Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

[Nervustwitch]

I have I believe a 1985(not sure of exact year) USA Dean Baby Z shrimp Fork I have had for about 20yrs that I am refinishing/rebuilding.

Well after having to do wood repairs and re-drilling holes I went ahead and just started setting everything up to test fitment until I get to the truss rod. It is an actual nut in the hole and not an allen. My tool box has several truss rod tools but none fit. I used a normal socket to see what size it was,3/8" or 10mm is what it came out to be.

Now my problem is I can adjust it with a normal socket with the strings of but with it being a shrimp fork headstock the strings pass right over the truss rod opening and then I cant get a socket in there without removing the strings altogether.Plus the socket is a tighter fit in than I would like. But my Jackson wrench fits into it nicely,just not the right size.

I have been searching all over the web and can not find a 3/8 or 10mm box truss wrench. Biggest I can find was an 8mm. I have truss wrenches for about everything.
Anyone have any ideas where to get one?
Do they even make one that size?



Im only saying this last part because I have gotten crap off refinishing this guitar because it was the original Pearl Burst.But I got bored and thought maybe I can save it. So far I have and cant wait to finish this.

Im only refinishing this because this was a pawnshop buy for $100 and whoever owned it decided to add a floating trem to a guitar with a strat style trem and made a big mess routing the recessed cavity and took off too much wood at the nut for the locking nut, thankfully they didnt touch the fret board just the little hump thats similar on strat necks. Plus the bridge nor cavity were even in the right location on the body. 24 3/4 scale but bridge was something like 26ish inches back,wouldnt intonate and sounded horrible.
I only bought this at the time because of what it had....Original Floyd Rose,a set of EMG 85 pups,Grover tuners and a hard case. Guitar itself sat in closet ever since.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

As a member of the Dean Owners of America, and member of the town where the factory is, I absolve you of any grief. Mod away!

No idea where to get the tool. Stew Mac?

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

As a member of the Dean Owners of America, and member of the town where the factory is, I absolve you of any grief. Mod away!

No idea where to get the tool. Stew Mac?

Thanks...lol.

I looked but didnt find one, I have googled everything I can think of. No luck.

I guess it could be a small style socket in similar size to the truss wrench. So anyone know of a brand thats narrow and small socket? My tool box is mostly Craftsman and those are sort of bell or cone shape and that just doesnt fit well into the headstock.

 

[BTMN]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Can you snap a photo of the area in question? '85 would probably be metric as those were Japanese made unless your's is marked USA. Loe to see a full shot of the body and such too please.

 

[PS412]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Would grinding the outside of the socket down work?

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Location location location... fill it out, people.

First thing I would do is remove the nut if you can and verify the size. Will a nut driver fit into the space?

 

[PS412]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Would a deep thinwall socket work

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Can you snap a photo of the area in question? '85 would probably be metric as those were Japanese made unless your's is marked USA. Loe to see a full shot of the body and such too please.

Mine is a Made In USA version. It was stamped into the wood as was the serial number,unfortunately it was been sanded off now to repair the damage that was done. I will be putting the "Made In USA" and original serial# back as a printed type under the clear I will put on.

Like I said earlier this thing was in really bad shape. all the dark and light spots is where I had to fill in.
I went in and filled in the floyd cavity and had to add in a some more wood inside where the block goes. Re-rout the cavity. I didnt rout as deep as what is called for on the floyd.I'm going for a flush mount similar to the EVH Fender and since the neck is set neck and no angle at all the floyd has to be recessed for proper string height. I think I got it perfect considering there wasnt much info I could find on it. BTW that recessed rout was done without a template, just a steel ruler and a couple bar clamps.
I also made it so the rear cavity cover is now recessed,before it just screwed on top of the back.
Anyway its coming along and I already had it setup and playing on it to make sure it was correct with everything I did and its all good now.

Here is the pic. Keep in mind this pic is before I added back the nut shelf that needs to be there that someone else routed off and threw a chunk of hard plastic in its place...I dunno. I did cut a U shape in the new nut shelf to match the current shape of the opening.

rear before I really got to it much:

Before I did too much repair:

And alot done:

NVM that metal bracket in the cavity,it was just there to aid in what I needed to do,it will be removed.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Ok to those that replied with the deep thin wall socket and driver, I have not checked yet as I have most my big tool chests stored in my dads garage/shop since I have no garage right now. I didnt even think of those.
The 3/8" fits perfect on it,very nice and snug. But when trying to find the truss wrench I was mostly coming up with mm sizes online and the 10mm also fit fairly snug,it would be fine for the truss rod since it doesnt require a lot of torque. But seeing this is a early USA made Dean I see the 3/8" fits best.

 

[BTMN]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

That says it is an '83 and yes it would be USA. Cool. Good luck in your search and reworking. Looks like you are on the way. On Facebook? Stop by the Dean Owners Association page and share that with all of us :headbang:.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Considering that is a USA Dean, the nut is most likely SAE thread. Truss rods are usually 3/16" with 10-32 threads. I would be willing to bet a 5/16" Gibson nut would fit right on there.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Considering that is a USA Dean, the nut is most likely SAE thread. Truss rods are usually 3/16" with 10-32 threads. I would be willing to bet a 5/16" Gibson nut would fit right on there.

Well I just doubled checked that 5/16" nut before I answered here, you would lose that bet.Its too small,does not even go on at all. I already tried my truss wrench to both my Jackson's and Gibson,they didnt work either. My Epi and Ibanez use allen wrenches.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

That says it is an '83 and yes it would be USA. Cool. Good luck in your search and reworking. Looks like you are on the way. On Facebook? Stop by the Dean Owners Association page and share that with all of us :headbang:.

Never knew of it,I'll check it out. Thanks for directing me to it.
To be honest Im pretty new to Dean's,Ive had this thing since about 98-99 but I bought it for the parts and didnt figure it could be saved, well I was wrong so far.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Well I just doubled checked that 5/16" nut before I answered here, you would lose that bet.Its too small,does not even go on at all. I already tried my truss wrench to both my Jackson's and Gibson,they didnt work either. My Epi and Ibanez use allen wrenches.

Did you remove the nut that is on there and try a normal 5/16" truss nut? That or remove the current nut, verify the thread count and replace with a nut that you can actually find a wrench for.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Did you remove the nut that is on there and try a normal 5/16" truss nut? That or remove the current nut, verify the thread count and replace with a nut that you can actually find a wrench for.

Yes I did. I have several truss wrenches and none worked with the nut on or off,not even close.
I'm starting to think maybe the nut isnt original since that area had been heavily worked and replaced with a chunk of plastic to create a nut shelf...badly done at that. With that chunk of plastic there I had to remove the whole nut just to get to the truss rod.
I didnt really think about the nut not being original until your reply and this is the only Dean I have ever owned or worked on so I thought maybe Dean was just using some oddball sized nut from other makers.
I think I'm gonna try and take it to the local nut and bolt shop here Monday to get them size it up correctly and see if we can find something that will work out better.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

That is what I was trying to articulate. I doubt the nut is original and probably should be replaced anyway. Do you have a home center close by? Once you know what thread count you are dealing with, getting a correct nut will be easy

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Just measure it whats the big problem?

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Just measure it whats the big problem?

Its not a problem once I realized it most likely isnt the original nut. I was trying to find a proper sized wrench since all the common truss wrenches did not work.

Like I said whoever had this guitar really had no clue what they were doing when modding/upgrading it.

@Ayrton
Understood.
I have many choices in hardware stores here, problem is the usual Home Depot, lowes, ect....have an issue restocking when they run out,its a real crap shoot there on nuts,bolts, screws and such.
When I need those types of things I goto to either Fastenal or Ace Nut and Bolt,they usually have anything I need and several choices....cheaper too a lot of times.




I have only ever bought one other guitar that was this bad or in worse shape than the Dean and thats the one hanging next to the Dean in the pics. That is a 1990 Ibanez RG570 that I got for $50 in 1993. Reason being it was completely stripped down,taken apart and had huge gouges and chunks of wood missing from it. Everything was there just in a box. It has been one of my favorite guitars.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

HD or Lowes will have a display in the nut/bolt isle that you can use to find the thread pitch of the nut. You don’t have to find the replacement there.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Dean Truss Rod Wrench?

Better yet - instead of Lowes/HD, find a Fastenal store. They'll tell you everything about threads/nuts etc...