Archive for November 30th, 2009
A steel stringed electric guitar is a remarkably built musical instrument. From the hollow body of an acoustic guitar to the solid body of a bass guitar to the semi-hollow body of a jazz style electric guitar they all have one thing in common, because of the stress on the neck caused by the tension of the steel strings they all have truss rods in their neck.
Because of the tension on the neck sometimes the neck on a guitar can become bent, think of it like you have a very tight rope tied from your head to your toes, your head would be pulled towards your toes bending you till you were hunched over, another example would be like a recurve bow, take a 36€³ straight stick put a 30€³ string at one end and pull it tight so you can attach it to the other end, this action would bend the stick creating a bow so you can attach the string to the other side.
To check your guitar you need a 36€³ straight edge, while holding it against the neck if the neck is not flat against the straight edge you need to adjust it. When you bought your guitar it came with an allen wrench, that is what is used to adjust the neck, the access for the allen wrench is behind a plate in the front of the head stock on some guitars, in the back of others, for s0me guitars it’s where the body meets the neck, for hollow body guitars you might need to remove the strings and reach up in the sound hole towards the neck.
Very important, when making any adjustments only adjust 1/4 turn at a time, after each adjustment use your straight edge and check the neck it’s that simple. DO NOT OVERADJUST or you will break the truss rod and you will be stuck with a costly repair or you will be buying a new guitar.