Members onelife Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Last year I bought an American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Stratocaster - a great sounding, very playable guitar with one of the best vibrato systems I have ever used. After a couple of months the truss rod started to rattle inside the neck. I brought this to the attention of a Fender rep who promptly arranged for a replacement neck. The new neck was somewhat thinner than the original but it was still very comfortable. A couple of months later one of the pickups started cutting out from time to time. Once again, Fender provided a replacement and all was fine. Last week I noticed a resonance in the guitar at certain notes. I quickly discovered that the truss rod had come loose in the replacement neck. Has anyone else here on the forum had any experience or heard about any problems with this line of guitars? I live in a humid environment but my 25 year old MIJ Strat is just fine as are my Gibsons (one old and one new). I am concerned that, even if Fender replaces the guitar, I may have the same problem again. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inHK Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 I have a similar Amer Deluxe and I live in a very humid environment. I havent had any problems with it at all. Hope it works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 9, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Having the same problem with two different necks makes me nervous. inHK; Does your guitar have a maple or rosewood fingerboard? Do you know if the rosewood fingerboard neck has the "skunk stripe" on the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faber Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Haven't had neck problems with the Fenders Ive owned. I do think you should ask for an entirely new instrument. There is a limit to how much repair work should go into a new instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 No issues with mine. Serial # DZ4003268 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chiro972 Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 I think you just got a lemon. Many of those guitars have held up for decades. Make them replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExtraGum Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Did you ever consider tightening the nut on the rod a bit before throwing the guitar away?It seems weird to me that you've decided, twice, that you need a new neck w/o mentioning the status of the truss rod nut. I can only imagine that you have either .08s on this guitar, else you have quite a bit of relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wizard of Ozz Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Quite a few of my friends own American Deluxe Strats and I've never heard of the same problems you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlackHatHunter Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by chiro972 I think you just got a lemon. Many of those guitars have held up for decades. Make them replace it. That would be my uneducated knee-jerk reaction as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Trader Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 I have to agree with the lemon theory. I live in a very humid climate but my guitars are primarily kept in air conditioned environment except for being transported somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbelt1 Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by Faber I do think you should ask for an entirely new instrument. There is a limit to how much repair work should go into a new instrument. I agree. Each repair that gets made to your guitar depletes it's future value as a collector's item. ~Blackbelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 9, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by ExtraGum Did you ever consider tightening the nut on the rod a bit before throwing the guitar away? It seems weird to me that you've decided, twice, that you need a new neck w/o mentioning the status of the truss rod nut. I can only imagine that you have either .08s on this guitar, else you have quite a bit of relief. I use 10 - 52 gauge strings on all of my guitars and set the action high enough for aggressive slide playing so the truss rod has been adjusted appropriately.On the original neck, the rattle was dependent on the position of the truss rod adjustment and only occurred under string tension. Unfortunately, when the neck relief was set properly it was in the "rattle" range.The replacement neck rattles all the time - even if the neck is removed from the guitar.Thanks to all who replied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walt0915 Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by onelife I use 10 - 52 gauge strings on all of my guitars and set the action high enough for aggressive slide playing so the truss rod has been adjusted appropriately.On the original neck, the rattle was dependent on the position of the truss rod adjustment and only occurred under string tension. Unfortunately, when the neck relief was set properly it was in the "rattle" range.The replacement neck rattles all the time - even if the neck is removed from the guitar.Thanks to all who replied. I'd say that might be the problem right there. Sounds like you put enough bow in the neck the rod is hitting something. Maybe you should try replacing the nut to lift the strings and keep the neck a bit straighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExtraGum Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by onelife I use 10 - 52 gauge strings on all of my guitars and set the action high enough for aggressive slide playing so the truss rod has been adjusted appropriately. Yeah, like I said, sounds like you have excessive relief, which suggests that there is nothing wrong with the neck, and therefore that a new neck won't help anything. I'm no slide player, but as walt says, a tall nut is usually installed for dedicated slide work. The guitar is designed to have at least minimal tension on the truss rod when set up correctly. Sounds like you need a guitar w/o a truss rod at all if you intend for the strings to be the only thing pulling against the natural bow of the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted January 9, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 My 25 year old MIJ Strat is setup the same way and I have never had any neck issues with it. I don't play slide exclusively and I am used to heavy strings and high action for standard playing. Fender and the dealer I bought the guitar from are being very helpful about this and we are all working together to find the best solution. I'm going to have the dealer's tech inspect and setup the guitar and hopefully you guys are right about it just being out of adjustment. Thanks again for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SCREEM Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 I have an 05 Deluxe and have zero issues with it. Sounds like you have a very different setup then most deluxe owners. The neck on mine is amazing I lug it all over, its constantly ajusting to different temps here in Canada with only minute relief changes. I 've only had to adjust the trust rod once. I would have to say to put a slight tention on the trussrod or live with the rattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadwrong666 Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 yuk,my Strat tells me its scared when it reads posts like this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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