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I am building my first guitar with a short scale, 12 fret neck. I bought a truss rod that's the next size shorter from what I've used for 25.4" scale, 14 fret necks but I'm not happy with where the threaded block sits: half on, half off the end of the tenon. (first photo below).

I have two options. The truss rod channel currently ends 1/4" from the nut so I could extend the channel to the nut and that would bring the threaded block fully onto the tenon. The other option is to get the next size shorter truss rod which would sit like in the second photo. That moves the truss rod nut 1 1/4" further away from the sound hole, but it would still be reachable with a wrench. Any opinions on which would be preferable, if either?

This also raised a more general question in my mind. Does it matter if the threaded block of the truss rod is positioned past the body joint? Is there any reason to keep it north of the body joint or is it not important? I did a Google image search and found plenty of examples of truss rods with the threaded block south of the joint. Thanks.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I think you'd be fine with either scenario, but if it were me, I'd go with the bottom one after double and triple checking the wrench actually will reach. Don't want no surprises there...

Plenty of guitars are built with the rod slot all the way through the nut, so you should be just fine another 1/4.

I would go with number two as well. I have similar positioning on the size 5 I'm making. No big deal on the truss rod wrench, long wrenches are available or can be cobbled together pretty easily.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"