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Thread: Truss rod soda straw?

  1. #1

    Default Truss rod soda straw?

    I have been referencing the Siminoff ultimate bluegrass construction manual for my build and it says to use a soda straw on the truss rod. It kind of makes sense using something to isolate the truss rod from any glue squeeze out but it feels weird embedding a straw in my neck. I also haven't been able to find a straw that fits tightly enough on the truss rod to fit in the slot I cut. Has anyone used a straw or something similar? What are your thoughts?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    All my mandolin truss rods are inside soda straws. It doesn't matter if it's a snug fit. Your filler piece that goes on top will squish it down. The important thing is that there's no gluing of the truss rod to the channel.

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  4. #3
    Registered User John Bertotti's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    How about a bit of heat shrink.
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    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Yes, heat shrink is what I use as well.
    Adrian

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    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    What do you imagine would happen if the truss rod got glue on it??
    Has there actually been a problem occur that was attributed to a glued truss rod?
    Phil

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    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by Philphool View Post
    What do you imagine would happen if the truss rod got glue on it??
    Has there actually been a problem occur that was attributed to a glued truss rod?
    Yes. I rigged a way to heat a frozen/glued truss rod with a torch to free it and get it working again.

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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Next time you eat at Olive Garden , ask for a few extra straws.. they're almost the same size as the truss rod, and work great... they are black in color and seem not to be affected by glue....
    kterry

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  13. #8
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Does anyone know if Dairy Queen straws would work? I'm a Warren Buffet fan.

    Actually, I have a few Olive Garden straws that I grabbed for a few other projects where I needed a black tube to run wires through.
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    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    Yes. I rigged a way to heat a frozen/glued truss rod with a torch to free it and get it working again.
    John,
    So you just can't tighten the nut any more at some early point before anything is accomplished?
    Phil

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    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    It was a banjo neck, some epoxy escaped into the truss rod slot somehow and glued the rod securely inside the neck for some portion of it's length. Tightening the nut did no good because the rod was locked.
    (It came down to trashing the neck, removing the fingerboard and digging out the truss rod, or... just maybe... heating it loose. I cut a length of 3/16" rod, threaded it onto the truss rod using the truss rod nut, then heated the protruding portion of the screwed-together rod with a propane torch and let the heat conduct into the rod. It took a few sessions of heating and twisting to free the rod and keep it free after cooling, but it intimately worked and saved the neck from a worse fate.)

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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    I stopped using soda straws after I had a Loar style rod spin inside the neck groove. I had assumed that the truss rod had broken somehow but when I took the fingerboard off the truss rod was perfect. The only thing I can imagine is that the lubricating affect of the straw allowed the truss rod to rotate. I could not figure out a different explanation. I remove the soda straw and replaced the same rod and it worked fine. I like the shrink tube idea.

  18. #12
    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by testore View Post
    I stopped using soda straws after I had a Loar style rod spin inside the neck groove. I had assumed that the truss rod had broken somehow but when I took the fingerboard off the truss rod was perfect. The only thing I can imagine is that the lubricating affect of the straw allowed the truss rod to rotate. I could not figure out a different explanation. I remove the soda straw and replaced the same rod and it worked fine. I like the shrink tube idea.
    Was the rod not fixed to the wood somehow at the heel end? (fixed nut, bend, or something)
    Phil

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    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    It was a banjo neck, some epoxy escaped into the truss rod slot somehow and glued the rod securely inside the neck for some portion of it's length. Tightening the nut did no good because the rod was locked.
    ......
    After the long thread several weeks ago about truss rods, I was convinced that the rods work as a giant longitudinal CLAMP, which squeezes the back half of the neck wood when the nut is tightened. (Just like a giant, strategically placed C-clamp would do.) And that this squeezing (shortening) of the back half of the neck made the neck bend away from the fingerboard side.

    If my assumption were true, and the only action occurring, I'd think that even gluing the rod in place would make little difference.
    OBVIOUSLY MY CONCLUSION IS MISTAKEN. What am I not understanding?

    Both you and Hogo provided great explanations, but I'm missing something.
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    Registered User John Bertotti's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by Philphool View Post
    After the long thread several weeks ago about truss rods, I was convinced that the rods work as a giant longitudinal CLAMP, which squeezes the back half of the neck wood when the nut is tightened. (Just like a giant, strategically placed C-clamp would do.) And that this squeezing (shortening) of the back half of the neck made the neck bend away from the fingerboard side.

    If my assumption were true, and the only action occurring, I'd think that even gluing the rod in place would make little difference.
    OBVIOUSLY MY CONCLUSION IS MISTAKEN. What am I not understanding?

    Both you and Hogo provided great explanations, but I'm missing something.
    I wonder if because anrod was glued in the neck you wouldn’t get compression the full length of the neck. You would only have compression over the area from the nut to where ever the rod was secured, in this case the spot that was glued. If it was glued an inch from the nut you would compress that inch. The glue changed the anchor point.
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  22. #15
    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Okay. That makes sense to me.
    Thanks.
    Phil

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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Bertotti View Post
    ...You would only have compression over the area from the nut to where ever the rod was secured, in this case the spot that was glued...
    This is correct, and in the case of the banjo neck the rod was glued right at the nut end so tightening did nothing.
    (As I remember, the peghead had been glued back on after breaking and whoever glued it let some glue go in beside/around the rod.)

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  25. #17

    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Looks like I'm taking a trip to olive garden? It sounds like that is something I don't want to leave out. I'd hate to have issues with the truss rod.

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    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    What restaurant did Lloyd Loar get his straws from?
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  27. #19

    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by buckhorn View Post
    Next time you eat at Olive Garden , ask for a few extra straws.. they're almost the same size as the truss rod, and work great... they are black in color and seem not to be affected by glue....

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin_newbie View Post
    Looks like I'm taking a trip to olive garden? It sounds like that is something I don't want to leave out. I'd hate to have issues with the truss rod.
    You might want to stock up while they're still available, before the straw suppliers switch to some other material that might not work as well - I keep seeing headlines that some regions are trying to ban all plastic drinking straws.


    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Egerton View Post
    What restaurant did Lloyd Loar get his straws from?

  28. #20

    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by JL277z View Post
    You might want to stock up while they're still available, before the straw suppliers switch to some other material that might not work as well - I keep seeing headlines that some regions are trying to ban all plastic drinking straws.




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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    You'll still be able to get shrink wrap
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    Registered User jim simpson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Egerton View Post
    What restaurant did Lloyd Loar get his straws from?
    Now Mike, that's the last straw!

    News Flash, members of Mandolin Cafe banned from Olive Garden.
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  33. #23

    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    C'mon. You know good and well that Mr. Loar used paper straws. However, they were all tap tuned and had a resonate chamber frequency a half-step down from the body's.


    Sorry. I tried to stay out of it....

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  35. #24
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    ...
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  37. #25

    Default Re: Truss rod soda straw?

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    ...
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Lol! Virzi straw! Very good!

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