I Finally Get It!!!! I'm So Excited!!!!

[i_wanna_les_paul]

I love Truss Rods!!!!

 

Okay, I put 10's on my Ibanez electric, and I had to learn how to adjust the truss rod and tremelo. Before this, I didn't think I could tell if a guitar needed a truss rod adjustment or not. But through this, I finall learned how to tell if it needs to be adjusted.

 

So I whip out the Seagull, was looking down the neck, and noticed it had too much relief. I adjust it, and whola! Fretting on the first two frets is SO much easier. It's like a new guitar! This is awesome! I wish I had done it sooner.

 

Quick question - how far is it safe to adjust a truss rod? I've just been doing 1/16 and 1/8 turns at a time, but I want to make sure I don't screw anything up too badly. The Seagull doesn't scare me as much as the Ibanez, though, becasue the threads on the rod must be lubed, because there's no creaking sound when adjusting it.

 

I'm so happy!

 

Dustin

[seven7]

congrats!
i get a lot of satisfaction out of adjusting my own guitars too.
just keep it to small turns like you're doing and it should be fine.
just don't ever force the truss rod to turn. if it ever gets REALLY hard to turn then it would be best to leave it alone and let someone with more experience handle it. it can only go so far.

now that you've learned that, you may want to take it further and learn even more about guitar setup, repairs, etc.
if you don't know of it already go to:

http://www.frets.com

this is frank ford's site. it's very informative. and it's even free!

[LittleBrother]

This is redundant but I have a few tricks I use personally. I always loosen the strings the first time I ever adjust it and make sure it turns easy and make sure no lubrication is needed. Once I know I have a good truss situation then I feel better and proceed.

Let's say a year has passed and I need an adjustment and I need the neck to bend back a little. I loosen the strings a little to relieve tension on the truss and neck then tighten the truss rod 1/4 turn or just a tiny bit. Then I tune back up and wait a while then check it. Repeat as needed but let it settle a while each time. This will prevent you getting to a gig and realizing your settings went haywire. I'd even wait overnight and check it again.

The reason I do this so exact is because when you adjust the neck back or tighten the truss rod then action gets lower. This is one reason I NEVER adjust the saddle until the relief is perfect with the strings in perfect tuning.

I hate to see someone file down the saddle for perfect action and then adjust the truss rod only to find out the saddle is too low now and ruined. Sorry, I don't like wooden shims in my guitars.

I hope that makes sense. I usually don't worry about loosening the strings before loosening the truss rod. That doesn't seem as hazardous to me.

Frets.com is the way to go. Best site on the web for repair advice IMO.

[guitarcapo]

Don't go playing with your new discovery too much. I've found that truss rod adjustments are usually only necesarry once or twice in a guitar's lifetime. It's usually the case with a guitar that is about a year old and the wood has settled a bit and you need to tweak it to make the relief better. Most of my older guitars never need one. A truss rod adjustment is not done to lower the string action, although this is often a happy side benefit. The truss rod's sole function is to adjust RELIEF. That small curve you want in the neck to compenstate for the arc of the vibrating string. The action of a guitar can only be adjusted by raising and lowering the bridge saddle or a neck reset (or maybe adjusting the nut slot heights).. A common mistake is to turn the truss rod so that the neck is straight of backbowed in order to get lower action. It makes for a lousy playing guitar. Dial in your truss rod for a good relief and leave it alone.

How do you check for relief? I think the best way is to fret the guitar at the lowest fret and highest fret and look at the gap created between the string and the middle frets. This shows you relief under normal string tension... and a strung up guitar string is a perfect straight edge. You just want a little gap there maybe the thickness of a playing card or two.

[i_wanna_les_paul]

Originally posted by guitarcapo It's usually the case with a guitar that is about a year old and the wood has settled a bit and you need to tweak it to make the relief better.

 

 

Yeah, I bought my guitar new about a year ago, and I used the looking down the neck technique, and noticed that the spaces between the first few frets were very visible when other spaces were not. I was just amazed that adjusting the relief made that big of a difference in playability. I was starting to think my Seagull wasn't too good of a guitar anymore due to how hard it was to play on the first few frets. Now it's all good.

 

I think I still may take it in and have it set up just to make sure everything is where it should be.

 

Thanks!

 

Dustin

[dave251]

Originally posted by guitarcapo Don't go playing with your new discovery too much. I've found that truss rod adjustments are usually only necesarry once or twice in a guitar's lifetime. It's usually the case with a guitar that is about a year old and the wood has settled a bit and you need to tweak it to make the relief better. Most of my older guitars never need one. A truss rod adjustment is not done to lower the string action, although this is often a happy side benefit. The truss rod's sole function is to adjust RELIEF. That small curve you want in the neck to compenstate for the arc of the vibrating string. The action of a guitar can only be adjusted by raising and lowering the bridge saddle or a neck reset (or maybe adjusting the nut slot heights).. A common mistake is to turn the truss rod so that the neck is straight of backbowed in order to get lower action. It makes for a lousy playing guitar. Dial in your truss rod for a good relief and leave it alone. How do you check for relief? I think the best way is to fret the guitar at the lowest fret and highest fret and look at the gap created between the string and the middle frets. This shows you relief under normal string tension... and a strung up guitar string is a perfect straight edge. You just want a little gap there maybe the thickness of a playing card or two.

 

 

 

While many guitars don't need much adjustment, I have had instruments that need constant adjustment; it's really individual regarding each guitar.

 

The "double" truss rod that is common in so many later instruments is usually a bit more stable between the winter and summer, the Gibson style once piece will require adjustments more often, and particularly in figured maple necks.

 

I will agree that "less is more"....do your adjustments in minor increments over a few days, unless you're a pro and have adjusted lots of necks.

[greystoke 2]

My recent ebay buy is a "Hashimoto" D-45 "copy that is gorgeous in wood,abalone and workmanship. When I recieved it , I played my usual Cmaj and was stunned at the sound. It - no lie, 'out Martins' most Martins. However, the action was higher than I prefer and had my local luthier adjust the truss rod and replace the plastic saddle with a bone compensated effort; at the same time he dressed the frets and put the action to Martin factory specs. Now, he told me "I had a soft neck" [No, he was'nt 'coming on to me'!] He said - because my neck was so thin, it had a greater propensity for changing relief and might need adjusting more often than most. So there's another bit of info for everybody that assumes truss rod adjustments are 'cut and dried'.
Greystoke