Who, What, Where?

[bruiser1964]

Fender have a really good setup guide that talks you through it... here.... Fender® Support i'ts a while since I've done it so I couldn't remember - just take it easy

[moresound]

Fender have a really good setup guide that talks you through it... here.... Fender® Support i'ts a while since I've done it so I couldn't remember - just take it easy

Thanks Bruiser I'll check it out.

[Lt. Bob]

Dang it! Now what do I do?

Lt. you say to loosen the rod for the bow is away from the strings.

it depends on what you're meaning.

I read your saying it bows away from the strings as meaning that you need more neck relief .... that the neck is arched so that you get the strings too close to the fretboard in the middle and thus some buzzing ...... that if you put the neck on a flat plane the center would be closer to the strings than the ends. In that case it's counterclockwise.

IF what you mean is that the neck bows in a way that gets the strings further away from the fretboard at the middle and you want to bring the strings closer to the fretboard then that would be a bowed neck and you need less relief.

If you take a neck and fret it at both ends and in the middle around the 10-12th fret the strings also touch the frets .... if it's exactly ruler-flat that's NO relief. and if it's actually arched back then you have negative relief. You would loosen the truss rod to correct that (counter clock wise)
To me that was what you described.

If you fret it at each end and in the middle there's a small space between the strings and the fret ..... that's relief. If the strings are far away from the center then you have too much relief and you would tighten the truss rod to correct that (clockwise)

[moresound]

it depends on what you're meaning.

I read your saying it bows away from the strings as meaning that you need more neck relief .... that the neck is arched so that you get the strings too close to the fretboard in the middle and thus some buzzing ...... that if you put the neck on a flat plane the center would be closer to the strings than the ends. In that case it's counterclockwise.

IF what you mean is that the neck bows in a way that gets the strings further away from the fretboard at the middle and you want to bring the strings closer to the fretboard then that would be a bowed neck and you need less relief.

If you take a neck and fret it at both ends and in the middle around the 10-12th fret the strings also touch the frets .... if it's exactly ruler-flat that's NO relief. and if it's actually arched back then you have negative relief. You would loosen the truss rod to correct that (counter clock wise)
To me that was what you described.

If you fret it at each end and in the middle there's a small space between the strings and the fret ..... that's relief. If the strings are far away from the center then you have too much relief and you would tighten the truss rod to correct that (clockwise)

This is the one Lt.
The strings are flat and the neck bows away from them. So clockwise.

[Lt. Bob]

This is the one Lt.
The strings are flat and the neck bows away from them. So clockwise.

1/4 turn at a time maximum.
And go back and read muttleys' suggestions. That's how I'd approach it.

[moresound]

Will do thanks everybody.
I did loosen the strings and the neck did correct back to flat very quickly ... say 1/2 an hour.
Guess it just needs a minor correction.

[muttley600]

I'll try and add a little clarity to truss rod adjustment in general.

The sole purpose of a truss rod is to counteract the pull of the strings. When a set of strings is up to tension it places a considerable amount of tension on the neck pulling the nut end up and bowing the neck. This results in a bow and can be seen by fretting the 2nd and 14th fret, you will see a gap at the mid point. The string is obviously straight therefore the neck must have been pulled out of true. Think in terms of a bow and arrow.

The truss rod works by countering the string tension. As the truss rod is tightened and the tighter it is set the more it pulls the neck back to where you want it. What it is doing is compressing the timber on the back of the neck.

If I have it right what moresound needs to do is add more tension to the rod by tightening it........... The net result would be to pull the fingerboard closer to the strings at the centre of the neck.

The confusion is a result of LtB talking about relief (and he is correct). More relief means more bow or gap, less relief means less bow and more tension in the neck. Relief is the amount of gap under the strings, more relief = less tension.

[moresound]

And there you have it!


HEY! Somebody make this a sticky.

[muttley600]

And there you have it!


HEY! Somebody make this a sticky.

Please no... Cockmunch wouldn't be able to resist..

[moresound]

I can see it all now ..............................