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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I know...for a lot of you "old-timers" this is a totally non-drama event BUT since there may be other newbies that need encouragement I will post this anyway.
I have not been perfectly happy with my 2008 Collectors action since I got it and lately it seems to have gotten worse (probably climate change and different strings, I don't know). Still played better than most, but I knew it was capable of much better.
I had pulled a shim and that helped, but it still seemed to require more effort that my other Adamas and my 1537, so I took a deep breath, searched all the threads I could find on doing a truss rod adjustment and sat down last night to give it a go.
I had always had trouble understanding the "turn left or right for bow or warp" because I could never visualize what left and right was based on.
Then someone mentioned that the truss rod was there to counteract the pull of the strings. That tightening the rod (same as tightening a screw or nut) pulled harder against the strings. Suddenly the lights cam on.
I marked the TR nut with a permanent marker, gave it a quick 1/8 turn to tighten and poof, the strings laid right down and the action is now very close to my favorite action from a former W597. The study took a couple of hours, the adjustment a couple of minutes.
I am totally pumped about the results as it is a completely different guitar now, so I may have to take it a step further and try pulling another shim next. It is now smooth as butter... maybe "glass" is the next step.
Bottom line is, Thanks for all the good advice and hand-holding on this site. |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Righty tighty (clockwise) to add bow
Lefty loosey (counter-clockwise) to add warp
That's how I learned it. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Once you get over the initial fear of making adjustments and realize that most changes are reversible, it's not hard to fine tune your instrument. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | I wish they'd use other terms than bow and warp. A bow can go either way. Maybe dip and hump. Then Jeff could do the instructions in a fashion that we would never forget. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I wish they'd use other terms than bow and warp. A bow can go either way. Maybe dip and hump. Then Jeff could do the instructions in a fashion that we would never forget. How about this Mark:
1) If you want the 12th fret closer to the strings, tighten the TR (turn to the right as you look from the headstock down the neck).
2) If you want the 12th fret further from the strings, loose the TR (turn left as you look down the neck).
Treat the TR just like a normal screw on your car, lawnmower, door. As mentioned before, Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey. Tighter brings the strings in the middle of the fret board closer to the fret board and visa versa.
It was quite an enlightenment for me and I can't wait to fine tune it now. :D :D :D |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Guitar Neck Adjustments 101: Adjust the action by raising/lowering the saddle height. Adjust the neck relief with the truss rod.
Jeff, you should check the relief in the neck. Place a capo at the 1st fret and fret the low E string at the 12th fret. There should be a small space between the bottom of the low E string and the top of the 6th fret, about the thickness of a business card. If there is then everything's OK. If there isn't then all you did was lower the action at the expense of removing the relief in the neck. The neck needs to have some relief/bow. If there's no relief then you should put the TR back to it's original position and remove another shim. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I wish ... Glad that I 'm not the only one! But it did finally 'sink' in when someone mentioned that a 'bow' would look like an archer's bow and 'righty' would tightened the strings. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Iffy's description is one of the things I have a problem with. If you tighten the strings on a bow it bows more away from the strings.
Actually, I was thinking Jeff of the Whitehead clan would come up with a description using the words dip or hump that would be sufficiently deviant that I would never forget it. |
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2008C Neck TR Adjustment
