This Is An Article About Guitar Shims For Perfect Neck Matching And Alignment

Q:  Is there a problem with my neck pocket I see something in there?

 A: No problem there. It's a shim often used by Haywire, Luthiers and techs for years.
It is necessary in achieving very low action. It's part of the correct process in guitar building, setups or perfect neck matching and alignment.
 specifically:
If you'd like to learn more about the guitar building process
just go to HaywireCustomGuitars.com and click on BLOG for over 100 articles here:
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What is the purpose of a neck shim for a guitar?

A shim when referring to guitar builds is for a thin spacer with specific measurement particular to one guitar only. A shim for one guitar is not interchangeable with another guitar.
The standard terminology used by luthiers for a thin wedge under a bolt-on neck is a shim.

What is the purpose of a neck shim?
To adjust the angle or pitch of the neck.

Why would you need to adjust the angle or pitch of the neck?

Let’s say you replace the neck on your guitar. You install it, level the frets, re-crown, set the neck on all 4 axis, then add the two "E" strings clamp it, adjust your truss rod for proper bow, and then if notice that the height of the strings is high. You also notice that no matter how low you adjust the
saddles, the strings are still sitting way too high above the frets.It’s at that point you
need a neck shim to change the angle so you can adjust strings to your desired string height. Now, it's time measure for a shim. It's like visiting a tailor for a final fitting.

Where is a shim placed?

Under the heel of a bolt-on neck at the bottom or at the edge of the neck pocket. It's called a reverse shim at the other end of the pocket.

What can be used for shim material?

There’s a long list of materials that could be used. You could use a guitar pick, a thin piece of veneer, a business card,  a thin sheet of metal, however: HVAC silver sealing tape is one of the best choices. It is preferable to use a material that can but cut to fit across the width of the neck easily, and/or layered and won't degrade with age. Shims are also sold by Fender and Stewart-MacDonald.

Is it always required to use a neck shim whenever fitting a new bolt-on neck?

No. If after installing the neck and adjusting the truss rod you see
better action possible and you can set your action with string height better then use a shim.

You will need one, because the likelihood of a new bolt-on neck fitting exactly right just doesn’t happen. It's up to us to "make it happen".

Why is a neck shim so often needed for new neck installations?

Because wood is unpredictable in how it will settle in once installed.
No two necks fit exactly the same on a body.


As long as the bolt-on neck is installed properly and has a
 good, snug fit, the shim does not affect sound whatsoever.

Is it true some builders purposely put in a shim gap for tonal purposes?

Some builders do believe that the gap created by a shim actually adds in a
 special tonal quality and keeps the angle correct all in one operation.
                                      Rick Mariner-Haywire Custom Guitars, Custom Shop

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Installing A Bolt-On Guitar Neck

Special Re-print

Installing A Bolt-On Guitar Neck

  at: Haywire Custom Guitars Inc.

If a bolt-on neck will drop in a body with a bit of room to align it right or left that's a good choice so far. Generally when I prep or order a neck I'll fill the heel screw holes. If there are holes already drilled in the neck heel in it then you can try to use them but never trust holes on necks drilled by someone else.  It's always best for the most successful project to drill your own holes in the neck heel (and have a depth stop so you don't drill through the other side and blue tape works well). The optimum way with the least headaches is to simply dowel the holes. Use wooden Bar-B-Que skewers then add glue in the hole break them off in the holes, sand smooth and you ready to go. Now with a fresh clean surface to work with you can move to the next step.  So let's go over how to get it PERFECT.  I have used this method in hundreds of neck installs and it is the best technique. As follows and note: You'll need to add the "two E" strings to the neck before final installation on body to set the string margins exactly but we'll get to that in a minute.

First: Tape the neck plate onto the back of the body vertically and horizontally leaving the holes exposed. Next, using a "C" clamp, add the neck, body and neck plate together and place a thin piece of wood in each jaw to protect the guitar fret board then tighten. Snug it but not too tight. Now, add the two outside "E" strings. This is where a very slight gap between the sides of the neck and body comes in handy and extremely helpful. 

Setting the margins is a critical operation, however not difficult.  Once you have clamped the neck and added the 2 outside strings, face the guitar and move the neck right or left to get the string margins set perfect on each side of the fret board all the way down.

Once this is done then you can enter the final installation steps. Take care to "mark the screw hole depth" on the drill bit with tape bit so as not to drill through the front of the fret board.  Ready? Tighten the clamp, spin the guitar around and drill one hole. Add the first screw (some liquid dish detergent always helps the journey of the screw threads to enter smoothly), spin the guitar back around to check your string margins again and the neck hole alignment within the back plate. If the neck needs adjustment then tap hard on the head stock with the heel of your hand to get everything aligned again. Now you're ready for the rest of the holes to be drilled.

 It is not a difficult process but methodical and deliberate. You follow this on EVERY install and your necks will all come out with the perfect amount of margin space between the outside strings and the edges of the fret board. Once installed the neck may need shims to tilt it either up or back. Be sure and add shims if necessary. They are sometimes critical to eliminating string "Buzz".

  This technique will assure that everything is straight and true. The small gap will help to accomplish this and give you enough room to set the margins exactly right on each side.  Let me know if I can assist further. Also please write us from the Haywire Custom Guitars website and let us know what you're interested in.   And, of course we can add any neck to any body for you.

Rick Mariner-Haywire Custom Guitar Shop

 

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The Mystery of "Roasted Maple" Guitar Necks

Be careful when adding a "Roasted Maple" neck on to a guitar body. 

While there are advantages such as being less expensive when no finish is required and the fact that the roasting process brings out a beautiful caramel color in the wood. There are drawbacks.

Remember the nature of "Roasted Maple" is to be very brittle. Therefore, look closer at the roasted neck than you normally do other necks, specifically the screw holes. It's very interesting but can be a difficult problem if you are not aware of  the characteristics of the roasted wood. Screw threads on the neck plate screws can strip out in the neck holes. It's caused by the roasted wood being so brittle that the insides of the holes are much more prone to strip out versus an non-roasted Maple neck. If you have ever worked with 100 year old wood then you know what you're dealing with. Roasting ages wood significantly.

The stripping of the brittle wood screw threads inside the holes cause the screws to loosen their grip. Strings will pull with lots of pressure when in tune and can cause the screws to slip and the neck to pull away from the body-thus lifting the strings off of the fret board.

This will  cause higher action and make it much more difficult to play. Soon you will be "Fighting with your guitar",  Eventually, the action will to be way too high to play.

When I set it the action on this guitar the last time before shipping, it was very low however the vibration and bumping of travel plus the tension of string pulling can cause the very slow release of the screw threads, screw slippage and thus higher action.This is all very imperceptible at first but will accelerate over time and causes lots of playing problems. 

 I sent back to a customer, a Roasted Maple neck, he asked me to add to a body. When he got it back  he told me it was difficult to play. The whole "difficult to play" problem was very puzzling for me. It went out playing great. Since he didn't change anything I needed to look further into what could have happened. He sent it back and I went to work. I took the whole guitar apart and studied every piece to try and track down what happened. Then, I remembered, the nature of "Roasted Maple" is to be very brittle.

After I discovered this could be an issue not widely known, I filled the neck holes with some small dowels to decrease the size and increase the grip of the screws.

Next, I found some screws with a larger diameter thread to further decrease the hole size.

With those two changes it made the holes extremely tight and much less prone to slipping and more able to keep the neck where I wanted it for great low action.

I re-assembled the entire guitar, re-aligned the neck, oiled the fret board to lessen the loss of moisture which causes even more brittleness. leveled the frets, polished them, added new strings, lowered the action more, re-set the intonation, tuned it and tested and it plays just great. So with all of the changes bearing in mind the characteristics of the wood-I think the mystery has been solved. As always we can add any neck to any body for you.

                                                                     Rick Mariner

Need Help With Your Guitar? Contact us!

At Haywire Custom Guitars you can get help with:

  Adjustments for Acoustic and Electric guitars and...Truss rod adjustments, Guitar Tune-ups, Repairs on electric and acoustic guitars, New guitar pickups, Guitar pickup coil tap switches installed, Treble Bleed circuits for your guitar, Electronics repair, Guitar Neck Shaving and straightening, Guitar neck Re-fretting and fret leveling, Guitar fret re-crowning, Fret polishing, Replacement tuners, add locking tuners, Light weight guitars, lightweight replacement parts,  Intonation settings, Adding guitar strings, Re-building your guitar, Modify your Guitars, lower action on guitars, Guitar finishes, Pick guard swaps, Refurbished guitars, Heavy body replacements with light ones, Replace old guitar bodies with new ones, Adjustments while you wait, Custom guitar knob placement, custom pots and capacitors, Great playing used and new guitars, Custom built guitars, Guitar trade-ins, Guitar neck straightening, Guitar neck replacement, Guitar neck reshaping, thinning or shaving a guitar neck, re-profiling a guitar neck or shaping and duplicating guitar necks, Recessed neck heel for ease of playing guitar, new controls added, pan and blender controls added, rewiring guitar pickups and many more services.

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Calling All Customers

A customer called The Haywire Custom Shop and wanted to price a job on his Bass guitar to lower the action.  He was quoted $35. He said, "Why so high if you're just lowering the saddles?" It occurred to me that he had no idea what was involved but just wanted the saddles lowered to achieve the desired string height. It's difficult to explain to players that reality and their idea of reality are two different things. It's even tougher to explain it without sounding rude. I know what he wanted which is lower action.
He wanted me to do it his way-which was to simply lower the saddles. However, if he already knows how to get the action lower and is asking me to do it, then why should I listen?

This kind of back and forth goes on all the time with customers in our guitar shop. It makes more sense if a customer is going to call an expert for work to let the expert handle it rather than try and "tell him how to do it".  What if we listen to the customer and it comes out badly? Then who's fault is it?  Should we tell the customer we did it the way he suggested and let him think he solved his own problem with some minor assistance from us?  Do we say, sorry you have no idea what you're talking about so we did it the right way?  I often get confused about what to say sometimes when I'm in that situation other than, "what do you like about your instrument and what don't you like"?  Usually while listening I'll get a list started about the likes and don't likes then promise to get everything on the "What I like about my instrument" side of the list before turning it back over to the customer.

We're all customers at some point and need to be mindful that the reason we go to an expert for advice because most likely we tried to remedy it ourselves and couldn't.  Common sense should tell us to shut up and listen, or better yet just describe the problem and ask if it can be fixed, if it's "yes" then say thanks, I'll let you handle it. When will it be ready?  Nothing more needs to be said until it's ready and it's time to decide if the problem has been corrected. If "yes" then that's all there is to it.

 The fix for the above example consists of a several part adjustment process for lowering action starting with the neck, first check the truss rod to see if it's bowed causing higher than normal action, a look at some filing on the nut to gain lower action at the strings near the tuners, then a look at the alignment angle in the neck for some correction, finally lowering the saddles for a four pronged approach that will make him a happy player and provide a long term fix. Apparently the customer didn't know about the other three ways to lower action so was the quote too high?  No, it was very reasonable with many more operations involved than the customer realized.

Let's all try and be better customers always!

We may learn something in the process.
Rick

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What Do Guitar Players, Guitars and Climate Change Have In Common?

 They all have certain moisture levels that will increase and decrease over time.  Recently I received a message from a guitar player with a problem. He wrote: " it's been several months now since buying my new guitar.  I have a problem with the neck.  Three months after the guitar adjusted to the local climate here, there are a butt-load of buzzing frets. Low E string buzzes in numerous places. B,G,D strings buzz in numerous places and 1st fret E and A strings are horrible". "The neck was virtually perfectly straight when it first arrived… almost all of the points at which the fret wires were cut stick out beyond the fret board a small amount, so that when you run your hand up the neck your fingers bump into each fret wire, on the SIDE of the neck…and the fret wire is sharp so it's a very unpleasant experience. It's present on both sides of the fret board".

Hmmm... this is not an unusual problem. Guitars are mostly made of wood and it is the nature of wood to contain a certain amount of "moisture". When the wood loses moisture it shrinks.
This is just plain physics. The metal parts in and on the neck such as frets-are metal, and hold no moisture and therefore do not shrink.  Although we level the frets, adjust and straighten the neck, dress the ends of the frets before departure, sometimes the guitar is not treated very well upon arrival to it's new home. Guitars need to be maintained in a more humid environment than you may think. Get a digital hygrometer to help you determine the proper level so there will be no guesses.

A hygrometer will give you an accurate reading of the humidity level of the environment in which you store your guitar, and  will help you monitor it safely. The ideal humidity range for a guitar is 45-55 percent, but 40-60 percent is generally acceptable. There can be either analog or digital.

 When the moisture leaves the wood and shrinking begins another problem will occur as well.
The newly adjusted neck will generally "Hump" in the middle causing the, "string buzz in numerous places" described above.  It is incumbent upon the player to maintain his/her instrument at an acceptable level of humidity so as to prevent this kind of problem. Of course, players not knowing about the physics of their new guitars will often times blame the builder or manufacturer when in fact they have caused the entire problem.  So be a good friend to your instrument. Respect your guitar, take care of it and it will take care of you.

 

Haywire Custom Guitars

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Why doesn't the tone control work for the bridge-only pickup on my Stratocaster?

Why doesn't the tone control work for the bridge-only pickup on my Stratocaster?

It works on a few, approximately 1% of Stratocaster guitars whether made by Fender or by Squier, or Affinity, Fender Japan, Fender Taiwan, Fender Mexico, American (circa 1991) or Fender China and more have no tone control on the bridge pickup. The tone controls do work for the other four switch positions.

Does this mean your Stratocaster is defective?

No, just a design that was only meant to please the inventor, Mr. Leo Fender.

Leo wanted a pickup position that sounded similar to a steel guitar. So now, the bridge pickup selection has no tone control wired to it whatsoever and no one at Fender Corp. since then has seemed to notice. They have failed to hear what guitarists for years have asked. Can we simply have a tone control on our bridge pickup?

Next time your guitar goes in the shop for any "tweak" whatsoever, ask the tech to put the tone back on the bridge for you. Most likely he'll do it. It's an easy fix. Stop in and see Haywire Custom Shop when you're in Myrtle Beach and we'll fix yours while you wait. 15 minutes and it's done.

The fix is in the highlighted area

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Haywire Custom Shop-Guitar Neck Adjustment Information

Haywire Custom Guitars Neck Adjustment Information

How to straighten your guitar neck with an adjustable truss rod 

The neck of your guitar is adjustable.  It has been made of selected hardwood, and it is kiln-dried to insure proper curing.  The adjustable rod both strengthens the neck and facilitates adjustment of a bowed neck.
Because all guitar necks are subject to great stress as a result of string tension and seasonal change, there are times when a neck could take on a slight bow (or warp) or neck hump.  This will rarely occur.  However, if it does, there is no cause for alarm if you follow the procedure below for proper correction. 

Angled Headstock style of adjustable truss rod (above)

Loosen all strings (it is not necessary to remove strings from guitar).  Pull loose strings to one side so free access to neck adjuster can be gained.
Remove cover (if it has one) so neck adjuster is exposed.  Generally it's an Allen screw or a hex nut.
Sight down the neck from the top (as sighting a down the barrel of a rifle) in order to see just how much of a bow or hump the neck has taken.  Hold the neck up at eye level and sight along the edge of the fingerboard on both treble and bass sides.  It best to place a straight edge on the neck during this process. There are special ones made with cut outs for the frets called a Notched Straightedge below.

 

 If neck is bowed, tighten the adjustable nut  clockwise    

 If neck has hump, loosen the adjustable nut  counter-clockwise 

Place Allen key or hex  wrench on guitar neck adjustment nut and turn very gently (small fractions of a turn at a time).  Keep checking the neck as you proceed with each nut turn.  Once the neck is straight give the adjustment nut a very slight added turn to compensate for the tension the loose stings will add once they are installed and tuned.  TIGHTEN  for " BOW " and LOOSEN  for HUMP. 
Special Note: Be careful not to tighten the nut too much  ( i. e. when it becomes hard to turn ), because it could result in stripping the threads or perhaps even breaking the truss rod. 

Below: see example of a end of the guitar neck Heel or Buttend type-truss rod adjustment 
 

On certain models of Solid Body Guitars the adjustment of the truss rod is made at the lower end of the fingerboard called the Heel or Butt  End. The procedure of adjustment on those is same as above, follow the same pattern of correction as outlined.
If there is string buzzing after you are certain the neck has been straightened, locate the fret at the playing position that causes the buzz. Lower the fret by gently tapping with hammer.  If necessary, file fret down, level and re-crown it.

The New Gotoh Side-Adjuster for Warmoth Pro Guitar Necks       Mechanics For easy and convenient truss rod adjustment

To make truss rod set-up and adjustment more convenient, Warmoth "Pro" Construction necks feature the Gotoh side adjustment mechanism. Inserted between the usual truss rod adjustment nut at the heel and the truss rod, this ingenious device uses inclines and wedges to adjust the rod tension. Initial set-up is still accomplished at the traditional butt end but future small adjustments are then conveniently done on the side of the neck. Unfortunately Gotoh does not offer these mechanisms left handed. Lefty Warmoth "Pro" necks only offer heel adjustments on straight necks, and peg-head adjustments on angled necks. Blog Home For easy and convenient truss rod adjustment              The factory setting is with the side adjustment mechanism centered within its operating range. To adjust your neck for the first time, use the following steps: Neck Adjustment Procedure  Tighten the slotted heel-adjust nut (See A) until the fingerboard is perfectly flat (has no forward curve.) This should cause the side adjust nut to be recessed into the heel approximately 1/16" (1.6mm). Attach the neck and tune the strings to pitch. Detune strings and make necessary relief adjustment using side-adjust nut (See B) and allen wrench. Repeat as necessary.

Have Your Guitar Neck Shaved for A Better Playing Experience

    Uncomfortable with The Feel of Your Current Guitar Neck? Want it To Play Like Your All-Time Favorite?

Ever Have Your Guitar Neck Shaved for A Better Playing Experience?    

Maybe It's Time?

If you have a guitar neck that you just love but it’s a bit too thick--we’ll shave it for you.  

Just one day on our bench..... then back to your door will get your neck shaved to a thickness for more comfort only $135 plus return ship.

 We’ll also replace the finish on the back to help preserve the wood and keep it smooth and beautiful.

 Neck tone is an issue that no empirical evidence has ever put to rest. However, comfort  does affect your playing ability and technique which is what matters most in finding and maintaining your tone. Start with finding a neck that makes playing a joy and enhances your technique in a way that allows you to play your best, then: Find the best amp that suits your ear for the tone you like. However other factors to consider are pickups, effects, speaker enclosures, volume, venue, room size, string gauge, etc.

What is your preference, a thin neck or thick neck ?

Neck thickness should be chosen for what best fits your hands, not the "tone" it has.  That should be the major consideration in the choice of your new neck. The timbre of a fat neck is noticeable. However, most of the tone comes from your playing technique-not the wood.

On an electric guitar  tones are affected by everything from the pickups and amplification to pedals, pickups to speaker enclosures.

In a live situation "wood tones"  in an electric guitar will become even less noticeable.  Let's say everything is equal and the guitar is perfectly in tune and intoned.  The overall sound of your guitar may be noticeably affected by a fatter/ thicker neck but generally only when you are playing without the guitar plugged in to an amp.  So...remember high gain electric guitar tone is very much dependent on a players technique and comfort with his instrument and not the thickness of a neck.

Guitar Neck Shave

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 neck shave needs.

(Repost) 

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Haywire Custom Guitars info about guitars, guitar neck shaves, guitar terms, guitar improvements, guitar modifications, guitar repairs

Haywire Custom Guitars #1Spot for Guitar Players Information

Haywire Custom Guitars Blog-A blog about guitars,Haywire guitars custom shop, guitar neck shaves, guitar terms, guitar improvements, guitar modifications, guitar repairs, guitar necks, guitar bodies, custom guitars,electric guitars, Fender guitars, Stratocasters, Telecasters guitar tips and guitar resources.Great Tips and Ideas for Guitar Players! http://www.haywirecustomguitars.com, http://haywirecustomguitarscustomshop.blogspot.com/2017/08,http://haywirecustomguitars.com/blog.html

Welcome to Haywire Custom Guitars-- guitar blog!

While working on guitars, I have found great satisfaction in figuring out how things work, why they work, and how they might be able to work better. Through the years, I’ve been very fortunate in meeting some wonderfully skilled and knowledgeable people that have been kind enough to share their knowledge and expertise with me. In the beginning, I often wondered why some of these people were willing to spend so much of their own time to share their experiences, but as I became older and more experienced myself, the answer to my question became simple as I realized how gratifying it was to share knowledge and experience with others.  

Guitars are fun, and this blog is an opportunity to share some of the things that I’ve learned over the years with everyone. If you’ve ever wanted to know a bit more about all things related to guitars, take some time to browse through the different articles in the blog.

If there is a particular subject that you might want to know more about, but can’t find it in the existing articles, send me an email about what it is so that I can add the information to The Haywire Custom Guitars blog.

Thank you for checking out Haywire Guitar Info.  I hope you find the information useful to you, and find the experience of learning about guitars enjoyable.

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A Word About Guitar Cases.............

 

Usually at Haywire Custom Guitars we ship our used guitars without a case but we pack the instruments very well. The reason for this is because shipping rates have gotten very high. The extra weight and new rules for dim (dimensional weight) weight add lots of extra "balloon" charges to a guitar which can sometimes double the cost of shipping.  Just like insurance, a case does not guarantee perfect delivery. I have photos from UPS to prove that. We don't want to see our customers pay hard earned money and get very little value for it.

We would rather see our customers save their money on the expense of extra shipping and spendit to buy a case on the other end after they receive their new guitar from the Haywire Custom Shop. They can benefit from all of their purchase money instead of handing some of it it over to the shippers. A good used case is not expensive and will do the job just fine. Some of the players we build guitars for are on the road 24-7 and when in smaller vehicles they have to use gig bags to cut down on taking up too much space.  So, before you opt for or feel as if you need a  "new case" for your guitar think about how it will fit in your life-style.

In the 1950-1969 era when guitars began to sky rocket in sales, cases were generally included with a new purchase.  In 1969 I remember seeing a new Telecaster with a hard shell case for sale in a local music store for $200. Today you can pay close to that just for a guitar case.  Since cases are no longer always "free" with purchase take time to ask yourself if you really want to get saddled with carrying a big heavy case to a gig every night. Maybe a gig bag will work just fine.

 Make sense? 

 Rick Mariner

Haywire Custom Guitars Inc.

Haywire Custom Shop

https://www.haywirecustomguitars.com

843-347-5742

 

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Do You Really Want to Be A Guitar Player?

Being a guitar player involves more than just playing songs for an audience. It's a job and like any job there are some tasks as learning songs, performing flawlessly, being on time, having a great attitude and mechanical adjustments and maintenance of your tools. The main tool being your guitar, of course.

Adjustments can—-and should—-be made periodically to suit your playing style, and it's essential every electric guitar player should be able to do these basic tasks. Do you drive a car? Can you change a tire? Can you adjust the seat? Can you check the oil and air pressure in the tires? Can you put gas in the tank? Most likely you don't go back to the dealer to have these basic things done so why not learn some routine operations on your guitar rather than sending it back or having some else do it? Learning how to change your own strings is a good start, as well as a few other helpful guitar housekeeping tasks. Learning how to set up your guitar properly will make it sound better, make it easier to play, and could possibly improve your playing!

Guitar fret buzz can be an annoying problem for any guitar player. It's very normal for a well setup low action electric to have some minor buzzing. Keep in mind ... if the guitar plays great for you and the buzz is minimal and you can't hear it through the amp then leave it alone. If not, simply raise the action until it's gone. It's not difficult. You can learn how to do it. Empower yourself. Learning some tips for eliminating and fixing guitar fret buzz can make you a more satisfied musician. Be a responsible player and ask good questions to make yourself a better and more valuable player.

Fret buzz is what happens when one or more strings are too close to the frets. The only fret a string should actually touch is the one being played. If it touches any others as it vibrates, it makes an annoying buzzing sound. A little fret buzz is hard to avoid if you like low action. You may need to adjust the string saddles to increase string clearance over the first frets. If you do this yourself, make your adjustments in small increments so you don't raise your action more than necessary.

If you take your time and work deliberately, you should have no trouble making basic adjustments and keeping your guitar in top playing condition. It is up to you, the player, to fine-tune the action on your guitar to fit your personal style. Your string height should be set so your guitar is perfectly tailored to your playing style. Learning HOW to do some basic operations is as important a part of being a guitar player as is as getting along with the others with whom you play. You really want to be a guitar player? Are you sure? Some things you just have to do whether you want to or not--sorry, it's part of the job. Learn some guitar housekeeping, and you'll empower yourself to be a better player and a REAL player instead of a Diva.

When changing your guitar strings remember the following:
Remove, replace, and tune up one string at a time-keeping tension on the neck as you go. Never de-tune or remove all the strings at once. The truss rod is designed and adjusted to provide counter tension to the strings. Removing that tension suddenly can damage or warp the neck. The vast majority of minor buzzing issues are down to playing technique. If your strings only buzz on the frets when you play hard it's normal and no adjustment is necessary.

Sure there are some things that you feel may be beyond the scope of basic guitar maintenance for the average player, but why be average? If you're not experienced with truss rod adjustment let a professional do the guitar tweaking. The same goes for fret filing and crowning, bridge and saddle work, nut adjustments, and so on. Many a guitar has been damaged by wannabe luthiers. Some guitar repair jobs can be done cheaply and easily at home. Instead of chasing around for the perfect guitar, try to find a great guitar tech and take their advice and ask how you can help yourself. You want to be a guitar player, right?  Be one all the way.

Rick Mariner

Haywire Custom Guitars Inc.

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Have You Considered The Impact Thumb Placement Can Have On Guitar Technique?

 Have you ever felt that your hand positioning was somehow holding you back?

It could be that the thumb placement in and around the first position is being crowded out by too much wood.  For the sake of calling it something I like to refer to this problem area as the "Thumb Crest" area. Some necks have too much wood here.  The photos here show just how intrusive the thumb crest area can be on a neck with that problem. In the photo you'll see I have moved it back about 3/4" to give the hand more space in the first position. The area is less crowded, accessed easier, your thumb is free, and now there is more room on the neck to play. Any way to make playing easier is always good.

 Reducing the "Thumb Crest" for more hand access

Moving the Thumb Crest back about 3/4" on the neck is more comfortable.

The Haywire Custom Shop Thumb Crest Reduction process makes playing guitar easier.
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