Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

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Art Davila
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Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

I got a Gretsch 78 beast thru neck anyone know where is the truss rod adjustment?
There seems to be a little knob in a hole in the back of the body section.
I will post pic when I can resize to smaller pic.
I bought just the neck from ebay no body wing but if this works its going to be a billybo.
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
Art Davila
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

Here are the pics
The first is front view
The second is view of the back
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1Gretsch Neckthru.jpg
1Gretsch Neckthru.jpg (6.74 KiB) Viewed 16393 times
2Gretsch Neckthru.jpg
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

Gretsch and a few others used some interesting truss deigns over the years and your neck may be one of those with a right angle worm gear truss nut. I'll look through my collection and see if I have one that looks like that. Not sure what sort of tool would turn the nut but probably a special tool only Gretsch authorized repair people had access to. Not a bad idea actually, keeping ham-fisted musicians away from the neck adjustment system.
Art Davila
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

Thanks I was not sure if that might be the adjuster for the truss rod.
I did not want to just turn it to see what happens.
Maybe I will look for a gretsch repair center in my area if I can not get a more definitive, ya or nay

The key is simple. push play dough into to get a reverse form the fill it with nail polish to get a positive from.
Next step is make a more durable negative form. made of say copper or aluminum.
Saw the process on some tv show long time ago to fix a old broken key. but I would see if I could buy one first.
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

Just take a section metal pipe that fits over the outside and drill and tap for a setscrew on the side to engage the flat.
Attachments
This is typical of the animal you are looking at. Some of them used a square zither-pin that a drum key might have fit.
This is typical of the animal you are looking at. Some of them used a square zither-pin that a drum key might have fit.
Bill Raymond
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Bill Raymond »

Check on the gretschpages forum; this question has come up there before and I believe that there is a key available for this.
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

I think Art's photo above was misleading. I thought the key needed to fit over a "D" shaped shaft with a single flat but I'm thinking it must have two opposing flats as in the one I posted. Just hacksaw and file a slot in the end of a 5/16" rod. You won't need much torque as the worm gear probably gives you 20:1 advantage
Art Davila
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

Thank you all for the input and I will look into the Gretsch forum.
I didn't know there was a Grestch forum
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

Looks like Burns were the folks responsible for this travesty of engineering. Thank God the thing was banished to the dustbin of history shortly thereafter.
I would certainly verify that the rod can still be adjusted before putting another ounce of energy into the neck shaft.
John Catto
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by John Catto »

personally, I'd pull the fingerboard and replace the rod before I did anything else
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

Actually the rod is fine, you could possibly dig out the gearbox and put a 10-24 standoff nut on the rod. You'll have to dig out the gearbox either way.

The gearbox is big, about 7/8" tall, 1-1/4" across, and just over 1/2" thick.
The gear ration is 15 or 16:1.
Art Davila
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

Sounds like I got kindling.
I bought this because I wanted a thru neck and its a gretsch and I am building a gretsch replica billy bo.
I guess I will shelve this neck till I have better skills to do the work.
As I am not confident building or rebuilding a neck yet / again.
(First attempt was horrible)

I have 4 other guitar builds in the works with bolt ons.
I will come back to this when I get better chops at building.
My Thanx to all who contributed.
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
John Catto
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by John Catto »

Art Davila wrote:Sounds like I got kindling.
I bought this because I wanted a thru neck and its a gretsch and I am building a gretsch replica billy bo.
I guess I will shelve this neck till I have better skills to do the work.
Not at all, don't be put off. It's actually quite easy to remove the fingerboard if necessary, can be done with a household steam Iron and a thin paint scraper or pallet knife. Once done just route the access point and drop the new rod in. Actually quite a straight forward process as long as you don't rush removing the board.
David King
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by David King »

Use some needle-nosed pliers to see if you can get some tension on the rod. Check with a straight edge to see if it moves the neck.
Art Davila
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Re: Gretsch 78 beast thru neck where is the truss rod adjustment?

Post by Art Davila »

Well I guess I can try it.
I wanted 6100 stainless steel frets anyway,
so if I mess up the fret board, I guess I'll get a chance to try it again.

I'll be looking on youtube for videos of the removing the fret board and routing and installing a truss rod
I have a lot of experience on how "not" to do things.
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