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1958 Les Paul JUNIOR, RATTLING TRUSS ROD NORMAL?

marshall1987

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Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,278
I have a 1958 Les Paul Junior that is one of my favorite guitars. It rings like a bell, plays like "butter" (w/ PLEK/refret), and has a medium-fat neck that is a delight to play. I was restringing my Junior last night and noted the truss rod rattled quite a bit after I removed all six strings. Normally I replace one string at a time and don't hear the truss-rod rattling at all. The truss rod works perfectly fine when I set up the guitar and requires about 3/4 turn from slack to achieve the desired neck relief. The truss rod acorn nut, and half-moon washer are NOT compressed into the headstock wood.

Is it normal for the truss rod to rattle when you remove all six strings on vintage '50s Les Pauls (Juniors, Specials, Customs, Standards)? It causes me to think something is possibly broken or loose.

I don't recall the rattling ever occurring on any of my Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls, or the three Norlin-era Les Pauls I have owned. Is this the reason Gibson "modified" their truss rods at some point to include a plastic sheath cover?





 

Jumping@Shadows

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Joined
Dec 11, 2003
Messages
1,330
Does it rattle when you tap the neck? I’ve seen this on a few vintage Gibson’s with zero negative effects, and while a little disconcerting I do not consider it an issue to be worried about, and should there ever be a critical issue with the rod, heating off the board and replacing it wouldn’t be a major challenge.
 

marshall1987

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,278
Does it rattle when you tap the neck? I’ve seen this on a few vintage Gibson’s with zero negative effects, and while a little disconcerting I do not consider it an issue to be worried about, and should there ever be a critical issue with the rod, heating off the board and replacing it wouldn’t be a major challenge.

Yes.

I would have thought the tolerances of the truss-rod channel route would have been a little tighter.
 
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