uncle.fogey - Posted - 09/06/2010:  05:58:57

Is anybody familiar with the Grizzly 2-way truss rods?
grizzly.com/products/H6031

Grizzly is right down the road from me, and I use a lot of their stuff. I use electric bass truss rods for longneck banjos. I have been using hot-rods, which are cumbersome. I am thinking of trying one of these Grizzly ones, and wonder if someone on the hangout has had experience with them. In their catalog, they say they would be are adjustable from inside a guitar, but I would imagine they would also work with the adjustment nut at the fingerboard end.

desert rose - Posted - 09/06/2010:  08:17:16

Hi Ken

Of course they work, they are an adaptation of the rod used by Ibanez. They are available from numerous Korean parts suppliers with an endless variety of nuts at the adjustment end

Their Achilese (sp) heel is the fact they are welded front and back, and I cant count the quantity of rods Ive seen that have failed at one weld joint. When that happens you have PROBLEMS. For the most part you have a replacement free neck due to whoever owns the instrument

Scott

uncle.fogey - Posted - 09/06/2010:  09:51:16

Thanks, Scott,

That's good info. The last thing I would want to do is to have a weld break on one of those things.

They aren't anchored like a tension rod, I wonder if you could pull them out if that happened?

Frisco Fred - Posted - 09/06/2010:  10:13:20

Ken,

I think you can make a better one yourself.

John

desert rose - Posted - 09/06/2010:  10:14:21

A number of years ago when I was doing QC at Fujigen we were making an annaversary JEM model electric guitar. Retail about $2500

I picked up one and it was a bit back bowed. I flexed the neck in my hands like Ive done for thirty five years and heard a very loud BAM

When I sighted the neck it was extremely bowed in the opposite direction. The read weld failed. Out of fourty guitars that day fifteen rods broke when I flexed the neck!!! A whole lot of bad rods. We returned the rest immediately to the Korean maker

Problem with removing the rods is you usually do something to the rod to muffle it inside the neck, or just make a good snug fit, both of these situations make removal all but impossible. If it could be removed easily it most likely would rattle

Ibanez used thousands of these rods, or something similar actually, same construction and of course the vast majority are fine

But if you get some bad ones, to a small maker it could ruin you

Ive found nothing even close to the hot rod for function and reliability. the new ones dont even have the brased nut any more its pinned on so it cant break

If you want to say you COULD make a good rod personally, of course you COULD, but why, the best consistancy comes from people who specialize in doing this no question. Good materials supplier, expensive welding equipment, precision tapping etc. My time is worth more than wasting it on making truss rods. Ive made MANY so Im speaking from experience

Scott

Edited by - desert rose on 09/06/2010 10:18:22