Truss Rods

gyosh

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Chatting with a friend and we were wondering how many manufacturers use truss rods in their ukes. Any idea? And are they used in every model?
 
Which regular model ukulele has a truss rod? I don't know of any. There is a modern trend to put a reenforcement bar in the neck, usually carbon fibre but this isn't a truss rod. A truss rod is adjustable and used on steel stringed instruments to counteract the force of the steel strings. Just no need for one on a classical instrument.

Anthony
 
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Pono has them in their baritones and I think in their tenors too.
 
A guy I play with has a Pono tenor and one of the factors in him choosing it was that it had a truss rod (he's from a guitar background). This might only be in the Pro Classic models though.
 
A guy I play with has a Pono tenor and one of the factors in him choosing it was that it had a truss rod (he's from a guitar background). This might only be in the Pro Classic models though.
My Pono AB that I just ordered has one. I think the tenors in the same series have them too. It was one of the factors I used in my decision to buy a Pono.
 
My Pono tenor does too; it's not just the pro classic models. I love the beefy feel of Ponos. On the other hand, I love how light and nimble my other ukes feel. Maybe I'm just easy to please. :)
 
Although not really a truss rod, I've been sandwiching a thin strip of manzanita in the center of my necks, thinking that it might help stiffen them. Here's a shot.

neck.jpg
 
My two Ponos (MB and MT) both have truss rods and I believe the Godin Multiuke has one as well.
 
i've owned guitars without truss rods and like a ukulele, changing action height is a pain. i don't think anything shorter than a tenor would benefit from a truss rod and could lead to an unskilled owner damaging their instrument. how much up and down movement is possible in such a short neck length. Pono has done some research in this matter (i'm guessing) and sees a benefit in including it. i'm saving my bucks for a future Pono tenor and hope they're not just guessing also.
 
All Pono tenors and baritones have truss rods.

Personally I think it's worth it.
It helps a lot when you want to do a really optimal setup.

Some of my ukes with no truss rods, I have noticed that the action has risen in the first few years of ownership regardless of how well I humidify it and store it. It's a natural phenomenon - the conditions in my room cannot exactly match the conditions that the instrument would have spent in the workshop or music store where I got it from, and the wood does shift a bit.

A truss rod, in skilled hands, can allow for setups to be done again in the years to come.
Without a truss rod, the instrument may develop a backbow or forward bow, which is difficult to compensate for by other means (you can only sand the saddle or file the nut so much).

Some other companies I've coincidently noticed to have truss rods are Godin and Mele (Baritone has a non-adjustable steel truss rod).
 
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Adjustable truss rods are not there to adjust the action... they are there to adjust neck relief. Changing the relief will affect the action, but we are talking about two different things.

The reality is, if the frets are perfectly flat and straight, little to no neck relief is necessary... or even desired.

Modern carbon fiber rods provide enough stiffness to counteract the tension of strings (including steel) - if the builder knows what he/she is doing. In fact, many custom builders are moving away from adjustable rods as unnecessary.

The problem lies with getting the fretboard and frets precisely where they need to be. A high-end builder can charge for the time required to do that... factory operations cannot afford to be as precise - therefore an adjustable rod reduces their labor costs while making sure the customers can achieve an acceptable level of playability.

As an aside... when the action changes on your instrument over time or seasonally, it is 99% likely that the body is moving - not the neck (especially on a nylon stringed uke). Worst-case, the top is not braced sufficiently. Hopefully, it is a humidity issue.

Humidity goes up... action goes higher. Humidity goes down... action goes lower. The answer usually does not involve adjusting the truss rod.
 
wicked, i don't disagree with what you say, but you imply only production type, inexpensive instruments use a truss rod. i don't think that is true. neck relief and action are two different things but one depends on the other. if a slight shift in neck relief occurs i think a truss rod adjustment is a valuable tool to have rather than nut/saddle adjustments or worse, removal of the neck for re-shimming. i think Pono's use of a truss rod is not a bad idea for their longer neck instruments. i do think instruction should come with the instrument so over zealous owners know what to do with the truss rod, ie mostly leave it alone.
 
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