"loose" truss rod

finest1

hi all

i found another 70's fender strat neck i'm interested in. the seller said the truss rod is "loose" i'm awaiting some more information from the seller regarding why he thinks that. in the meantime i thought i'd ask and find out what this means. worst case scenario does this mean the neck is defective and useless?

WezV

worse case is its useless, if the rod is actually broken or the neck is significantly warped

I would take it to mean they have no tension on the rod. If its' straight like that under string tension it can be an issue.  If its not currently on a guitar I would expect it to resolve with tension.

If it is straight with strings but no tension on the rod, sometimes you can do tricks with the fret level to get it set up correctly with tension on the rod.

If its actually broken and the nut is free turning they can often be fixed, it just depends where it has broken to how easy that is.

If its functionally fine, but has a rattle, there are a few easy fixes that can be attempted to solve the rattle, but it doesn't amplify

ICBM

A lot of 70s Fenders have duff truss rods - either because the neck is too straight or backbowed and the rod is thus loose and can rattle, or so sensitive that the smallest adjustment is almost too much, or the opposite where the rod doesn’t do enough because it was fitted at the wrong depth in the neck and the neck can’t be brought straight enough. I’ve got a ‘76 Jazz Bass with the second problem just now - the rod does nothing even when deliberately overtightened with the neck manually bowed backwards, and as soon as you put string tension on, it turns into a longbow… it’s a real shame as it’s a lovely slim neck profile with some very pretty grain in it, but basically useless as a neck .

finest1

hi all, thanks for your feedback. the seller got back to me and meant that the truss rod was "loose" as in meaning that it turns freely and works as it should!

BillDL

If the neck pulls up under string tension into a tiny up-bow that gives you good but not excessive neck relief that does not need to be corrected with the truss rod (i.e. the adjustment is "loose"), then it is always best to tighten the rod adjustment (bullet?) until it is just nipped up but not exerting any tension on the rod.  Leaving it loose can allow it to vibrate, and leaving the adjuster nipped up means the neck won't be pulled into more relief under different climatic conditions.