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DIY Truss rod adjustment


Dave Scepter

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I was always really scared to put a wrench on my guitar so to speak -- particularly with truss rods... they were a mystery to me. It was only when I did my Stairway to Heaven cover that I dared mess with the rod of my old Yamaha acoustic - it was instantly "better".... I couldn't believe it. I kept waiting for the world to end and the guitar to explode but it never happened. Good times. Touching my Hamer still scares me but I have done a couple of small tweaks (string gauge changes etc)... but I'm still scared to do it.  But I know doing it myself is better because often the process is something you want to do and tweak over a few days (letting the adjustment "settle".... which is why my guitars almost always need a little tweak a week or so after a visit to my tech...)

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18 hours ago, Dasein said:

I was always really scared to put a wrench on my guitar so to speak -- particularly with truss rods... they were a mystery to me. It was only when I did my Stairway to Heaven cover that I dared mess with the rod of my old Yamaha acoustic - it was instantly "better".... I couldn't believe it. I kept waiting for the world to end and the guitar to explode but it never happened. Good times. Touching my Hamer still scares me but I have done a couple of small tweaks (string gauge changes etc)... but I'm still scared to do it.  But I know doing it myself is better because often the process is something you want to do and tweak over a few days (letting the adjustment "settle".... which is why my guitars almost always need a little tweak a week or so after a visit to my tech...)

I had the same paradigm up to around 12 years ago when I began tinkering in earnest. By the way, you get bonus points for using the phrase "my tech" instead of TGP-mandated "my luthier". 

 

 

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I used to be afraid of truss rod adjustments, but I live in a hundred-year-old house in a

climate where 90° summers are followed by winters yielding 120" of snow!  So, neck adjustments

can't be handed off to a luthier without going broke!  Just remember to only go 1/4 turn at a time

and re-check, and you'll be safe...

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The only way ^^^^ works is if you have an overabundance of adjustment time on your hands, that old adage you cite certainly doesn't apply to builders, techs, luthiers, or people whose time with guitars is money. I can guarantee you not even James Tyler, John Suhr, Roger Sadowsky, Tom Anderson, Knaggs ... let alone FCS, GCS or any quantity builder ... let a truss rod sit 24 hours before revisiting. More like 24 minutes or 24 seconds, depending on the quantity one has to cycle. I'd suspect a brand new neck/assembly that has never, ever been exposed to string tension may show some extra "give" a day later, but non-Wizard-profile necks made of decent wood are going to set in to itself with tension quickly. The guys reading this thread, non-manufacturers who are hobbyists and non-touring semipros, need subtle TR adjustments when temp and relative humidity change, aka when your home climate control goes from AC to heater, then from heater to AC. And because your necks have already been exposed to 24/7 tension, your adjustments and tweaks will register immediately.

Where a lot of DIY'ers screw up in regard to a truss rod adjustment, other than obvious defiance like using the wrong tool, turning too much, forcing a stuck rod ... is trying to accurately dial in desired relief with the guitar laying flat on its back on a bench.  Dial relief with playing position in mind. Gravity adds a VERY slight backbow force compared to playing position, where the guitar is basically on its side and gravity can't affect relief or bow. So when dialing flat on a bench, set your relief a tad - just a tad - flatter, so the relief corrects itself when you go to play position.

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29 minutes ago, Jeff R said:

The only way ^^^^ works is if you have an overabundance of adjustment time on your hands, that old adage you cite certainly doesn't apply to builders, techs, luthiers, or people whose time with guitars is money. I can guarantee you not even James Tyler, John Suhr, Roger Sadowsky, Tom Anderson, Knaggs ... let alone FCS, GCS or any quantity builder ... let a truss rod sit 24 hours before revisiting. More like 24 minutes or 24 seconds, depending on the quantity one has to cycle. I'd suspect a brand new neck/assembly that has never, ever been exposed to string tension may show some extra "give" a day later, but non-Wizard-profile necks made of decent wood are going to set in to itself with tension quickly. The guys reading this thread, non-manufacturers who are hobbyists and non-touring semipros, need subtle TR adjustments when temp and relative humidity change, aka when your home climate control goes from AC to heater, then from heater to AC. And because your necks have already been exposed to 24/7 tension, your adjustments and tweaks will register immediately.

Where a lot of DIY'ers screw up in regard to a truss rod adjustment, other than obvious defiance like using the wrong tool, turning too much, forcing a stuck rod ... is trying to accurately dial in desired relief with the guitar laying flat on its back on a bench.  Dial relief with playing position in mind. Gravity adds a VERY slight backbow force compared to playing position, where the guitar is basically on its side and gravity can't affect relief or bow. So when dialing flat on a bench, set your relief a tad - just a tad - flatter, so the relief corrects itself when you go to play position.

We are referring to people who have no idea how to do this, not experts.  

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Exactly, which is why I said you don't need a day of dormancy between adjustments because it's overkill. A truss rod adjustment shouldn't take 3-6 days to dial in, it should take 3-6 minutes. 

Another novice/DIY'er tip: Invest in a notched straightedge. The first thing that happens to EVERY guitar that crosses my bench is a relief assessment using this tool. I just found a clone of my nice StewMac one on Amazon Prime for a measly $16.  25.5 scale on one side, 24.75 on the other, and that side's notches usually accommodate a 25 scale like PRS.

THIS TOOL IS WORTH EVERY PENNY.

Precision Notched Straightedge

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I guess i'm the opposite it never really scared me that much i just jumped right into it Even doing the electronics I had just bought a Hamer prototype II and the finish what was left of it was baaaaad man it was black i played it for a year or so like that because i was afraid to tear it down to have it painted. Then one day i managed to find the Steve Stevens PDF wiring diagram. Which is a little unusual. I say that because the way that wiring diagram is you cant get the mid and bridge pups at the same time for that motherbucker effect. Which i thought was strange but all you have to do is switch the neck and mid pup hots and you can get everything you could possibly want. One day i said the hell with it i'm tearing this thing apart. So thats what i did. Now i do that stuff all the time. 

Anyway the truss rod thing I didn't know for sure but i figured tightening it would straighten the neck. And loosening it would make i bow or scallop. Man i just bought another SG from Zsounds and that neck and bridge were so far out man i couldn't believe it the strings had to be a 1/4  inch away from the neck. That one needed the whole 9 yards man. The thing i like about the gibsons i've had is the precision. Man you can get the strings .020"  away from the frets and have no buzz at all. You have to make sure your bridge height is right as well but thats not difficult. The biggest problem i've encountered with all this is i cant find good pots smooth linear or decent audio taper i have tried just about every brand out there that i can find. I mean you really do need precise volume control for recording some things 

I read somewhere that Hamer pots are the best about being smooth and i'm inclined to believe it because my Hamer eclipse 12 string has the best smoothest pots i've ever seen.  man they are great.  i mean totally smooth the whole way up and down. Of course you know the problem with that. Ya can't find them the last set i bought off Reverb 2 pots for 50 bucks. But hey what are ya gonna do. I'm always checking to see if they scrounge up a couple more. i'll buy them in a heartbeat man.  But like i said the CTS the Seymores the fenders none of them are really very good.IMO They claim to be though.  IMO the best most consistent pots i've found are the Gibsons. 

So if anybody knows where to get consistently good pots please let me know

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12 hours ago, meathead321 said:

I guess i'm the opposite it never really scared me that much i just jumped right into it Even doing the electronics I had just bought a Hamer prototype II and the finish what was left of it was baaaaad man it was black i played it for a year or so like that because i was afraid to tear it down to have it painted. Then one day i managed to find the Steve Stevens PDF wiring diagram. Which is a little unusual. I say that because the way that wiring diagram is you cant get the mid and bridge pups at the same time for that motherbucker effect. Which i thought was strange but all you have to do is switch the neck and mid pup hots and you can get everything you could possibly want. One day i said the hell with it i'm tearing this thing apart. So thats what i did. Now i do that stuff all the time. 

Anyway the truss rod thing I didn't know for sure but i figured tightening it would straighten the neck. And loosening it would make i bow or scallop. Man i just bought another SG from Zsounds and that neck and bridge were so far out man i couldn't believe it the strings had to be a 1/4  inch away from the neck. That one needed the whole 9 yards man. The thing i like about the gibsons i've had is the precision. Man you can get the strings .020"  away from the frets and have no buzz at all. You have to make sure your bridge height is right as well but thats not difficult. The biggest problem i've encountered with all this is i cant find good pots smooth linear or decent audio taper i have tried just about every brand out there that i can find. I mean you really do need precise volume control for recording some things 

I read somewhere that Hamer pots are the best about being smooth and i'm inclined to believe it because my Hamer eclipse 12 string has the best smoothest pots i've ever seen.  man they are great.  i mean totally smooth the whole way up and down. Of course you know the problem with that. Ya can't find them the last set i bought off Reverb 2 pots for 50 bucks. But hey what are ya gonna do. I'm always checking to see if they scrounge up a couple more. i'll buy them in a heartbeat man.  But like i said the CTS the Seymores the fenders none of them are really very good.IMO They claim to be though.  IMO the best most consistent pots i've found are the Gibsons. 

So if anybody knows where to get consistently good pots please let me know

Mojotone has been the closest I’ve found in the normal price range. There are others in the $25.00 each plus range that are very good too. 

https://www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/Potentiometers_x/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer

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20 hours ago, Jeff R said:

Exactly, which is why I said you don't need a day of dormancy between adjustments because it's overkill. A truss rod adjustment shouldn't take 3-6 days to dial in, it should take 3-6 minutes. 

Another novice/DIY'er tip: Invest in a notched straightedge. The first thing that happens to EVERY guitar that crosses my bench is a relief assessment using this tool. I just found a clone of my nice StewMac one on Amazon Prime for a measly $16.  25.5 scale on one side, 24.75 on the other, and that side's notches usually accommodate a 25 scale like PRS.

THIS TOOL IS WORTH EVERY PENNY.

Precision Notched Straightedge

Yeah, but does it work for 24.5" scale?   🤣

 

Seriously, great info and tip on the StewMac Notched Straightedge - absolutely worth every penny.  :)

 

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