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Vintage threads from the first ten years

truss rod

9/15/1999 12:33 AM
JohnC	truss rod I'm trying to share something maybe not accurate... I just realized that the neck I adjusted one month ago, that originally had too much relieve to my taste, keeps going very slightly sharp in pitch every week. All strings exactly the same. So I wonder if in some cases it takes so long for the tensioned neck to reach it's even point. Apparently, the neck keeps going it's straightening way very very slowly. Is that possible? Weeks? JohnC

9/15/1999 12:33 AM

JohnC

truss rod

I'm trying to share something maybe not accurate...

I just realized that the neck I adjusted one month ago, that originally had too much relieve to my taste, keeps going very slightly sharp in pitch every week. All strings exactly the same.

So I wonder if in some cases it takes so long for the tensioned neck to reach it's even point.

Apparently, the neck keeps going it's straightening way very very slowly.

Is that possible? Weeks?

JohnC

9/15/1999 12:49 PM
Doc	Do you store your guitar open in a room with natural ventilation, open windows, or near a heating/air conditioning vent? Changes in air temperature and humidity can play a big part in how stable a wooden neck remains. Keeping the guitar in a case after use is much better for dimensional stability. Maple necks, especially those with a sealed finish, usually have less of a tendency to vary curvature on a daily or weekly basis than an open grained wood or a wood that is unfinished. If your guitar's neck takes a long time to reach equilibrium from a minor truss rod adjustment, there may be something making the rod bind to the neck instead of sliding freely. It's entirely ok with a maple fender neck to deliberately flex it in the direction you want it to bend. Try loosening the truss rod nut completely and flexing the neck fore and aft to make sure the rod is free. Sometimes you'll even hear a distinct "crack" sound when the rod finally releases. It's even a good idea to remove the nut completely, put a tiny bit of grease on the rod threads before reasssembling. Make sure there is a flat washer between the neck wood and the end of the nut. If this is absent there could be problems.

9/15/1999 12:49 PM

Doc

Do you store your guitar open in a room with natural ventilation, open windows, or near a heating/air conditioning vent? Changes in air temperature and humidity can play a big part in how stable a wooden neck remains. Keeping the guitar in a case after use is much better for dimensional stability.

Maple necks, especially those with a sealed finish, usually have less of a tendency to vary curvature on a daily or weekly basis than an open grained wood or a wood that is unfinished. If your guitar's neck takes a long time to reach equilibrium from a minor truss rod adjustment, there may be something making the rod bind to the neck instead of sliding freely. It's entirely ok with a maple fender neck to deliberately flex it in the direction you want it to bend. Try loosening the truss rod nut completely and flexing the neck fore and aft to make sure the rod is free. Sometimes you'll even hear a distinct "crack" sound when the rod finally releases. It's even a good idea to remove the nut completely, put a tiny bit of grease on the rod threads before reasssembling. Make sure there is a flat washer between the neck wood and the end of the nut. If this is absent there could be problems.

9/16/1999 12:10 AM
JohnC	That's the thing. I have another Fender with similar truss rod, and it normaly tends to go flatter (in pitch) as the time passes. But this one goes sharper, as if the neck was still getting acomodated to the greater rod tension I gave to it (to counteract the heavier strings I installed on the guitar) JohnC

9/16/1999 3:50 PM
Doc	I usually see the full effect of a truss rod adjustment by the next day on most guitars, unless the neck is unusually thick and/or the bare neck (no strings, truss rod loose) has an extreme curvature compared to the way it's supposed to be manufactured. Can you tell us what guitars you're dealing with?

9/16/1999 11:46 PM
JohnC	Fender Bullet Deluxe (beautiful thick Telecaster neck) No prob. MIJ stratocaster. this is the one that aparently goes very-very slightly sharp in tune since I retensioned it's truss rod a couple of weeks ago to support the heavier strings. Thick lacquer coat all over the neck. Not a real prob I guess, anyway. It has to stop somewhen.

11/8/1999 3:37 AM
JC	>Not a real prob I guess, anyway. It has to stop somewhen. And it has stoped. But it took...errrr...almost two months! I realize it has been the end of the summer and the begining of the rainy days (Spain). jc

11/17/1999 2:46 PM
Bob Predaina	its not at all abnormal for a neck to take more than a day or two to settle in after a truss rod adjustment or a change in string gauges. conventional wisdom suggests that after your truss rod is tightened, some time will pass as the neck fully responds to the increased tension placed on it. it is not at all uncommon to tune your guitar to pitch after making a truss rod adjustment only to find it sharp the following day. in fact, this effect can go on for DAYS, especially if you have an instrument with a laminated neck. as far as most people's ears are concerned, the only really significant (flagrantly audible) changes take place within the first one or two days. i'm a bass builder and i've been doing setups for both guitar and bass with a strobe tuner for quite some time, and after seeing guitars continue to move sharp for days on end i did an experiment. after performing a small truss rod adjustment on one of the new artist signature series strats, i tuned the guitar to concert pitch and put it back into a guitar stand. i checked the intonation with a strobe tuner at 24 hour intervals for a week. every day for a week the guitar had becomme sharp as the neck settled in. although the changes were only flagrantly audible for the first 2 days, these changes were plainly visible on the strobe tuner for an entire week. the effect is more pronounced with basses than with guitars, for obvious reasons. the important thing no note here is not so much that the guitar goes out of pitch overnight -- the real cause for concern is that as the neck settles, the intonation of the neck itself will change after the truss rod adjustment is made. this means that after performing a truss rod adjustment, you should wait no less than a few days before making permanent changes to the position of the bridge saddles. if you should send your axe out to a luthier for a truss rod adjustment and "strobe tuning" or bridge intonation adjustment, be wary of anyone who will give it back to you in less than 3 days.

11/17/1999 2:46 PM

Bob Predaina

its not at all abnormal for a neck to take more than a day or two to settle in after a truss rod adjustment or a change in string gauges.

conventional wisdom suggests that after your truss rod is tightened, some time will pass as the neck fully responds to the increased tension placed on it. it is not at all uncommon to tune your guitar to pitch after making a truss rod adjustment only to find it sharp the following day. in fact, this effect can go on for DAYS, especially if you have an instrument with a laminated neck. as far as most people's ears are concerned, the only really significant (flagrantly audible) changes take place within the first one or two days.

i'm a bass builder and i've been doing setups for both guitar and bass with a strobe tuner for quite some time, and after seeing guitars continue to move sharp for days on end i did an experiment.

after performing a small truss rod adjustment on one of the new artist signature series strats, i tuned the guitar to concert pitch and put it back into a guitar stand. i checked the intonation with a strobe tuner at 24 hour intervals for a week. every day for a week the guitar had becomme sharp as the neck settled in. although the changes were only flagrantly audible for the first 2 days, these changes were plainly visible on the strobe tuner for an entire week.

the effect is more pronounced with basses than with guitars, for obvious reasons. the important thing no note here is not so much that the guitar goes out of pitch overnight -- the real cause for concern is that as the neck settles, the intonation of the neck itself will change after the truss rod adjustment is made.

this means that after performing a truss rod adjustment, you should wait no less than a few days before making permanent changes to the position of the bridge saddles.

if you should send your axe out to a luthier for a truss rod adjustment and "strobe tuning" or bridge intonation adjustment, be wary of anyone who will give it back to you in less than 3 days.

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