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How To Set Up Tuss Rod?

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  • How To Set Up Tuss Rod?

    I've recently been getting into setting up guitars and what not. i can set the action, intonation, pickup height (both actual height of pickup and the poles), but i've been having trouble with the neck. how am i suppose to know whether my neck is bowed or not? so people say look down the neck from the headstock, but then what. can you help me out?
    sigpic

  • #2
    Here are instructions for checking the neck with a straightedge:

    http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/trussadjust.htm

    If you don't have a straightedge & feeler gauges, it also covers how to do it using a string.

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    • #3
      I usually site down the side of the neck from the headstock. If there is too much relief I tighten the truss rod and let it sit until it settles in, then check it again. If there is too much backbow I loosen and let it sit until it settles in. You most likely won't notice an immediate change when you loosen or tighten the truss rod. It takes time for the neck to adjust to the new tension or lack thereof put upon it by the truss rod.
      Don't forget the corn. It's nutritious, delicious, and ribbed for her pleasure.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by dg View Post
        Here are instructions for checking the neck with a straightedge:

        http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/trussadjust.htm

        If you don't have a straightedge & feeler gauges, it also covers how to do it using a string.
        thanks dg, this helps alot.
        sigpic

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        • #5
          WRT to sighting down the neck, my eyes must not be very good, because I can't see .010" of relief. My necks all look dead straight to me unless I put a straightedge on them or fret an E string at each end.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by dg View Post
            Here are instructions for checking the neck with a straightedge:

            http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/trussadjust.htm

            If you don't have a straightedge & feeler gauges, it also covers how to do it using a string.

            Sweet link!
            Jackson DXMG Bridge - ToneZone Neck - Air Norton
            Line6 POD X3
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            • #7
              Here's something I wrote for my site...
              ________________________________________

              Checking for Relief

              To check the amount of relief you have, you would fret the guitar at the 1st fret and the 22nd/24th fret, and look at the amount of space between the string and the frets at the 8th to 10th fret area. You would want between 1/64th (hard to get) and 1/16th of an inch for most low action electric guitars.



              The Truss rod and its adjustment.
              While there are a number of adjustable truss rod designs, each shares the same basic principles of operation. Specifically, when a threaded nut is tightened on a threaded metal rod, the resulting tension in the rod alters the curvature of the neck in which the rod is embedded. Adjustment of the rod involves tightening or loosening the nut on the rod.

              The differing string tension reacting upon the neck changes the curvature (bow) of the neck, so the adjustment should be done while the guitar strings are at full tension. Where this is not possible like some Fender style guitars, adjustment is made with the neck off and no string tension and then the relief measurement is taken after the neck is replaced and strings are returned to full tension. This is repeated until the adjustment is correct. The number of turns of the truss rod nut depends upon the amount of bow in the neck, the truss rod design and its installation. Regardless, the adjustment required rarely exceeds one or two full turns of the nut, and is often less than one.

              Usually, the truss rod nut is tightened by turning clockwise and loosened by turning counter-clockwise.

              Tightening the truss rod, pulls it back away from the strings (lessening the amount of relief or the gap). the truss rod is the antithesis of string tension, they work against each other.

              The tension that the strings provide, are what pulls the neck forward and causes the gap.

              A big gap in the middle would be indicative of a truss rod being too loose... Hence allowing the string to be pulling the neck forward and causing the gap. You would want to tighten the truss rod to pull the neck back against the strings hence flattening the neck out.

              On a skinny necked guitar like a jackson, ibeenhad etc. the strings will have a LOT of control over what the neck does,as will the tuning...

              Remember, some guitars that are tuned to C or D, have a lot of trouble with relief, because the lower tuning doesn’t put much tension on the neck and the strings don't react much against the truss rod. The neck then bows backwards and flattens the strings on the frets. So much so, that sometimes, you can’t even loosen the truss rod enough to get proper relief.

              I have that trouble a bit as I tune to D. My own BC Rich Custom has a fairly thick neck, and HAS to be tuned to A440 as it will fret out when tuned to D. At D, the strings don't provide enough tension to pull the neck forward for relief...

              The amount of relief affects the string height at both the nut and at the middle frets. So make sure that the proper amount of neck bow be set before any adjustment of the string height at the nut or saddle. While the amount of bow affects the string height, it shouldn’t just be used to adjust the string height at either the nut or saddle. Adjusting the amount of neck bow is a separate adjustment that must be made before and independent of adjusting the string height at the nut and saddle.

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              • #8
                Cleveland, good points there man.
                What website do you have? Is it a tech site?
                'Howling in shadows
                Living in a lunar spell
                He finds his heaven
                Spewing from the mouth of hell'

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by dg View Post
                  WRT to sighting down the neck, my eyes must not be very good, because I can't see .010" of relief. My necks all look dead straight to me unless I put a straightedge on them or fret an E string at each end.
                  I always go by eye. I just hold down the low E string on the first fret and last fret, check to see how much gap there is between about the 5th and 9th frets. If it looks like more than a .010 or .011 high E string, then I tighten the rod. If it looks closer than that, I loosen the rod.
                  I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by toejam View Post
                    I always go by eye. I just hold down the low E string on the first fret and last fret, check to see how much gap there is between about the 5th and 9th frets. If it looks like more than a .010 or .011 high E string, then I tighten the rod. If it looks closer than that, I loosen the rod.
                    Same here Joe.
                    'Howling in shadows
                    Living in a lunar spell
                    He finds his heaven
                    Spewing from the mouth of hell'

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                    • #11
                      It was a site and forum for local bands, musicians and my guitar biz hobby. Pretty dead these days.

                      Forum
                      http://p066.ezboard.com/btheclevelandmetalzone

                      Was pretty big, but EZBoard crashed a while ago and I lost 2/3rd's of the old post/threads. That was pretty much the end, haha...

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