Urgent Care Repost: How To Straighten A Guitar Neck With An Adjustable Truss Rod

Updated on Feb. 14, 2012

Angled Head-stock style of adjustable truss rod

Angled Headstock style of adjustable truss rod

The neck of your guitar is adjustable

In most cases, the neck of a guitar is adjustable. Although the wood is generally hard, dry and stiff it will still bend with string pressure and humidity or lack thereof. In our shop we have to deal with that issue on a daily basis. Inside the neck is a routed channel between the finger board and the neck shaft where a truss rod is placed to compensate for movement on the forward axis of the neck to add stability. The rod is steel and is adjustable. It runs the length of the guitar neck with an opening at one end allowing for adjustments.

The truss rod both strengthens the neck and facilitates an adjustment called "relief" in the neck. A bowed or humped neck can be reversed with skillful manipulation by the adjuster-you. All guitar necks are subject to great stress. This is sometimes the result of seasonal change, Other times when a neck could take on a slight bow or hump are from string changes with gauges higher than normally used. A guitar player will usually know a little about how to make some adjustments on his guitar. Some things however may contribute to a misaligned neck.

Several of the "usual problems" seen are heavier gauge strings which increases the forward pressure, removing all of the strings at once and leaving guitars in a hot car. These actions will cause immediate negative pull and the will revert naturally back to where it started. However, if it does, there is a solution if you follow the procedure below for proper re-positioning of a bowed neck. In our Custom shop this is the procedure we use.

First, loosen all the strings but you will not have to remove them. Push the loose strings to one side to gain access to neck adjuster. Remove cover, so neck adjuster is exposed. It's either an Allen screw or a hex nut. Look down the neck from the top where the tuners are located towards the bridge (similar to sighting a down the barrel of a gun) to see how much of a bow or hump the neck has in it.

It is recommended to use a Notched Straightedge to see how far out of alignment the neck really is. The notches are on both side of the tool. One side has cutouts for a 24-3/4" scale neck and the other is for the most common 25-1/2" scale. They are there so frets can be avoided when the tool comes in contact with the fret board. The frets fit neatly in the cut out and the straight edge will show any problems when it lies straight on the fret board.

At this point, if it is discovered that the neck is out of adjustment, it's time to go to work. Insert the Allen key or hex wrench in the Allen slot or on the adjustment nut and turn very gently in small increments at a time. Checking the neck as you proceed with each nut turn is required. Once the neck is straight keep adjusting a bit more to compensate for the tension the stings will add once they are re-tuned to pitch. Turn right or clockwise for " BOW " alternately left or counterclockwise for a HUMP. Take special care as not to tighten the nut too much because it could result in a broken truss rod, stripped threads and a much larger monetary outlay than originally intended.

This should fix the problem! If there seems to be an inordinate amount of "string buzz" that you find impossible to live with bring it in to your guitar tech for further inspection. If the neck has a "twist" it can void the neck straightening process you have just used and will need attention from a Luthier.

On some "Vintage Guitars" the adjustment is the same but in a different location. It is made at the end of the fingerboard called the Heel or Butt end.

Haywire Custom Guitars "Violator"

Ordering From Haywire Custom Guitars

If you would like to order this or any other custom guitar, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your guitar needs. 

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Why Is My Acoustic Guitar So Hard to Play? I Just Bought It!

I Just Bought This Acoustic  Guitar and It's Un-Playable!

 
The problem with a NEW guitar especially an acoustic is that it's NEW! A new acoustic leaves the factory with very high action and it is not meant to be played until it's set up correctly. It's stiff, tight, hard to play and makes your fingers hurt. The store is supposed to tell you-but sometimes they don't know because no one told THEM. 


The guitar factories typically put out guitars day after day and they never know who it's going to end up with them. They'll say, "Well, we don't set them with low action because we don't know if possibly a slide player, who for the most part like higher action, may purchase it".  Sure we get that. However you really need to relay that kind of info to the stores and players and perhaps give them an option to have a similar model side by side with it to be set up for lower action so customers have a choice-high or low action. We get calls like this all the time from customers indicating-"Hey, it's NEW". "Why is it so hard to play?"


So....what does an acoustic player do?  The best way to deal with it is to contact an independent custom guitar shop to have the action set exactly, where they need it to be.  In our Custom Shop in South Carolina we typically have the customer drop it off or ship it with instructions on how he wants it to play, we'll work on it. When he or she comes back to pick it up-we'll ask them to test it out. If it's fine-that's great! If it needs more work to make it comfortable for them then we'll tweak anything that needs to be done to get it where they want it to be while they're right there to test it so they won't have to come back again with the same problem.


While a NEW acoustic can look beautiful on the wall in the store it may need lots of work to get it where the players needs it to be. An acoustic guitar should play with ease and sound great.  The player shouldn't need to think about the difficulty of playing but rather about entertaining and getting their musical point across and creating the mood for the gig. There is hope. You don't have to sell your guitar or return it  but you need to have it set up properly for YOUR style of playing to be happy. We'll do it for you, just bring it in.  Typically a day turnaround time will get you going and playing comfortably and your fingers will thank you.  

Haywire Custom Shop

843-347-5742 

  

This is a QR Code for HAYWIRE CUSTOM GUITARS INC.. If you have a QR Code scanning app, you can simply scan this image to have this business's information displayed on your phone.

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"Urgent Care Guitar" Services- In One Day !

One Day Urgent Care Services

8 Point Tune-Up     Recessed Heel     Neck Shave   

  Treble Bleed Circuit     Neck Adjustment     
Neck Replacement 

    Fret Replacement     Pick-Up Replacement

These are just some of the things that we think about every day to make your custom guitar exactly right for the guitar player who needs a great instrument for his or her passion-PLAYING GUITAR!!

We're building satisfied players..... One Haywire Guitar at a time!!

       When someone contacts the Haywire Custom Shop to re-build a guitar or do a set up they still have the same feeling that a doctor has about operating on his own child. It’s hard to let go of your guitar-even for some needed updating and modifications.  So, trust is the key.  Once the player has faith that we care and will do a good job then the process begins in earnest.

We have available NOW
 " One Day Urgent Care Guitar Services"

for any special needs guitars needed NOW! 
We'll do it in one day.

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