The ESP Guitar Company

Hello,

I just asked about the second issue last week in https://www.espguitars.com/forums/1963226/posts/4664138-ltd-mh-401b-truss-rod-hex-key-4mm

I do not have the same model LTD. Maybe we can compare some notes to narrow this down

As far as I can work out, my LTD is from 2017 and made in Korea.

I stopped trying to adjust my truss rod for now as I'm worried I would damage it so much I might not be able to get it out incase the nut needs to be replaced.

I'm glad it isn't just me!I'd be happy to compare notes haha. My Iron Cross is made in Korea as well. Maybe they are purposely making the LTD with flaws and issues so people fork over the 3k more for the ESP variant! I'll be honest I'm thinking about getting an "actual Hetfield/collector" guitar and grabbing an ESP Snakebyte or Iron Cross (Even though I have  this LTD) and part of my hesitation in spending the money on one is my experience here with the LTD. Essentially I have used the key that came with the guitar as well as the same size key on a screw driver from StewMac. The key that comes with the guitar has a tendency to get stuck and I have to forcibly yank it out. Thank God for the truss rod cover because the finish is getting messed up underneath it! When I use the StewMac one most of the time it doesn't actually "grab" and it just spins inside. Is that similar to your experience?

I got my LTD secondhand from a guy that had barely played it so I would also assume he has not tried to adjust the truss rod ever. i used my go to 4mm hex key and it slipped when I tried to tighten the nut the very first time. Now there is significant "give" to both sides. I don't want to do any damage to the nut or the head stock, so I'm in limbo at the moment. I can't tighten the nut any further because it did not turn enough for me to get the hex key in in a more counter clockwise position.

As I mentioned in the thread I started, I will try to replace the nut at my local guitar service. They have been on vacation so I have not been able to do it yet. Or I might go to the local LTD dealer as well. Lets see...

That is of course if it is possible to actually replace the nut. Might not be that straight forward on an LTD.

Looks like double action truss rods usually have the nut soldered on :/

Time to start experimenting with making a custom size hex key by filing down a larger size one.

Hmmm I just got my IC back from my guitar tech. He was able to adjust it and set everything up but It looks like the reason I keep hearing buzzing in the fretboard is warpee up slightly where the neck joins the body. He was able to get it sounding much better but the action is much higher  than I loke.  Kinda stinky.

The slight rise in fret height at the body joint is not uncommon on set neck guitars. A quick fret level will fix the problem and get you back to the action you prefer.