[Dewy]

I'll post pics if needed, but I have tried every keyword combo I can think of and cannot find for sale or dimensions of the truss rod nut for my old Gibson Melody Maker.

Guitar came to me missing it, and I just assumed they were a standard size, but the local tech said they were an odd thread and reverse threaded to boot... and he had never seen a guitar missing one, nor could he find a replacement.

A machinist friend is going to have a look at it, but claims he couldn't machine a nut that small... seems about 8\32.

Anyone out there got a clue?

[Lcjones]

This may be an indicator ...


"Gibson's and others with a larger acorn style nut at the peghead use a 5/16" nut socket. Taylor uses a smaller 1/4" nut socket. Many Fender Electrics use a 1/8" allen head wrench."

as found at ... http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/trussrods.htm

**
LC

[Dewy]

hmmm, that really would be referring to the outside dimensions for the nut... and the size of wrench/socket needed to adjust it.

But its 220% more than I had to go on a bit ago... thank you very much sir.

[Stratrat]

Dewy - I checked out the website that Les linked to, and Fretnot says they (actually 'she') specialize in guitar repair - maybe they could get ahold of one for you.

[737blues]

Have you tried contacting Gibson directly? Surely they would be able to tell you the original specifications, even if they no longer actually have the part.

[Dewy]

No, I've been all over their site, searched all gibson replacement parts sites... nothing about a truss rod nut.

I saw a 1800 number on the gibson site yesterday... I might give them a call today.

*Edit:
Ok, called them, they referred me to the fellow who said trash it... Although they did offer their restoration services...

[Stratrat]

Anybody who told you to trash a '59 Gibson must be taking massive doses of hallucinogens!

[Dewy]

Well, to be fair, its been sanded beyond recognition and poorly repainted. So it really has less value than the cost of getting it back to playability. No way it could ever be identified by original hardware or id number to my knowledge. I'll post some pics of it soon.

Even in its day it was a cheapie guitar, single coil pickup and thru the guard electronics. This but a double cutaway.

I can't even verify the date... when I say "59" I'm just referring to the date the model appears to be from. Research shows the double cut away was introduced in '62' and changed to the "SG" style horns in '66', so its actually a 62-65 Melody Maker... ha, that cool, narrowing it down!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Melody_Maker

So I doubt there is any collector value to the guitar.

Several of the dots on the fretboard are rattling around, one seems to have been replaced backwards, and has an unsanded finish and glue dot in the middle of it. No Original hardware remains... down to the truss rod nut. It has a thick coat of black gloss (poorly sanded) with flames Airbrushed across the face of the guitar, and what appears to be a stacked humbucker designed to replace a strat pickup.

Studs for a one piece bridge that is missing, and some nice generic locking tuners I'm fixing to pull and slap on my workhorse Dean.

Needs a Truss Rod Nut, a String Nut, and a bridge minimum...

I was thinking This Bridge, and sand bare, finish Clear Satin... Add a PAF in the back and P-90 up front... But thats a lot of work when Gibson has the Les Paul Special Faded Electric.

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by Dewy

... But thats a lot of work when Gibson has the Les Paul Special Faded Electric.

Those faded LP's are pretty cool-looking. I'd also take a look at the Paul Reed Smith (PRS) SE series....a little less money, and PRS' are supposed to be seriously great guitars. One of the guitar mags just did a shootout this month on sub $500 guitars, and the PRS was by far their favorite - they praised it very highly and said that it was close in quality to PRS' high-end $2,000+++) guitars.