Agile Truss rod problem!

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

My Agile Septo Pro 727 has a problem. The truss rod is not working: the extremity is stripped. I turn the key but the neck remains the same. I live in Italy so rondomusic do not refund me. A local liuthier told me I have to change it (obviously) but I have to remove the fingerboard, change the truss rod and re-glue the fb. Are there any other options? I'm asking here because I know many ss.org users know a lot about liuthery and guitar mods. The result of this problem is that 4 strings over 7 do not sound perfectly at 2nd fret (1 fret perfectly ) and I have to keep an high action on the TOM. I got used into high action for solos but I also want to fix the problem without removing the fretboard. I love that guitar, it's awesome! But I want it sound the best possible. So... Please help me!!
Thanks in advance

 

[EpicFlail]

I know you said you don't want to remove the fretboard, but it's really not as hard as it sounds. I've removed three fretboards total. You can do it for pretty cheap to. It just takes a lot of patience, a steam iron (for clothes), some razor blades, and a thin putty scraper.

Sorry I don't have any other advice, but fretboard removals aren't that big of a deal once you know what you're doing. Project Guitar has a tutorial on it if you're interested.

If you're not confident in doing it yourself then don't listen to anything I said. I'm just going from my own experience. Hope you get it all figured out!

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

I suggest taking it to a tech to get it fixed. It is relatively simple to remove the fretboard, but if you screw up even a little, you could ruin the guitar. The only reason EpicFlail up here did 3 is that 2 were for practice so he didn't screw up the one that mattered, his SC607b refinish project. And he's made everything seem easy, so I'd be very, VERY careful if you're going to do it yourself.

A tech seems your best option.

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

I think I'll ask a tech... but this situation piss me off.

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

I'm sorry to bump this thread but I must do it. I asked some liuthiers and the best price they offered me is 600€ for removing the FB, replace the TR, re-glue the FB and re-paint the neck. I payed the guitar 800€ and this piss me off. Kurt is not going to refund me. First and second fret on 3 strings sound like shit. Advices? Please help me.

 

[djohns74]

Not sure what you're looking for here to be honest, this is the risk you take when ordering from an overseas company that doesn't offer you a warranty. I think Rondo is a great little company that makes solid instruments for tempting prices, but they do have some pretty well-documented quality control issues. I personally would never consider buying a brand new guitar without a warranty of any kind, and that's essentially what you did. Not much you can do but pay to repair it or learn to do so yourself.

I would suggest ignoring the appearance of the guitar at this point and concentrate on a functional repair which should cut down on the cost somewhat. Either that, or sell it as-is to someone that can do the repair or just wants it for parts and get something else for yourself.

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

From Kurt e-mail: "[...] to change the trus rod is a 1 hour procedure [...]". Italian liuthiers are FUCKING IDIOTS!

 

[SirMyghin]

^^

Kurt is pulling your leg. I have never ran into a way to just 'change' a fretboard. I have heard of rethreading functional rods, but a stripped out rod kind of eliminates that from the realm of possibility.

Every quote on such repairs I have seen is about 800$, and you typically cannot reuse the fretboard (or at minimum it needs to be re-levelled and refretted, a large portion of the price). On a guitar like an Agile, not worth fixing in the least as the work costs more than the guitars are worth.

 

[JStraitiff]

You may be able to simply pull the rod out the end depending on if it was glued in or not. Then the next challenge is finding a rod that fits into the cavity. But before even considering all that, is the head of the rod the part thats stripped? Like you fucked up with the allen key and its just a round hole now? If thats the case you can probably either change it or turn it with something else.

Worst case scenario you are left with a choice to either remove the board yourself or live with the bad action. If you decide to do the work yourself just know you're looking at probably close to a couple hundred dollar investment considering the price of the new board, fretting and leveling supplies and various other tools needed. So if it comes out to be a third of the cost of the guitar is it still worth fixing to you? Or would you rather just put that money back into a new guitar?

 

[ugly_guitar_guy]

A bit pricey, but there's always the SM truss rod rescue kit:

STEWMAC.COM : Truss Rod Rescue Kit

I'd just steam the fretboard off though and have at it. Had to do it twice on my 7 string to fix the LED's in the fretboard after installation. It's not terrible, just time consuming. Expect to spend 2-3 hours.

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

Truss rod extremity is ok! The key fit perfectly but I feel no resistance turning in both directions. I need to search more, I don't want to do it myself. I'm not so good at manual works...

 

[SirMyghin]

You sure it isn't just in a spot where it is not acting? There are points when the truss rod will actually not be doing anything and it will feel 'loose'

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

I turned the key over 720 degrees in both directions...no resistance and neck is always the same

 

[SirMyghin]

And there is no hex to speak of to the recieving part?