First, you are right that you shouldn't have bought it just because it said "Martin" on the headstock. Each individual instrument should be adjudicated on its own merits.
Second, I'm not sure what, "eventually the neck is going to fail" means. A neck can, under prolonged string tension, bow more than would like. Many Martin guitars were made without adjustable truss rods. If necessary, one approach is to adjust the bow using compression fretting. It is very unlikely the neck is going to break ("fail"), even without additional reinforcement.
Third, depending upon the mechanical arrangement, and what about the rod is "broken", it might be possible to repair the necessary parts.
Last, ideally, the luthier would inform you that the truss rod isn't working before undertaking - and charging you for - a full setup, since the first step in any setup of a guitar with an adjustable truss rod is to adjust the amount of neck relief. If you knew before his or her completion of the work, you could then decide whether or not you wanted to sink the cost of a setup into that guitar.
Last edited by charles Tauber; 03-03-2019 at 11:45 AM.
|