What the hell... why can't I access my truss rod on my Shannon Soloist?

[Number Of The Priest]

Alright, I was setting up my Shannon Soloist on Friday evening and found that the action at the lower frets was too low and the guitar buzzed a little bit in the lower registers. Fine.

So, I removed the truss rod cover and discovered that the truss rod did not have the "bullet" protruding in the headstock like my RG560 and KE3 have. Therefore, I can't use that little wrench I normally use to adjust my electric guitars' truss rods. Fine.

I'm thinking that it uses an allan key, and it appears so when I look into the cavity, but I'm not exactly sure what size allan key I need. So, I try all five of the keys that I have, and the thickest one I have, which I use to adjust the truss rod in my Takamine acoustic, maybe seems to be the right size. However, I can't be sure since the damn arm is too long and I can't cram the end of it in there.

What do I do? If you suggest cutting down the arm, I will no longer be able to use it to adjust my acoustic truss rods since it won't reach as far any more. Guess I could pay a visit to the music store tomorrow, but the thing is, I'm not even 100% sure what size key the Shannon truss rod takes. Anybody know?

[Model 88]

Re: What the hell... why can\'t I access my truss rod on my Shannon Soloist?

The truss adjustment in my two soloists both use a 3/16 allen key with a ball end instead of square.I can not remember if I used the short end or the long end to make the adjustment.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: What the hell... why can\'t I access my truss rod on my Shannon Soloist?

Sweet, I just measured the big allan wrench I use on my acoustics... it is 3/16ths of an inch. Good.

Ball end? Square? I don't know what I have... mine is like a hexagon, like a pencil.

[Newc]

Re: What the hell... why can\'t I access my truss rod on my Shannon Soloist?

Some wrenches (like for the USA Roswell) have a hexagonal ball on the long end so that you still get a grip even at an angle.
Incidentally, the Roswell's wrench matched my Takamine G330S's (acoustic) trussrod perfectly. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

You may have noticed a pic at Stewmac.com of Dan Erlewine using what looks like a 3-foot long allen wrench on an archtop's trussrod - sometimes it's the only way to get the right pressure and angle on it.

Hit WalMart or an auto parts store (Auto Zone/Pep Boys) for one of those really long wrenches (T-handle) - or a hardware store might have them, but I doubt it.
You might instead only be able to find an allen wrench screwdriver bit and a long extension.

(As an aside, grab one of those Stanley Metric/SAE deep socket sets - perfect for turning the nuts of tuners and pots on both USA and import guitars [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )

Newc

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: What the hell... why can\'t I access my truss rod on my Shannon Soloist?

Yes! I do remember the ball end on those wrenches now. I'll have to ask for one when I visit a music store. I got my acoustic wrench for free... hopefully they'll give me the ball-ended one for free as well. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Thanks! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]