Truss rod question

[shickma0]

Hi all,
I’ve recently picked up a (partially) mint 2017 Mike Dirnt road worn signature bass in Mary Kaye with a rosewood board. Unfortunately the action is pretty sky high after acclimating for a month. It had a mike dirnt signature squire neck on it when I purchased it which I don’t mind (even dirnt himself used a squire on stage back during the trilogy and even during the awesome as **** live album). The neck is in fair condition with a bunch of dings and some fret wear however the truss rod is stripped. It looks like someone’s used a customary sized Allan key in the metric truss rod nut. I’ve tried the rubber band trick, the screwdriver trick and some of stew macs truss rod rescue wrenches. No go on any of them. If any of you had suggestions on how to get the nut out so it can be replaced that would be much appreciated. If it’s stuck then no big deal, I’ll just get an all parts replacement neck (the whole bass only cost me $600 and all the serial numbers match and are correctly dated so it’s legit and these basses retail at nearly 1200 USD so I’ll still come out way ahead if I replace the neck) however if I could save a few hundred it would be nice even nice. Thanks. -S

 

[Freddy G]

Take an oversized hex wrench...something that's just slightly too big to fit in the truss nut. Then carefully file a slight taper onto each of the 6 flats of the wrench so it gets to the smallest dimension at the end of the wrench. You have to be good with hand tools, file the flats so they are all on the correct angle and degree and even in width. The idea is that the wedge effect will grab the stripped walls of the nut. Before you use it though, stick a hot soldering iron on the nut (if you can without burning the wood) for about a minute...it will help release it if it's frozen.
When you insert to wrench really push it in hard so you get a good positive wedge, and keep the pressure of pushing it in as you try to turn it.

Good luck!

 

[chasenblues]

Just asking here,Did Fender use different necks on these? cause that isn't an Allen wrench adjustment nut.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338014323&icep_item=362174942163

 

[charlie chitlins]

Left-handed drill bit.

 

[shickma0]

Just asking here,Did Fender use different necks on these? cause that isn't an Allen wrench adjustment nut.

View attachment 289379

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338014323&icep_item=362174942163

Yea, instead of the standard ones that are usually on the tele basses these have the more modern at neck adjustment instead of the screw at the heel. Thanks for the reply.

 

[shickma0]

Take an oversized hex wrench...something that's just slightly too big to fit in the truss nut. Then carefully file a slight taper onto each of the 6 flats of the wrench so it gets to the smallest dimension at the end of the wrench. You have to be good with hand tools, file the flats so they are all on the correct angle and degree and even in width. The idea is that the wedge effect will grab the stripped walls of the nut. Before you use it though, stick a hot soldering iron on the nut (if you can without burning the wood) for about a minute...it will help release it if it's frozen.
When you insert to wrench really push it in hard so you get a good positive wedge, and keep the pressure of pushing it in as you try to turn it.

Good luck!

I’ll definitely try that. Thanks for the tip with the soldering iron, the stew Mac truss rod rescue wrenches are basically what you’ve described however I didn’t use any heat to try to maybe free it up. Thanks again for the reply! -S