the LP Money Bass (and whatever its variations were called), which had a different style metric nut. IIRC Daniel (doombass) had pointed this out a couple of years ago.

[uwe]

Early Grabbers had a Fender type slotted nut, 20/20 and Lee Sklar had regular, not bell-shaped nuts at the fretboard end rather than the headstock. And Money/Doublecut basses have a biflex truss rod going both ways with a nut that needs an undersize 1/8 inch allen wrench to be turned which it only does stubbornly. Why a maho neck of a bass  would need a truss rod that enables greater neck relief than via the string pull is anybody's guess, but they did it anyway.

[Dave W]

I suspect the Money Bass rod was just an experiment with a particular rod to see how it worked in general, not that there was a particular need for one that also adjusts for backbow. Unfortunately they sold so few of them I doubt they were able to tell if there were any problems.

Did the 20/20 and Sklar use a 5/16" hex wrench?

[uwe]

The nut on the 20/20 is way larger, the one on the Sklar way smaller, more like with a Ric.

[drbassman]

Well, I started messing with this an discovered the neck has a slight twist and the fret board appears to be new.  So, I'm thinking about my next move.

[Dave W]

Messing with what?

[drbassman]

Messing with what?

Well, I guess I got carried away!  Here's the bare neck.  The previous owner varnished the fret board and when I took the frets off to try and level the board, chips were flying everywhere!  I tried to level the darn thing, but the twist was just a bit too much between the nut and the 3rd. fret.  The rest of the neck is fine.

so, I decided the heck with it and planed the board off!!  :shock: Now  feel I better.  I've got the neck leveled but had add a veneer shim on the treble half between the nut and 3rd. fret.   We'll sand her level tomorrow.

[Pilgrim]

That headstock logo is looking pretty battered.  But as always, your skills amaze me!

[Dave W]

Okay, I see what you're messing with, forgot you bought this. But unless it's been modified somehow it should have the standard nut that uses the 5/16" hex wrench.

Hope you can fix it. You certainly have the skills.

[uwe]

Are we talking about a Grabber neck. The early ones (without a scarfed headstock) had a slotted rather than the trad bell nut.

[Dave W]

Are we talking about a Grabber neck. The early ones (without a scarfed headstock) had a slotted rather than the trad bell nut.

It's the 70s EB-3L he bought. That should have the usual bell nut. Maybe it was replaced at some point.

[Highlander]

You've gone that far in, Bill, why not take the last step of the mile an in with a new rod... at least you'll know your on even ground, especially after a refin...

[drbassman]

Well, the board is off and the rod and wood strip above it look totally original.  Maybe they went large because of the 34" scale.  Either way, I'm not messing with it, it works and it's solid.  See my project posts for the restoration/modding of this puppy.