I recently had a new bridge put on my guitar. The tech straightened out some bow in the neck & lowered the action on it. I'm not crazy about the new setup. What's the difference between putting more bow in the neck & raising the action (PRACTICAL difference that is-yes I know what each of these means). Which should I adjust first?
action vs. bow
- Thread starter coplinger
- Start date
evhwanabe
New member
coplinger said:
First of all you shouldn't be using the shape (bow) of the neck to raise and lower your action! If you want to lower your action than there is a couple different things you could do like lower your bridge, or file down the nut. Introducing a bow into your neck (the neck bends towards your back) will lower your action somewhat but it also puts a huge strain on your neck. By bending the neck the other way (towards the front) you will in sense raise your action but still will be putting strain on the neck. The truss rod is there for that reason: to keep the neck straight no matter what happens, like changing string gauges or just the wood it self swelling or contracting. If you don't like your action as low as it is now you can either raise it yourself or take it back to the tech and tell him you want it higher.
Let me know if ya want to raise it yourself, I may be able to help you out depending on your type of guitar and bridge set-up.
B
matty_boy
New member
Your neck should have some bow (or relief).
go here to learn more, and learn how
taken from the site:
Neck relief is the amount of bow or bend in the neck that matches the arc of the vibrating strings and allows the strings to vibrate freely without buzzing on the frets. The correct amount of relief depends on how hard your attack is on the strings.
go here to learn more, and learn how
taken from the site:
Neck relief is the amount of bow or bend in the neck that matches the arc of the vibrating strings and allows the strings to vibrate freely without buzzing on the frets. The correct amount of relief depends on how hard your attack is on the strings.
philboyd studge
New member
Check the neck sort of like that site above. I don't agree with a .025 adjustment, that's too much. .010 is fine.
Like it says, capo the first fret, but press down at the 13th fret and put the feeler guage at the 8th fret not the 7th and it should clear of touch a little, and the E string should have a little tone to it and not buzz a whole bunch as it is held down.
Don't overcrank the truss rod, if it needs a lot of adjustment, then it needs the heatlamp treatment.
Like it says, capo the first fret, but press down at the 13th fret and put the feeler guage at the 8th fret not the 7th and it should clear of touch a little, and the E string should have a little tone to it and not buzz a whole bunch as it is held down.
Don't overcrank the truss rod, if it needs a lot of adjustment, then it needs the heatlamp treatment.