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Hello all what size wrench fits Blanchard truss rods? Thanks Rob

I think it’s a 1/8" Allen wrench. He supplies one with each truss rod.

I had one here, so I measured. Mine is 5/32”

5/32"

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Thanks guys.

4 mm


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Agree 4mm. Ball end is best.

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The Blanchard truss rod back in the day was one of the best choices and it still is. It's unique in that it has a geared like action by cleverly using disparate threads and not gears. So they turn very easily which is also unique.

As such a ball end wrench is fine for these. I used the Blanchard Rod in over 48 guitars and never had a single failure.

But one of the things we see way too often in the world of a very busy repair shop are damaged truss rod adjustors. They are often damaged by ball end wrenches and as such I would not recommend using a ball end wrench for anything that may require significant force to turn it.

Depending on the rod a damaged adjustor can be an end of life situation for the guitar if the economics are not there for a highly invasive operation that depending on how the rod was installed may be required. Or, in other words a poor fitting wrench can significantly damage an instrument.

A better way to go is to heat and slightly bend your truss rod wrenches if for example they need to be inserted at an angle that would have been ideal for the ball end.

Lastly on US made Strats the truss rod adjustor is also very shallow in depth in terms of how much wrench gets in the adjustor. Combine this with a sloppy ball end wrench and these rods on Strats are commonly damaged by ball end wrenches and often beyond even working anymore.

We removed the ball end from our truss rod wrenches in favor of a tight fitting, well formed conventional allen wrench tip.

The difference between 4mm and 5/32" is about .0008", so either will do given the tolerances for socket size seem consistently greater than that value. I like the longer length T-handled wrenches because they can be bent to handle the usual 'hide the truss rod socket' played by some builders. 5/32"/4mm is also a popular size for Asian-sourced truss rods, so order a few of those T-handled wrenches to make up whatever configs you might need. A propane or MAPP gas torch is more than enough to heat for bending... just remember to avoid heating the tip or the vinyl grip areas (a wet paper towel or other heat sink may help).

These are 9" overall length and made in the US. Price is for two of them:

https://www.amazon.com/Bondhus-13109-T- ... B005EO2L5E

A shorter screwdriver-grip, ball end version for working headstock-adjusted rods as on Asian import Teles and Strats:

https://www.amazon.com/Bondhus-38609-Sc ... B013GDYYLI

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