All -- A friend of mine has asked me to fix up some electricals on a highly modified 1954 Gretsch Country Club. He also wants me to adjust the truss rod if possible. (He bought this instrument from Jesse Dayton years ago!)
Anyway, having carefully investigated the truss-rod situation on this 63-year-old bit of Americana, I'm seeing something that gives me pause. Initially, I saw that the nut wasn't protruding 100% straight -- it was slightly angled. It also looked like it had been awhile since the adjustment nut had seen any action, so I dabbed it with penetrant a few times before I even touched it.
I thought I'd back off the nut first to give me a chance to inspect the condition of the nut and threads. I put the socket to the nut to loosen it, and it turned counterclockwise, no problem. But then it came to a sudden halt. A bit of careful torque yielded no further turning.
I looked again, and upon closer inspection, it appeared that the whole rod had rotated along with the nut. I turned it the other way, clockwise this time, but again, after 1.5 turns, it stopped. I went back and forth a few times and noticed I could hear some faint squeaking coming from under the 12th-fret area, so I have no doubt that the entire rod is turning all the way down the neck.
Looking again at the nut, it almost looks like the rod is tacked or peened to it, but I'm just guessing -- it's a little to junky for these old eyes to see. FWIW, the nut is 3/8".
All of this begs the question:
What kind of truss rod am I dealing with here? Is it a double-action rod? Is it just broken? Is it something else altogether? I want to proceed very carefully here. Keep in mind, this guitar has been modified quite a bit over the years, so I wouldn't be surprised if the fretboard and truss rod aren't original. In fact, you can tell in the first picture that the fretboard binding looks newer, than the headstock binding. And are those headstone-shaped fretboard inlays original?
Another possible clue -- and it may be meaningless, which is why I'm asking the brain trust -- is that the neck has a bolt at the heel. I've attached a couple of pics to show this. You can see the bolt protruding inside the guitar body where the neck joint is. Outside, you can see where an apparent hole has been plugged. Seems odd to me, but we're talking 1954 here and who knows how many mods.
All thoughts welcome and appreciated!
Many more pics available at https://is.gd/1954GretschCC.