New Deluxe Strat truss rod/neck problem

Hi, I have a new Strat Deluxe, that was purchased in December 2009. Not long after I got it, I decided that the action was a bit high, so I took it back to the shop to have it adjusted. I'm not sutre if thery adjusted just the truss rod or the saddles, or both. In either case, the new action was defiantely nicer to play.

Over the last couple of months it seems to have gotten a it higher again, and looking at the neck, there seems to be a fairly "decent" concave curature to it. Not excessive, but more than I think it should have given the newness of this instrument and the fact that I use light gauge strings on it. I took it back to the shop yesterday, and the tech proceeded to adjust the truss rod, only to come back and tell me that the neck or truss rod is defective as the truss rod is mxed out - there is no room to adjust the neck. He called Fender, and they are sending a replacement neck.

I'm wondering how common a problem this is on the Deluxe series, which I am told uses a dual truss rod system??

I'm a little miffed at this, given that this guitar was a 50th birthday gift from my wife, and that it is my first electric guitar. It has definately lost some of its glitter over this.

Nothing to get alarmed over. You guitar is just being a guitar. It's made of wood. That's why it has a truss rod in the first place.

The humidity can change dramatically in Toronto because of the cold winters and the proximity to the lakes. It is completely normal for the neck to move around a bit as the seasons change and the humidity, or lack thereof takes it's toll on the neck.

Some guitars don't move at all. Others change with the seasons. Many acoustic guitar players have a "summer" and a "winter" bridge for their guitar because, not only does the neck move, but the top moves too!

It's completely normal and nothing to worry about. If the neck on you guitar moves around, you might want to learn how to adjust it yourself.

A few washers under the nut would fix that easily, and that is what the guy is going to do before he sells your old neck if he can get away with not sending it back to fender... ;)

Where do the washers go? Do you have to remove the neck to install them? I'd rather keep the neck that the guitar came with, if it can be fixed, and fixed permanently. The guy at the shop mentioned the same thing, in fact he said if I was not the original owner, that's what they'd do. As an aside, he also said that they were not allowed to fix the necks and resell them! I inserted the allen key when I got home, and yes, it's as tight as its going to go, its so tight that the allen key flexes if you try to push it further.

Thanks Telenator, but yes, having played the acoustic guitar for about 30 years, and having lived next to Lake Ontario for the better part of 40 years, I know all too well the vagaries of the fluxuating weather patterns around here! It seldom gets what I would call dry, like it does in the praries, where I have also lived. However, the dryness comes into play in the winter months inside your house when the furnace is going.
The problem with my new strat, according to the service department at Steve's Music in Toronto, is that the truss rod is maxed out and the neck is not even that bad, but there will be no wiggle room in years to come. I'd like it to be a bit lower, and to lessen the curve in the neck, but it ain't gonna happen with the way things are. The other poster suggested putting in washers, but I don't know where they go, and you can't just unscrew the truss rod from the head stock and pull it out, so I have been told. The brown decorative plug that the allen key fits into on the head stock is supposedly a plug, that would have to be removed to be able to get at the rod to install the washers. I am not about to pull that out! If there is a means to address this without replacing the neck, I'm all ears.

Cool. I must apologize for doing 3 things at once and misunderstanding your original post.

Like robt57 says, adding washers to the truss rod will most often cure the problem.

I have a 99 Am Dlx Strat neck that I had to pull the truss rod plug on, add a few washers, and then make a new plug to replace the old one. Works great!

Well, you would have to drill the walnut plug out to get the washer under the nut I believe is US.

That said, has anyone [he or you] tried clamping the neck in a position that make the neck bend more before trying to tighten the nut further, so the nut is Not doing all the work ?? Maybe it is not really bottoming, seen this many time, just binding a lot of the time.

I sometime wedge the neck/body between my legs and the carpet on the floor and bend the neck in the desired direction before snugging the nut.

Look at picture, but if you do this, you still NEED TO STOP if the nut runs out of threads, which it may or may not be doing already.. And DO not over tighten the clamp and tighten the be-jebus out of the clamp and bend the neck 3/4 of an inch either.

If you are too light for heavy work, and too heavy for light work exercise more common sense if yo have the ability to do so!

You can also loosen the nut and shoot some lemon oil in there....

I should add, that if the Allen nut goes onto the threaded rod too far, the wrench/key can get pushed up and out and get a lot less bite. The likely hood of striping the Allen nut an be a lot higher. Even a better case for using the clamp method IMO.

Thanks for the replies. I too was wondering if maybe it was just binding. There is a "high end" instrument shop close to where I live, I was going to pop in there today to see if they wouldn't take a look at it without having me first commit to an inspection fee. Being that its under warranty, I'm not too apt to fork over $$$ for something that I don't have to pay for.

I just spoke to Fender, and the CSR said that it was the exception, but not unheard of. I can't remember what I was once told about the failure rate of commodities like guitars, amps etc., but I think it was around 2%. I guess I got the luck of the draw.

He said that installing washers and really doing anything else to it would be a temporary fix, and that replacing the neck is the only real option as the truss rod(s) are placed in the neck before the fret board is laid down. He said it is possible that the truss rod moved during assembly, but couldn't be certain.

The techs at a local high end instrument shop (The Twelfth Fret) confirmed what the tech at Steve's music said, that yes, the truss rod is defective, and the neck should be replaced, particularly given that the guitar is only 4 months old. They offered up a bit more of an explanation, but in the end it really doesn't matter which of the several possible scenarios explains why the truss rod is defective, it simply is.