HTS Repair Truss Rod Rattle

Truss rods are installed into a small channel in the neck under the fretboard. Sometimes the gap between the truss rod and its channel is slightly large, this leads to whats known as a truss rod rattle.

To identify a truss rod rattle, simply tap the back of the neck and you will here a vibration, sometimes adding tension to the truss rod will remove this vibration

Time to repair approx 1 hrs over 1 day

Before doing the repair, we need to ensure the truss rod is actually engaged.

Here I am using an allen key in the sound hole and checking it is tension, you can also operate the trussd rod to make sure of its working capability

Some Truss Rod Links

Localised Repair.

We drill a pilot hole through the fret marker above our rattles

Like so

Pry the fret marker out.

Using a larger drill bit 6mm, we drill, until we hit the truss rod.

Clean any loose wood from around the top of the surface

Using some watered down Titebond glue, we fill the freshly drilled hole,

You can also use melted wax, but, you would need to preheat the neck to allow the wax to soak into the loose cavitys before it hardens.

Fill to the top with titebond, like so.

Start by standing the guitar upright.

Tap on the back of the neck listening for a vibration/rattle.

Identify if its just at one point, or multiple points.

Loosen and move strings out of the way, no need to remove.

Putting a suction cap onto the fretboard surface, we apply 30psi, this forces the glue into the truss rod cavity.

In a perfect world, we would remove the fretboard, fix the channel or replace the truss rod, however, that adds costs to the job, its always the preferred option IMO.