New Trussrod for pre-EB Stingray?

[stingrayguy]

Hi All!

I live in germany and i have a Stingray from '78 which has an incredible sound. The bass is a player, so no collector's item )

Unfortunately the trussrod is broken (the thread on the rod is worn out, so it's not just the nut). So i asked some luthiers around here in Germany which told me it would cost somewhere between 500-800 Euros to replace the rod. That, of course, was kind of a shock to me and, since i'm curious and know a little bit about technology and mechanics, i started to try to remove the trussrod myself.

First i drilled out the anchor, since i was hoping to be able to simply pull out the rod from the head-side of the neck. This was, unfortunately, not possible.
So next i tried to use hot steam to remove the skunk stripe. This actually worked out pretty fine and i was able to remove the truss rod this way.

Trussrod, i found on the internet have different dimensions than the original one, in particular, they do not have the flat portion in the middle of it. So i'm not able to replace the broken trussrod by one of these without having to reroute the pocket for the rod, which i would like to avoid if possible.

So i contacted customer service here in Germany, which is excellent i have to say. They told me that they are not able to provide an original truss rod. I could, however, order a replacement neck from the current series, which would need some minor modifications at the body to be mounted. This could be an option, if the price for such a neck is not too high. Since the bass is a player, i could live with the modiied body pocket.

But first of all, i would like to try to replace the rod in the original neck.

So finally, after a long story, here's my question: Does anybody know a suitable replacement trussrod, i.e. one that is flat in the middle like the original pre-EB trussrod?

Thanks for your any comments!

Markus


P.S: I hope that my question does not violate forum rules, which are pretty much focused on original EBMM parts only...

P.S: I can also file a couple of pictures of the process of removing the skunk stripe if anybody's interested...

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

The older Ernie Ball Basses used a truss rod similar to (or perhaps the same as) the Pre-EB Basses.

Maybe long shot but I'd have a chat with Customer Service.

Email is:

[email protected]

 

[adouglas]

The real question is, does the fact that it's flat make any difference?

Trussrods are about as simple as it gets mechanically. It's nothing but a rod, an anchor and a nut. You could have a machine shop fabricate an identical replacement if you can't find an original.

 

[Bart B]

Hi All!


So i contacted customer service here in Germany, which is excellent i have to say. They told me that they are not able to provide an original truss rod. I could, however, order a replacement neck from the current series, which would need some minor modifications at the body to be mounted. This could be an option, if the price for such a neck is not too high. Since the bass is a player, i could live with the modiied body pocket.

You can order a replacement neck for a Pre-EB?
That's weird, I was denied this option for my Pre-EB with warped neck.

Are you sure about that?

I hope you can find a suitable trussrod!

 

[MrMusashi]

i am sorry to be a wiseguy but perhaps this kit could have saved you all that work?

STEWMAC.COM : Truss Rod Rescue Kit

stew mac also sells trussrods just in case you want to give it a try...

hth!

MrM

 

[stingrayguy]

Hi Guys!
Thanks for the replies. I´ll try to give some comments on your suggestions:

Rod: I sent an E-Mail to US customer service. Let´s see what they tell me...

Adouglas: Due to the flat portion, the standard truss rods which are available (round, no flat portion), do not fit in the channel without modification. If possible, i want to avoid this.

Bart: I was told i could order a replacement neck for the bass, which would then be a neck as used in the current basses, i.e. with the truss rod wheel at the body. Therefore the body of my old Stingray would then have to be modified. If possible, i want to avoid this as well. In particular, the new neck would have another logo on it.

MrM: I saw the rescue kit, but from the comments i read on the web, i suppose that it only fits Fender truss rods. Therefore i did not consider buying this tool. Btw, it´s not really a bargain.

I´m actually thinking about re-using the remainings of the old truss rod, i might be able to add a bolt to get the original length and use it as an anchor at the same time. I´ll have to think this over.
But this will only take place if i´m really not able to get a proper replacement...

Any further comments?

 

[Golem]

You can order a replacement neck for a Pre-EB?
That's weird, I was denied this option for my Pre-EB with warped neck.

Are you sure about that?

I hope you can find a suitable trussrod!

I bleeb the neck pocket is the same, so it's just a
current neck into which you'll drill 4, rather than 6,
mounting holes ... plus you gotta open out a bit of
the body for the current style rod adjuster wheel.

BTW, if the rod is otherwise intact, other than the
threads, perhaps it can be rethreaded. Stew Mac
has various products for salvaging truss rods, even
those with broken-off threaded ends !


`


`

 

[fly]

I'd say go with Golem's plan of re-threading if possible........other than that,I wish you luck,and any pics of the process would be cool man./

 

[stingrayguy]

Some Progress

Hi again,
so i got a mail from customer service, they told me that they´re not able to provide a replacement truss rod. So i´ll see what i can get as replacement. I´ll keep you updated on that.
However, i tried to adapt the old truss rod to fit into the neck again. However, i don´t see a meaningful way of elongate it to fit into the neck. So right now i´m waiting for a truss rod i ordered via the web, which should fit pretty well. I´ll post pictures when it arrived.
In the meantime, here are some pictures showing how i removed the skunk stripe:

I used a small pot and a cone to guide the steam to the stripe:


and of course i had to apply some brute force to get things done:


But the result is pretty nice, i´ll just have to clean the pocket a bit:



So more pics and info to come when i insert the new truss rod. Hope this will work out...
Markus

 

[fly]

good luck man

 

[pnts]

I hope youll get it together! There's something special with 'n old mojo's 'ray!

 

[stingrayguy]

Some good news!

I was able to try the truss rod that appeared most suitable to me and made some progress to fit it in the neck. I only had to drill some holes and now i´m testing whether the anchor is secured stable enough. Tomorrow i´ll know...

 

[fly]

sweet..........bring it home now man.....

 

[adouglas]

I love the shots of removing the skunk stripe.

Was the end of it accessible or did you have to drill into it to get hold of the end?

 

[pnts]

Good job so far. Here's hoping it will work out for ya!

 

[drewk]

Enjoying this thread, well done!!

Do keep us posted with the progress...

 

[J Romano]

Congrats on being daring enough to tackle this your self!!!!! Best of luck on the completion and do keep us informed........

 

[stingrayguy]

Thanks for the positive and encouraging comments!
As you see from my pictures, the results will not be as nice as if a luthier would have done the repair. However, i´m pleased with what i´ve done so far and i´m positive to end up with a working bass and truss rod in the end )

However, here´s a short update:
The anchor settled a lot during the first days, so i added a shim, which i hope will now provide more stability. Hope this can be assured in the next days...
As soon as that´s assured, i´ll start inserting the skunk stripe.

 

[stingrayguy]

She´s back in town

So good news !!!
I was able to glue the skunk stripe back in. Then i sanded down the back of the neck until i got a smooth surface and applied an oil and wax finish. The final result is probably not as good as a luthier could have done it, but i´m quite satisfied.
Moreover, now that i did all this work, i can understand why i was told by the luthiers that this repair would be rather expensive (roughly 500-800 Euros). It took me about 50 hours to do this job as a layman. Don´t know how long it would have taken a pro, but i goes at least 15-20 hours as well.
However, the bass is completed and what shall i say? It plays better than ever since i can now properly adjust the neck. I just love this thing!
Greetings,
Markus

 

[trunkshope6]

Wow very nice man ,I'm glad u got everything to work for you and the refinish on the neck looks great too.