[GuitaristZ]

The neck on one of my guitars needs a truss rod adjustment...the neck is off quite a bit. When I try to tighten the rod it feels pretty stiff. I was wondering if you think it is safe to adjust this rod? Should I just loosen the strings first more? What can I do to fix this? am I risking the neck by tightening it?

 

[Hamm Guitars]

If the truss rod is tight and you need to tighten it more you should back off the rod nut a bit and 'help' the neck into the position that you want it in and then tighten the nut. If you just have the one guitar that you are adjusting, it is easiest to get someone to help you by either pulling the neck back while holding the body, or tightening the nut as you pull the neck back. If you are doing it alone then you have to either wedge or clamp the body in something while you pull back and tighten the nut.

You should never hear anything 'crack' at any time when adjusting the truss rod. Forcing the rod to do the work for you when it is that tight could be disasterous.

 

[GuitaristZ]

on some site it says:

'0.004” and 0.012” for guitars is about average (that’s 0.1mm to 0.3mm).'

and I just checked the distance from the bottom of the string to the top of the 7th fret when the guitar is fretted at the first and last fret. I used a .5 mm piece of pencil lead haha and it is a little less than that so maybe 0.3 mm...so I guess that is good?

 

[Hamm Guitars]

Does it buzz? If not, don't wory about it. It all depends on how you play, if you hit that strings hard it may buzz, but if you play like you normally do and it doesn't buzz, don't wory about it.

 

[GuitaristZ]

aah ok then. thanks Andy!

 

[SCREEM]

.03 sounds fine to me, .01 is for well leveled newish frets IMO and your playing style is a huge factor on neck relief. Don't be afraid to make these adjustments yourself, just be carefull and you will be fine:food-smiley-004: however if it ever becomes impossible to correct the neck without breaking the rod, you can have the neck refreted with frets that have a wider tang forcing a back bow to the neck.

 

[GuitaristZ]

aah ok then. I shall leave it where it stands.

 

[laristotle]

Drop a coupla' drops of penetrating oil in
if the nut hasn't been touched in a long
time. I found out the hard way and had to
replace the truss rod in my LP.

 

[Robboman]

You should never hear anything 'crack' at any time when adjusting the truss rod. Forcing the rod to do the work for you when it is that tight could be disasterous.

Ahh... memories! I did that once to a Gibson Explorer. "CRACK", followed by "F$#@!!!!!!"

I learned my lesson. I actually managed to salvage that one without replacing the rod, but I first had to heat and straighten the bowed neck, remove just a bit of wood from behind the truss rod nut (where the rod broke) near the headstock so I could thread the nut on. Oddly enough, the neck is perfect now and it plays great!

 

[violation]

Haha, when I bought my Ibanez LP it was insanely dirty and needed a setup badly... so I cranked the truss rod over and I heard creaking and cracking. I freaked out but it turned out the goof that owned it before rarely if at all adjusted it, so it was all good. Hands down the scariest moment I've ever had with any guitar.

Either that or the first time I tried to setup a Floyd not knowing anything about it... haha I remember getting so frustrated. Now it's like a 15 minute job, lol.

 

[david henman]

...two things i will not touch: a soldering iron and a truss rod adjustment.

i could save money by being a diy guy, but its worth it to pay someone who knows what they're doing.

-dh