Hi, I have a new Strat Deluxe, that was purchased in December 2009. Not long after I got it, I decided that the action was a bit high, so I took it back to the shop to have it adjusted. I'm not sure if they adjusted just the truss rod or the saddles, or both. In either case, the new action was defiantely nicer to play.

Over the last couple of months it seems to have gotten a bit higher again, and looking at the neck, there seems to be a fairly "decent" concave curature to it. Not excessive, but more than I think it should have given the newness of this instrument and the fact that I use light gauge strings on it. I took it back to the shop yesterday, and the tech proceeded to adjust the truss rod, only to come back and tell me that the neck or truss rod is defective as the truss rod is mxed out - there is no room to adjust the neck. He called Fender, and they are sending a replacement neck.

I'm wondering how common a problem this is on the Deluxe series, which I am told uses a dual truss rod system??

I'm a little miffed at this, given that this guitar was a 50th birthday gift from my wife, and that it is my first electric guitar. It has definately lost some of its glitter over this.

Which Deluxw model is it? The American deluxe or one of the Mexican Deluxe range.

The American deluxes trussrod is bi-flex. It will force backbow and frontbow. Theres a zero point on the rod that can sometimes be a little difficult to get past.

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No no and no

Thanks for the reply, its the American Deluxe (3 noiseless pickups, maple fret board, 3 colour sunburst finish). I was not aware that there was a Mexican Deluxe. A "dead point" eh? I have not heard that before. There is a"high end" music shop close by (I didn't buy it there) and I was thinking of asking them to have a quick look at it. I'm reluctant to force the allen key. The place that I bought it from has ordered a new neck from Fender, but I just find it a bit wierd that the truss rod would be maxed out when it has only been adjusted slightly once in the four months that I have had it. It makes me think its something else, perhaps easily rectifiable.

There are common problems with the American deluxe, the neck particularly the truss adjustment is never one of them in my experience.

I dont blame you for not wanting to force the rod, its not something you should ever do. The only reason I suggest it in this case is to highlight a common occurance on the model.

I'd take it to another Fender dealer (along with the receipt) if I were you. It's entirely possible you got a bad repair person or just somebody not conversant with the model.

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No no and no

I bought it at Steve's Music in Toronto, a highly regarded store that has been around for close to 40 years, with just two other locations in Canada, one in Ottawa and the head store, in Montreal. Their repair shop has a good reputation, though the repair person who looked at it was young, but I'm 50 and and I can't tell you anything about it!

I'm going to take it to the Twelfth Fret, another local institution that's been around for decades and a favorite haunt of the well initiated. Their repair shop is second to none, with first rate luthiers as staff. I didn't take it there first as I didn't buy it there, but I'll let you know what they say. I'm also going to call Fender and see what they have to say.

I just spoke to Fender, and the CSR said that it was the exception, but not unheard of. I can't remember what I was once told about the failure rate of commodities like guitars, amps etc., but I think it was around 2%. I guess I got the luck of the draw.

He said that installing washers and really doing anything else to it would be a temporary fix, and that replacing the neck is the only real option as the truss rod(s) are placed in the neck before the fret board is laid down. He said it is possible that the truss rod moved during assembly, but couldn't be certain.

You should see a good guitar tech, Forget the music store.

I'm pretty shure all the people working in music store as a "tech" they don't realy know what they do.

I live close to Steve's at Montreal and I don't recomment it. Ottawa should be the same.

I fix guitar for myself and friend since many years and I have a Deluxe strat with biflex that I adjust myself.

You should know what you do and it's easy

If you want to know by others guitarist where to go ( in ottawa area?) go
on the web, at Craig list or Kijiji , on musical instrument ( for sale) and ask if somebody can recommend a good tech. It'ts work.

No worries about the English, your English is way better than my French!

The Twelfth Fret in Toronto has very good guitar techs, they might be the best in the city. I am going to take it there and have them look at it, but after speaking to Fender, I'm bracing myself for a new neck.
Thanks for the encouragement.

You are welcome,

You have a good guitar and I'm pretty shure your neck is ok. Did fender will leave you the "old" neck if you put a new one ?

By the way, I"m living in Montréal area and I'm going to Toronto next week, for vacation from tuesday the 13 th until friday 16th.

I want to visit some music strores like Steve's, Long and McQuade, and Capsule Music they have vintage and used gear there.
I found adresses on the web, but I don't see Twelfth Fret. Do you know other adresses for used and vintage music gear ? or pawn ?

I'll visit Kensington Marquet, see Honest Ed, Toronto Aerospace Museum.
Royal Ontariom Museum and the Toronto Zoo to name fews

Capsul and the 12th Fret are the best stores in TO for vintage. The 12th currently has a 69 strat on consignment for $69,000! They have a large collection of vintage teles and strats, as well as Gibsons too. The 12th is the better of the two (IMHO) as they also carry a very large selection of new guitars, a huge selction of hand crafted acoustic, as well as the best collection of banjos, mandolins, dobros, etc.

I live within a 5 minute walk from the 12th, if you are in the area feel free to give me a ding 647-302-0573. Their address is: 2132 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON M4C 1J9 (416) 423-1554, they don't open until 12, and its pretty well useless trying to call as they never seem to pick up the phone.

Their amp selection is not that great, though they have a selection of vintage amps, most of which I think sound like crap. Steve's and Long & McQuade have the best all around selection of new equipment, with Steve's being the better of the two. I find the staff at Long & McQuade to be a little dense. Jerry, the store manager at Steve's, and Peter, one of the sales staff in the electric section, are excellent and very knowledgeable.

Thank's Jared for 12 th fret.

Sure I'll give you a call

Well, the techs at the 12th Fret in Toronto confirmed what the tech at Steve's Music in Toronto said, that yes, the truss rod is defective, and being that the guitar is only four months old, the neck should be replaced. They had a bit more of a detailed explanation as to what might have gone wrong in the production process, but they went on to say that it is not all that uncommon. So, new neck it is.

So you know for sure now that you need a new neck.

I'll take long before you receive it ?

I should ask to excuse what I write about Steve's guitars tech. They seems to have good tech over there

They said 4-6 weeks. In the mean time, I have the guitar. Its totally playable, and as it is, there is nothing really wrong with the action. However, with the truss rod the way it is, it will never be able to be adjusted, over the next year, in particular, it will require some amount of adjustment.

Ya, no worries about your comments on Steve's techs. I have found the guys at the Toronto store to be good. The techs at the 12th fret are better, but they are also 2-3 times older, and therefore more experienced.

Glad you got it sorted out. I couldn't let this thread go without giving my 2 cents on the 12th fret. I have had tons of work done there over the years and they are some of the best guitar techs I have ever come across. Top notch forsure. Anybody getting work done there will be in safe hands. I haven't been able to find anybody that comes close since I moved to London from T.O. a few years back. I routinely make the 2 hour drive cuz they are worth it.
Go Canada!