Guitar Neck Adjustments

[vdi_nenna]

I have a guitar with a slightly bowing neck. There is a truss rod adjustment at the base of the neck where body meets the fret board.

The neck is bowing inward, as if there's too much tension from the strings. Can anyone tell me in which direction I should turn the truss rod and by how much or how often?

Thanks,

Vince

 

[Puggie]

clockwise looking at the adjuster should tighten the trussrod which should pull neck back.

if you fret the string at both ends of the neck (at the same time) you should have (IMHO) about 1 /16th of an inch clearance at the 12th fret.

 

[vdi_nenna]

Yep, that's my problem. Too much action.

So if my guitar body is point to the floor and the headstock to the ceiling, then I should go clockwise. Great!

When turning the truss, will I see an immediate adjustment or does the bend take time to relax? Should I do this in small increments?

Thanks for the help!

Vince

 

[sreten]

Hi,

Yes always tighten in small increments. If you don't see a near
immediate effect do not carry on tightening - something is wrong.

If the rod has never been touched start off by loosening it anticlockwise
before you start tightening it - this is always safer for the threads.

🙂/sreten.

 

[DoctorJ]

Remove the strings and use a 24 inch ruler on its edge and adjust the truss rod until the ruler is touching all frets and does not rock end to end. Then your neck should be adjusted flat. Ussually with light gauge strings will pull the neck forward just a bit for relief. If you use heavy gauge strings it may be neccessary to adjust the neck for back bow to compensate for the aded string tension.

 

[wxn]

I can recommend seriously downtuning the strings before any adjustments are made. This way the procedure doesn't strain the neck as much. Other than that, correct truss rod adjustments are a must for any bassist. And fun, too