Gibson SJN

[Sevendaymelee]

1 hour ago, E-minor7 said:

Thx - can you see this rod ? , , , or the hole in  which it lives. .

(trying to prepare for the 35-gathering with my pal). 

 

Note - When saying squire, I mean the 1984 D-35 😸

 

 

No. The truss rod in a 70's Martin is glued into a narrow, hollowed-out channel which runs the length of the neck, under the fretboard. So if you want to see it, you'll need to pry it apart lol. 

[zombywoof]

29 minutes ago, Sevendaymelee said:

No. The truss rod in a 70's Martin is glued into a narrow, hollowed-out channel which runs the length of the neck, under the fretboard. So if you want to see it, you'll need to pry it apart lol. 

Yeah, these truss rods were pretty much hollow steel tubes.  If I recall properly Dan Erlewine came up with a trick for inserting a carbon rod in them to add strength.   

Edited September 9, 2022 by zombywoof

[Sevendaymelee]

7 hours ago, zombywoof said:

Yeah, these truss rods were pretty much hollow steel tubes.  If I recall properly Dan Erlewine came up with a trick for inserting a carbon rod in them to add strength.   

That is correct. And even though the neck on this one appears to be one of the good ones, every time I sight it, I feel a teensy bit nervous. 😂

Edited September 10, 2022 by Sevendaymelee

[E-minor7]

12 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

A ‘79 Martin should have a non adjustable rod. 1985 was the first time Martin installed adjustable ones.

More or less, , , my 84 rod can be reached with the authorized Martin 'angle-iron'.

[zombywoof]

10 hours ago, Sevendaymelee said:

That is correct. And even though the neck on this one appears to be one of the good ones, every time I sight it, I feel a teensy bit nervous. 😂

Assuming the D35 went the same route as the D18, D28 and others it would also have the oversized rosewood bridge plate.  While the wood may not matter size does.  From what I have seen on UMGF replacing these with a traditional size maple plate is not that uncommon.

The first time though I had a real job (albeit only temporary) and could afford a new guitar was around 1970.  Even though I did not know diddly about truss rods, bridge plates and such when it came to certainly Gibsons and to a lesser extent Martins, I kept thinking they did not sound as good as the older guitars I had played.  On that trip I ended up with a Guild and then a bit down the road a late-1950s Gibson. 

But one of the other things which has happened is decades later some of those guitars I did not initially like all that much have magically turned into really good sounding instruments.   It started when I re-discovered my Harmony Sovereign H1260,  Lawdy, I just love that thing,  While my opinions of Gibsons built during this period has not gone up a whole lot, I probably should give Martins which rolled out of the factory from the later-1960s into the mid -1980s a new day in court.