Stripped "India" truss rod nut, where to get replacement...

[bluesholyman]

I have an a "Made in Inida" Squier Vintage Modified SSH telecaster and I managed to strip the truss rod nut. I was able to get it out, but can't seem to source a replacement.

4mm socket, 7.85 mm (5/16") outer diameter (its small) and ~ 30mm (1 3/16") long. Assuming standard thread of 10-32, but no idea really.

Anyone have any idea where to find one like this? Stew mac only offered the "standard" ones which are larger outer diameter and not as long. Don't care so much about length but its gotta fit in the existing hole...

Appreciate the help,

BHM

 

[bluesholyman]

So I called Fender Customer Service on this one and the guy was like " yeah....gee....uhm....thats a tough one...." I was almost laughing at his response.....but....

they said they are going to get in touch with the factory that built it and see if there are any extra nuts they can send over....

I'll give them an A for trying...

 

[Commodore 64]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#hex-nuts/=12nklok

Any luck there?

 

[Tony Done]

Assuming it is a standard fender style truss rod nut, I would saw a chunk off the stripped end and check the size of any undamaged thread at the bottom of the nut with a few screws. I would guess metric, maybe 3 or 4mm. Come to that, if you remove the damaged part, you might win enough good thread to make it work again. Hopefully the truss rod isn't stripped, that requires special rescue tools.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Sorry about your predicament, but I have to read this as a cautionary tale about made-in-India Squiers.

 

[bluesholyman]

Sorry about your predicament, but I have to read this as a cautionary tale about made-in-India Squiers.

No sir, read this as "don't use a ball-end hex wrench on a india squier truss rod nut. The metal is too soft...but it holds its own with a standard wrench.

I damaged the inside of the hex socket by using a ball-end - dumb move on my part....if I can shave down the inside I can get the 4mm back in there or worst case move it up to a 4.5mm

 

[bluesholyman]

On another note, Fender support was telling me they don't make Squiers in India - he got himself some schooling today...

 

[Vizcaster]

Okay so it's the socket that's stripped so a wrench won't take hold? and the threads that do the work holding the trussrod are okay?

Then I'd take the old nut to a hardware store and try a few known machine screws to verify that the thread is #10, 32 threads/inch. Then the McMaster carr site should have something.

Otherwise you put a new nut on a scrap screw, chuck it in a drill, and rotate it slowly against a bench grinder to machine down the exterior diameter of the nut until it fits in your neck.

Or, and this would be the complete-bugger approach, you could drill out the neck hole if you have a jig that holds the bit at the proper angle, kind of like the way it would be drilled on a scratch-build. Except that enlarging an existing hole is a rather tricky business.

 

[KokoTele]

The truss rod nut he's talking about looks like this:

There's nothing like that in the McMaster catalog and you won't find them at the hardware store. I've never found a 4 mm replacement nut. Total PITA.

I once asked this same question on an acoustic forum and Frank Ford replied that he used to get them from Martin, but I couldn't get anyone at Martin to tell me that they sold them. I suspect he knows a guy in the repair dept., though.

StewMac makes a tapered truss rod wrench that's good for this sort of thing most of the time.

 

[Tony Done]

^^^^ Bummer. It might be possible to cobble something up from a 4mm barrel nut with a screwdrive slot cut in the end.

If it is the hex socket that is stripped, I've made a rescue tool from a bigger hex wrench by tapering the tip. If the thread is stripped, shortening it might work as I suggested. You could drill out the socket and cut a screwdriver slot in the end to win some more space.

 

[bluesholyman]

I have the nut out, and it IS functional. There are bits of metal shaved off the interior of the hex that makes getting the 4mm in there difficult - not impossible, just really difficult.

Would rather just replace the nut if I can but that doesn't look like its in any way easy. I will probably put it back in (so I can play) and at some point find a replacement nut or just put a better neck on it.

A downside to owning the cheaper imports....other than that, decent guitar....