How to Adjust a Guitar Neck
80Word of Warning
Not everyone knows how to adjust their guitar necks. Anyone who is uncomfortable trying this should get a professional to do it for them. Guitar necks can be damaged beyond repair if adjusted improperly. Never try to force anything to turn or work if it doesn't want to turn or work.
As you read through this article notes that are urgent will be in bold font. Please pay special attention to them.
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Truss Rod
In the neck of nearly every guitar made since 1921 is a truss rod. It is set inside the neck for the purpose of holding tension against the tension of the strings on a guitar. It is also used to straighten a guitar neck in case it become bowed.
The truss rod adjustment screw can be found either at the head of the neck where you tune your strings or at the body end of the neck. Determine where the rod adjustment is located before continuing. It is probable that you will have to remove a small cover to access the truss rod.
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How to tell that your guitar neck needs adjusted.
I sight down the neck of my bass to see if it is bowed and how much. If it's just a slight forward bow I usually leave it alone. A slight forward bow is good because when I play bass I do move a lot and the bow lets me know that there is some flexibility in the neck. If you play soflty you can straighten the neck completely if you like. Anytime there is a backward bow, the neck needs adjustment.
This is the wrong way to fix your guitar neck
Forward bow adjustment
If your guitar neck is bowed forward, the truss rod must be tightened to straighten it out. I always detune my strings before tightening the truss rod. After loosening the bass strings, I use the hex head wrench that came with my bass when I bought it to tighten the rod. You must be careful not to over-tighten because a neck can be damaged beyond repair if you are not careful. To tighten the rod, turn the it in a clockwise direction.
Tighten the rod approximately 1/4th turn at a time and check it again for a bow. Remember your strings have been detuned and the neck will bow forward some when you tune them back up. The process is slow and tedious, but very well worth the effort and time it takes to do it.
I can't warn you enough about tightening. If it feels like you have to force the rod to tighten then you should stop. The last time I adjusted the neck of my bass it was bowed a lot. I hadn't played it in a couple years because there is a bass already at the church where I play bass. What I did was straighten it a little at a time and let it sit for a few days. I did the whole process in three steps to allow for the neck to relax after each adjustment.
I also used one of the strings to check the neck for straightness after each adjustment. I would hold the string down at the 14th fret and look under it back up he neck to check for gaps between the string and the other frets.
After adjusting the neck, it is time to check your strings. I check each string at each fret position to make sure they do not drag. If they drag I adjust the string height at the bridge on the body of my bass. I do this until the string no longer drags. Ia lso play my bass to make sure the action of the strings and the tones are OK. It is possible that the harmonics will need adjusted also, especially if the neck had a big bow to start with.
The right way to adjust the truss rod
Back bow adjustment
Back bows are easy to adjust. Simply loosen the truss rod by turning counterclockwise. Loosen it until the neck has a slight forward bow to it. Tighten the rod until it is straight again. This will insure that the rod isn't too loose and will have sufficient pressure on it to hold the neck straight.
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Conclusion
Some guitars do not have truss rods. Many classical guitars do not use steel strings and guitars made before the invention of the truss rod will be without them. Please be sure and read the warnings in this article again before trying to adjust your guitar's neck.
Always remember to go slowly and be very careful. if you are uncomforatable doing it yourself, take your guitar to a professional and hire them to do it for you.
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Comments
That is most likely what you need to do Onusonus. Loosen the truss screw but just slightly. As I stated in the hub, I like a little flexibility in the neck of my bass. Go very slowly. You could also raise the bridge slightly, then check your harmonics. My bass strings can be raised, lowered, lengthened or shortened.
Please remember that adjusting the neck is not the way to raise or lower your strings.
I also just thought about all of those adjustment possibilities on my bridge. It's one of those Floyd Rose floating ones.
I don't know much about those bridges. I do know they are held in place by tension. It is possible to change the tension on the bridge by tightening the screws which adjust the spring tension. Detune your guitar if you are going to tighten the bridge. Tightening the bridge will cause you to use more effort for the tremelo bar to work. Not sure of anything other than that, and you should check it out before doing anything with it.
good idea, thanks.
One more thing. You should mark anything you plan on adjusting before you start so you can find your way back to it.
Thanks for this helpful article. I thought adjusting the guitar neck meant jumping on it, but I sadly discovered mr. guitar is now broken. Guess my guitar playing days are over :(.
Jumping on your guitar is never a good thing, unless you need kindling for a fireplace. You can buy yourself a new guitar, but it would be a waste of money if you only like to jump on 'em.
there are some other tools a lot of people don't know about -if your guitar bellies you can add a bridge straightener that pulls out the warp and adds volumn to and acoustic +sustain and richness of tone -do u know of this ?
Realitydream, that is something I know nothing about. I wrote this hub from my own experience. I was a little apprehensive about working on the neck of my bass. Heard too many horror stories about necks breaking and such.
I appreciate the comment. Maybe your first hub can be about the bridge straightening technique. I will be happy to read it if you write it.
Howdy,
I've been loosening the truss rod on
my BC Rich Warlock bass (without strings)
for 2 weeks or so and it still has a back bow.
The whole process has been a back & forth of
tightening/loosening but the past 2 weeks have
been loosening only. I'll be doing a fret level
and crown and need the neck real straight
(I prefer no relief). Does it seem likely that
my neck will eventually true itself ?
Thanks for your insight & advice,
randolphr
Randolph, you need to put your stirngs back on it. If you are lossening the rod. leave the strings on and tuned. To pull the neck back around may requeire tightening the strings higher than the normal 440 tune. Whatever you do, go slowly and try not to do it all at once.
The truss rod is there to counteract the pressure exerted on your neck by the strings.
Let me know how it is going as you go along if you don't mind.
Thank you !
I will definately keep my progress
posted here. And now, I'm gonna
restring that big ole thing.
randolphr
I appreciate it Randolph. With strings on it it should pull the neck forward so you may have to tighten the truss rod again. Just be careful and try not to go too much at once and never force it if it gets too tight.
Good article, Sir D. The important thing is not to be in a rush, as you say, but to make incremental changes and let each change 'breathe' for a time to reach its stable state.
Thanks for the read and comment Paraglider. I appreciate it very much.
I always figured this was a touchy project. It would be best for me to leave it to someone who knows what they are doing, sounds like you do. This Hub is informing and put together great. me poorQpine
It is best to leave it up to a professional especially if you are worried about messing up your guitar. Thanks for the read and comment poorQpine.
I have a brass Rogue resonator guitar and need to adj the neck. It's bowing. I removed the headstock cover plate and I see the rod and the threaded block it goes thru. The rod looks smooth so I can't put a socket on it & the block isn't adjustable. Do I need to remove the resonator to get to the end of the neck where it joins the body to adjust it or what? SFVChris@gmail.com
Chris, I appreciate you asking me about your guitar. I tried to find some info on your guitar, but no luck on how to adjust the truss rod. I suggest you take it to the place you bought it or to a professional and get it fixed there.
I am sorry that I was unable to help you.
Very helpful article, wished I had such readily available information years ago. Trying to figure out how to adjust the guitar neck isn't for everyone - one wrong move and it's over. I used to leave it to the professional workshop to handle mine despite the cost.
It certainly is best to do that MP. I was the same way but just got tired of seeing a bowed neck and started wroking on it.
I have a Fender Stratacoustic and the strings ALL buzz. I have never tried to straighten the neck before because it doesnt look bowed. The nut is new and Im not sure that anything can be done with the bridge. Any suggestions?
On the saddle of a Stratocaster Guitar, you should be able to raise the strings. If not, then loosen the nut slightly. It would help to know what type or saddle or bridge you have on your guitar. I believe different years used different bridges.
String buzz is generally caused by a string rubbing a fret closer to the body than the one it is pressed at. Loosening the truss rod should allow the neck to come forward slightly. Do it in small increments.
Hello again after 3 months (!)
- I had lost my Favorites List and have finally re-found
the site. I had written in @ my BC Rich Warlock bass
and the troubles I had been having getting the neck
straight prior to a fret job. Your advice to leave the
strings on was the road I took. Here's the situation
I have remained at since: The first fret area is about
1/8" low while the rest of the neck has settled straight.
In the intervening 3 months I have slowly adjusted the
truss rod back & forth, waiting 3 to 4 days in between
each adjustment. At this point I can't see how the 1st.
fret intonation can be true to the rest of the neck, perhaps
this isn't so great a problem after all ?
Glad I was finally able to refind this site !
Randolph
I feel guilty about that guitar sitting in the corner :).
hi great post ty!!!
just wondering before i make my final chioce to tamper with the truss rod..Is relief better for (metal) style playing or straight neck??
my Warlock has relief and im a heavy style player.. do P.harmonics ring out better or is it easier to achieve with a straight neck
There's a lot of good stuff here. I'll add that another way to eliminate buzz is to work on playing with a softer touch. Or consider softer picks if you play with one. I found going from a medium to a lighter like .046 for electric and .060 for acoustic helped a lot. Another thing about buzz is that iff you are playing on an electric but not plugged in, your natural impulse is to be more heavy-handed. So plug in.
Great stuff here..Super informative... I saw another guitar site that has pretty good beginners tutorials if anyone is interested in learning more about guitar tips and maintenence http://www.guitartutorialsnow.com
Hub interesting. Without doubt, Ovation Guitar is one of the best guitars available in the market today. I have some at home, I pertecem since I started my band (the garage!), But is following me. Today we have 15 years of road, and always on the side of my Ovation Guitar. The latter bought a site with many interesting offers (I'l leave the link for you guys: http://bit.ly/nKC7F ). Today, my last purchase on this site was a Custom Elite, for a great price! Well, so what! Hugs!
Great tutorial.
This hub is good starting point but I think more emphasis needs to be placed on the fact that after every neck adjustment you make you should retune your guitar, re-check your bridge saddles for intonation and readjust your string action (height). These things should be done prior to doing any neck adjustments as well. Most problems with string buzzing come from a bad bridge setup, not a bowed neck.
However, that being said, I have also picked up guitars for next to nothing because the owner didn't realize his neck was bowed and could be fixed. In one case I fixed a guy's guitar and sold it back to him for twice what I paid for it.
Man u a legend 110%, i'm a beginner in the guitar world, im 30 years old and always wanted to play. My missue's mother got me this old guitar from a garage sale, for the life of me i couldnt get it to tune after watching the Vid about the neck thingy with the allen key. Now i can tune it, all i have to do is learn a few more cords... ty sir
Thanks so much for writing this hub, it's helped me put at ease some concerns I have about prying open my MTD Kensington Artist 5 stringer (that little sneak has hid his truss rod under a plate, but not on the headstock end....o.o Almost Ninja)and finally getting around to moving the action just a little lower than it's sitting right now.
But my real question is, is it possible to adjust the neck bow of an acoustic guitar that, for the life of me, I just don't think there's a truss rod in? It's a 1/2 scale Hohner Acoustic guitar, made in Korea about 30 or so years ago. All we can read on its tag just inside the body is "Hohner International GIS" but that's all we can find.
Thanks again for this informative article, good sir. =)
Onusonus says:
12 months ago
This is very helpful, I have a question about the buzz I just can't seem to shake from a couple strings. I tried replacing the nut and it helped a little. Also I don't want to raise the bridge up too far or it will loose the action. Do you think a neck adjust is called for?