Loose truss rod

[happy-man]

Just brought home a Simon & Patrick parlor guitar. Want to lower the action. First check out Freeman's "Is My Guitar Sick" stuff. Neck is straight (thank God). Nut ok. Relief - can barely get one business card at 6th fret. Business card goes under string without visibly moving string, but string holds card in place (both E strings this are this way). Action >4/32 at both E strings.

 

Take out saddle, sand it a bit, put back. Action at 4/32 now (I was overly cautious in the sanding). Decide I may loosen the truss rod slightly to get a little more relief before taking the saddle down any more. It takes a 5mm Allen wrench, and... the Allen nut is LOOSE. So I assume there is no pull from the truss rod. Take strings off to check this out better. If I turn the nut 1/8 of a turn (tightening), I hit tension. So there seems to be no truss rod tension. I wonder with a parlor if there is much room for relief adjustment.

 

I guess this is ok, is it? I just can't adjust for any more relief, unless I put some heavier strings on maybe. I don't have any fret buzzing issues. I've got light strings on it, which is what the manufacturer suggests (12-52). This is a parlor guitar.

 

My daughter has a cheap guitar with a truss rod that rattles when you bang on it. I've not worried about that one, because the setup is actually very good (low action, no fret buzz), and it was free (A Jay Jr. that my son won in a raffle).

 

Any words of wisdom, encouragement, suggestions?

 

Scott O

[AK47]

With time the strings will pull you some relief. Be patient. Make sure there is just a touch of tension on the truss rod. This will reduce the possibility of buzzing. I think these S/P parlors have a shorter fret scale. If it does you may want to keep the action slightly higher than a normal fret scale due to looser string tension. Looser tension can cause the strings to buzz at the frets easier.

[happy-man]

The guitar was made in 2001. The store I bought it from had bought out the inventory of another store that had closed, so they didn't know much about it. I emailed S&P to ask about strings, and they told me the year it was made from the serial number. So... I assume it's had time for relief to settle. Unless it wasn't strung up for some time. The old strings that where on it when I brought it home seemed to be the same gauge as the lights I just put on. I'll bring them into work tomorrow to let someone with a micrometer measure them (out of curiosity).

 

I sanded the saddle more, so the action is at about 3/32. Plays better. I did turn the truss rod adjustment until it just hit some tension. My saddle is pretty low at the high E string now, but not at the low E. Funny, my Taylor 110 is the same way; it came that way, and I've never messed with it since the action and intonation are good - and it hasn't changed.

 

Any comments on a saddle being really low at the high E string? It's 4/32 at the low E and 2/32 at the high E. I would have guessed it was lower than that before I measured it. The neck is straight (according to the "Is My Guitar Sick?" straight edge method).

 

Scott O