Tool Bit Stuck in Truss Rod Nut

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

You might get it with a small magnet, like the ones you sometimes find on the end of small inspection mirrors. Next move after that, a small stick with some CA. After that a small drill bit.

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Magnetics-Telescoping-Retrieving-07228/dp/B0000DINDG/ref=sr_1_16

Also, if you had a really strong magnet you could just let it grab on to your truss rod adjustment wrench. Might be enough grab to extract the other remnant.

[Elaine S Hartstein Hartstein Guitars]

It is good and stuck. What would I do with a drill bit? Thanks.

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

It sucks, but you could mark the center with an awl. You’d want a small drill bit, a little under half the size of the allen stuck in there. Drill a hole at least an 1/8th “. If it’s an allen wrench, it’s hardened steel, so you want a new drill bit and you want to go really slow and maybe add a little oil to the bit occasionally.

Once the hole is drilled, you could use an easy out. https://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-Tools-53535-Extractor/dp/B00004YOBF/ref=sr_1_7 .

Because you’re not trying to extract something threaded, you might be able to just force a wood screw into enough to pull it out.

All this being said, if there’s any way to snap a clearer pic, it would be easier to tell if this what is going on. It is possible, with a double action rod, that the adjustment head snapped off and what you are seeing is just the end of a rod.

[Elaine S Hartstein Hartstein Guitars]

Thank you for the great suggestions, much appreciated.

I’ve been peering at it with light and mirror, and I’m fairly sure that a double ended screwdriver bit has been jammed into the truss rod nut. The end I see looks like a phillips screwdriver. I drilled a hole in the end of a wooden dowel and added super glue gel and stuck it on. It was stuck pretty well, as it was hard to pull off, but the foreign object stayed put. The shape of the dried glue in the dowel hole seems to confirm that the end I’m seeing is a phillips screwdriver bit.

I would have to take the neck off to start drilling. Not sure, but if the neck was off one could possibly grab it with a long-nosed plier. But that is not in the scope of this job.

I’ll tell the owner, who I suspect is missing a double ended screwdriver bit from his collection. They never fess up.

Thank you again.

Cheers,

Elaine