Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

[ratherdashing]

I noticed today that I get an ugly buzzing sound on my #1 Strat, especially when playing natural harmonics. It feels like it is coming from inside the neck. I tried tightening the tuners and muting everything I could think of, but the noise is always there. I think it's the truss rod vibrating.

Has anyone had this problem before? What do you do to fix this?

 

[darnright]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Have you checked the truss rod to see if it's loose? It may just be in the "middle" between having pressure on it and being loose. Might just tighten it enough to put pressure on the nut, but not affect the neck bow. I have never had that, so i'm just taking a shot.
On the other hand..could be a broken truss rod, but I think you would have playing difficulties if that were the case.

Good luck!

-dave

 

[formula73]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Have you checked the truss rod to see if it's loose? It may just be in the "middle" between having pressure on it and being loose. Might just tighten it enough to put pressure on the nut, but not affect the neck bow. I have never had that, so i'm just taking a shot.
On the other hand..could be a broken truss rod, but I think you would have playing difficulties if that were the case.

Good luck!

-dave

+1. See if there's any play. I doubt it's broken...that's usually somebody's fault. It doesn't normally just happen out of the blue.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

are you sure it's the truss rod? my strats all have different buzzing and vibration issues...

some the G strings ring loudly behind the nut...

i've had bad tuners gears and the tuning key buzzes at the headstock... at first it sounded like something was buzzing at the bridge!!!! but it was an A string tuner!!!!

and i have a MIM strat that the neck and body vibrates quite maddly when i strum the guitar and the Pickups rattle and buzz in the pickguard... mostly with the open A string and E strings... i even stuck foam under the PU's and that didn't help a lot...

first thing i tell people when they complain they hear buzzing noises is to remove all the strings and tighten all the hardware you can... The tuner nuts on the headstock, the tuner key screws, and all the hardware on the body that is meant to be tight should be tight.. Good thing you checked all that first

 

[Redmist]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Natural harmonics are unlikely to cause truss resonance compared to open string and fretted frequency resonance. I would check everything else.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

If it is the rod as others said you can try to tighten the rod a bit to see if it goes away, but this will eventually cause the neck adjustment to move. First thing to do is to remove the adjustment nut and see if there is any space between the rod and the hole that it sits in. If there is you may be able to slide a sliver of wood in between the hole and the rod. This will work if there is enough room. IF not; the way Fender did this repair was to remove one of the position markers on the fingerboard (usually at the 9th fret). Then a dowel is inserted into a hole and glued while held in place with a clamp. The dowel presses against the rod and stops the vibration.

I have a minor rattle coming from one of my Strats. This recommendation was made to me by my Tech. In my case if I put a tad bit of pressure on the headstock it stops, so I have elected to just put a little pressure on the headstock (rubber band) and it so far has stopped it. I did the same thing. I removed the string trees and tuners to be certain it was not something other than the rod.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

This is some info I picked up on another forum. I don't know for certain whether this will work, but it sounds like a viable solution.

http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=11264

Here is the info:

For those of you that have had troubles with truss rod rattle, I'd like to share with you a product that really does work.

First of all, determine that the rattle is indeed your truss rod, and then make sure that it's not simply a case one that's never been tightened. On my bass, the rod was tight, yet you could hear the rod rattle in the neck when the open E & B strings were played, or if you rapped the back of the neck with your knuckles. I had eliminated all other possible sources of the rattle, and so had my guitar tech.

I'd had this problem years ago with another instrument. I sent it back to the builder, who poured a rubber cement down the truss rod canal to silence the problem. He then sent it back to me. To my horror, when I opened the case, there was brown ooze flowing out of the truss rod canal...it hadn't dried yet! Anyway, once that mess was cleaned up and the glue was dry, the truss rod was all but frozen in place. So this fix was one I didn't want to use except as a last resort. I've also heard of "tool handle plastic" being thinned and poured down the canal in the same way.

Frustrated, I searched around the net, and I found this fix on a repair forum online. With nothing to lose, I gave it a shot. The product is called "Chair-Loc Plus". The idea of the product is to fix chairs without gluing by swelling the wood in the joints. It works within 30 minutes. It comes in a 3-oz bottle with a syringe and two needles. About 9 bucks.

Heres' one source, but there are many online:
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=11264

Anyway, I put the bass on the stand, took off the truss rod cover, and injected some of the Chair-Loc down the truss rod canal. 15 minutes later, no more rattle, even with the hardest rapping on the back of the neck. Woo Hoo!!!

I hope this helps some of you that have had the same problem.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Well, whatever it was, it's not happening today. I definitely think it's the truss rod. I do notice that when I knock on the back of the neck I hear a metallic ringing sound, which is similar in tone to the vibration I was experiencing.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Well, whatever it was, it's not happening today. I definitely think it's the truss rod. I do notice that when I knock on the back of the neck I hear a metallic ringing sound, which is similar in tone to the vibration I was experiencing.

sure it's not the G string ringing out behind the nut?

 

[Bludave]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

sure it's not the G string ringing out behind the nut?

An easy way to tell is to just stuff a paper towel under the strings behind the nut. If it is a string ringing behind the nut, this will stop it.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

sure it's not the G string ringing out behind the nut?

An easy way to tell is to just stuff a paper towel under the strings behind the nut. If it is a string ringing behind the nut, this will stop it.

Bingo ... it was the strings behind the nut after all.

So what's the long-term solution to this? I have heard of people putting a strip of electrical tape around the strings right behind the nut. I'd prefer a more permanent fix, if possible.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Sometimes a new nut will alleviate the problem. If you don't want to go that route, get some foam (egg crate foam usually works best) and cut it down to size.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

So what's the long-term solution to this?

Take up smoking, worked for Clapton...

 

[pinto79]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

I can cut you a new nut if you like. I have blanks in stock...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Bingo ... it was the strings behind the nut after all.

So what's the long-term solution to this? I have heard of people putting a strip of electrical tape around the strings right behind the nut. I'd prefer a more permanent fix, if possible.

i used a Nut file and ended up slightly taking the slot down slightly on one of my strats and it worked... but wraping the string more around the G tuner with slightly more downward angle can help too... Sometimes staggered tuners help.... If you notice the note of the G string above the nut on a Fender headstock is the same as G, or really close... so it rings out by itself with most G notes fretted or played...

MY New MIM strat rings out wildly on the G string... my short term solution was to buy a little rubber pick holder that fits inbetween the D and G strings at the nut... stops them from ringing out...

some guys go all out and add another string tree... but that also adds friction if you are a Trem user

rattles and buzzes drive me crazy on my more Metal strats so i even stick foam in the spring cavity area of my strats to stop them from ringing too.. Very vinatge Stratness i leave the springs alone

 

[InbredJunk]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

For anyone searching this forum or any other for a cure to truss rod rattle, Premier Guitar has a really interesting write up about it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...2Js81ZO3B5Gdet4GQ&sig2=8sLhaM2IiWeCt2VKyGptKQ


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Bingo ... it was the strings behind the nut after all.

So what's the long-term solution to this? I have heard of people putting a strip of electrical tape around the strings right behind the nut. I'd prefer a more permanent fix, if possible.

Give it a Wedgie. This is what I use. http://www.juststrings.com/wdg-wph0...ststringsCSE&gclid=CL32tMrWw8kCFYVrfgod-PMMEQ

For permanent, the right string trees are what should work.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Vibrating truss rod! What do I do?

Two cheap fixes. One, add a Graph-Tech string Tree.

Two find a good sporting goods store that sells tennis racquets, preferably a tennis pro shop. They make these little round do-hickeys that dampen the strings of the tennis racquet--the vibrations that can contribute to tennis elbow. You should be able to slip it in between the G and D (or any two strings), and it should work wonders for damping the strings. About $3-5. They even have Hello Kitty ones!!!

Good luck!

Bill