Is it possible to remove the MIM black truss rod ring and replace it with something more attractive? Or maybe just remove it entirely?

.. just curious; I don't think we have discussed this ...

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I always thought it was just painted on, but maybe I haven't inspected mine closely enough.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

Hmmm, I thought it was a plastic ring.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Hi 01GT: I presume it is cut from a length of black pastic tubing which will be glued into the hole before final shaping of that curved section of the headstock - would that be right?

I'd never thought about it before, but assuming it is glued it would be hard to get out. You'd have to drill it out, and for that you'd need a jig to very accurately position the drill in relation to the headstock, so as not to badly botch the thing.

Then I guess you could get or make a short length of dark wood dowel - walnut is what Fender use on their MIAs. Either before or after gluing that in place you'd need to drill a hole through the middle so as to access the rod nut. Tricky.

All in all I guess it could be done. Damn lotta work, though, and every chance of it going wrong, unless you've got a nice quality engineering drilling/milling machine.

...Shall we give it a go?

Cheers - C

Yes, it's a plastic ring cemented in place before the neck is finished.

The easy fix would be to get artistic and paint it to look like walnut. Will probably chip and look pretty cheesy eventually... if not right away.

I would do nothing. YMMV

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Ceri - First off, I defer to your superior Fender knowledge over mine. But I just wasn't sure if it was a small trim piece that could just be pulled off. But -- as you say -- if it is part of a tube extending the whole truss cavity, then ... clearly ... this curiousity has no merit. This came about because my Squier Thinline has no trim piece, and it looks better than the MIM. I thought maybe I could pull off the "small" trim piece, and ... I thought ... maybe other people have done different things. It looks like that is not the case as it is not so "small". Well, at least more Fender knowledge has been attained.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Hi again 01GT: I doubt it runs the full length of the cavity. Just up at the top end I expect.

I don't have a MIM but I just ran upstairs and looked closely at a MIK Tele I have which also has a black hole lining. The black plastic certainly extends in past the top of the nut but how much further I can't tell. I bet it's just a half inch or so though: no useful purpose to it being much longer than that.

Still, if it is glued in then there will be no merely pulling it out, I'd have thought. Mine certainly seems very snuggly lodged.

It'd have to be dug or drilled out - which would run a high risk of badly damaging the wood.

But if you don't like it have a pull at yours, why not? I could easily be wrong: maybe it'll just slide smoothly out...? Please tell us if you try.

Good luck - C

Ceri - No, I am not doing anything experimental. I love the guitar too much. I just thought there might be some knowledge out there for a mod or removal of some kind. It doesn't bother me that much. Thanks as always, though.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...