Truss Rod Hex Drive No Longer Useable - Brand new guitar - help?

[Tony B]

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction here: I bought a brand new Epiphone from Guitar Centers end last year, and Its been great! Love it! However I noticed some buzzing on the frets last month and decided to take it back to GC for a tune up.

When I picked up the guitar the Tech said the truss rod needed adjusting but the drive hex had a manufacturing defect and he was only just about able to adjust it. Any further adjustment would not be possible.

So I emailed the contact at Epiphone as recommended by GC, and sent photos to a "Terry Green" there who's response was: "the photos of the truss rod nut you sent us were viewed by the Epiphone Returns Cooridinator, who by the way has examined tens of thousands of these instruments, and it was determined there was no evidence of a manufacturer defect. There is a sufficient amount of hexigonal insertion wall to adequately turn the truss rod with the PROPER sized Allen wrench." (typo's from the original email. I felt condescended by the tone of this)

Not sure how I proceed with this. I couldn't persuade the Epiphone guy to contact GC or vice versa.

Just to say I have never attempted to adjust the guitar - way out of my sphere of knowledge, and I've always kept it under safe conditions (humidity and heat) so I don't even know why it needed adjusting in the first place.

Thanks for any ideas

Tony B

Berkley MI

Edited September 23, 2021 by Tony B
adjusted wording

[Tony B]

Some related photos...

[Matt4356]

I'm from the UK, so my opinion may not count as valid as some on this but from what others have said in the past, take it to a proper tech. Get there opinion.

[Randy99CL]

From what I can see in your pic the wrench socket on the truss rod looks fine.  I can see the bottom flats that look perfect with no damage.

Unfortunately, I've learned to have a very low opinion of GC techs, I don't trust them at all and they don't touch my guitars.  It is possible the tech himself used the wrong sized wrench or maybe a worn wrench that slipped.  It is likely that the tech doesn't know what he's doing and the guitar is fine.

If the neck plays OK now he must have adjusted it correctly.  I would take it to a small local shop and have a good tech look at it.

I saw on their website recently that GC gives a 2 year warranty on the guitars they sell.  You could take it back to them and scream until they take it back.

What I did was watched a few videos on YT and learned how to adjust the truss rod myself.  Watch a few different videos to really understand it, I just checked and found about a dozen good videos.  It is very simple and really easy once you figure it out and I've adjusted a couple of my guitars with perfect results.  The first I had to adjust was my Gibson LP and I was nervous and very careful to only make tiny adjustments but it is now better than new. 

Changes in the weather (temp and humidity) can cause the neck to move.  Totally normal to have to adjust them once in a while.

 

[mihcmac]

A lot of people assume that when you have an L shaped hex wrench that you put the short end into the socket and use the long end for torquing it down. On Epiphones the short end is frequently not long enough to seat properly using the 4mm hex wrench that comes with your guitar. So basically use the long end and make sure it seats properly. If needed you can use a small adjustable wrench for additional torque on the short end.

You can also use a longer our straight 4mm hex driver.

It is usually safe to do a 1/8 turn and retune then check to see if its enough, if needed do it again and repeat until it flattens to the direction you want and let it sit for a while and retune. Also as it flattens you may need to eventually adjust the bridge.

Edited September 25, 2021 by mihcmac

[Tony B]

On 9/24/2021 at 6:22 PM, Matt4356 said:

I'm from the UK, so my opinion may not count as valid as some on this but from what others have said in the past, take it to a proper tech. Get there opinion.

Thanks for the reply Matt. Looks like the concensus is to get a second opinion. I appreciate your comments

[Tony B]

16 hours ago, Randy99CL said:

From what I can see in your pic the wrench socket on the truss rod looks fine.  I can see the bottom flats that look perfect with no damage.

Unfortunately, I've learned to have a very low opinion of GC techs, I don't trust them at all and they don't touch my guitars.  It is possible the tech himself used the wrong sized wrench or maybe a worn wrench that slipped.  It is likely that the tech doesn't know what he's doing and the guitar is fine.

If the neck plays OK now he must have adjusted it correctly.  I would take it to a small local shop and have a good tech look at it.

I saw on their website recently that GC gives a 2 year warranty on the guitars they sell.  You could take it back to them and scream until they take it back.

What I did was watched a few videos on YT and learned how to adjust the truss rod myself.  Watch a few different videos to really understand it, I just checked and found about a dozen good videos.  It is very simple and really easy once you figure it out and I've adjusted a couple of my guitars with perfect results.  The first I had to adjust was my Gibson LP and I was nervous and very careful to only make tiny adjustments but it is now better than new. 

Changes in the weather (temp and humidity) can cause the neck to move.  Totally normal to have to adjust them once in a while.

 

Thanks Randy. I never thought to question the GC Tech. It could be that they tried to adjust it with the wrong sized key and experienced "a defective truss rod recess". Nontheless, your advice and video makes me think I can probably adjust this myself. Also thanks for the context of neck movement. It sounds like movement is inherent and adjustment therefore is a necessary skill for a guitarist to acquire.

Much appreciate you taking the time to reply!

[Tony B]

1 hour ago, mihcmac said:

A lot of people assume that when you have an L shaped hex wrench that you put the short end into the socket and use the long end for torquing it down. On Epiphones the short end is frequently not long enough to seat properly using the 4mm hex wrench that comes with your guitar. So basically use the long end and make sure it seats properly. If needed you can use a small adjustable wrench for additional torque on the short end.

You can also use a longer our straight 4mm hex driver.

It is usually safe to do a 1/8 turn and retune then check to see if its enough, if needed do it again and repeat until it flattens to the direction you want and let it sit for a while and retune. Also as it flattens you may need to eventually adjust the bridge.

Thanks "M". That was going to be my next question. (The size of the wrench). I have a pretty good tool kit. The lower E has a buzz since it was serviced so i think there has been some movement. I'll take some tentative steps to adjust it per yours and the above suggesting. Much appreciate you taking the time to reply!

[Pinch]

On 9/25/2021 at 11:37 PM, mihcmac said:

On Epiphones the short end is frequently not long enough to seat properly using the 4mm hex wrench that comes with your guitar

I learned that the hard way. My TR works, but it's Murphy Lab'ed. 

[Tony B]

Managed to successfully adjust the truss rod following the directions above. Thanks to everyone for help and suggestions 🙂

Edited October 1, 2021 by Tony B