General Music Chat

Hi, all.
I want to 'tweak' my acoustic guitar a little.
I have 2 acoustics I use - a 'cheapo-practice guitar,' and a Samick.
(Samick? Where have I heard that name before?)
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About a year ago, I noticed the "cheapo's" neck was bowing a bit.
I undid the strings, reached inside, and tightend the Allen head bolt inside.
Ahhh - so much better! The strings are a lot closer to the frets, the action is better, and the tuning is better.
This guitar is fun to play, now, and I've actually worn the finish off the neck playing it.
But - it' a pain in the butt to tune, and it doesn't want to stay in tune. And, he tuning drifts, the higher up the neck you go.
And I can't get past 13 frets.
In short - it's a cheapo guitar! But - I've milked it for all it's worth, (mabey $75, or - was that 75 cents?)
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I bought the Samick, with a cut out, better keys, better tuning (built-in tuner, pickup) and a great sound. It's a relatively new guitar - not a year old yet.
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But - after tweaking the old guitar, it's time to tweak the Samick.
The strings are as low as is possible on the cheapo.
I've got the action on the cheapo actually lower than the Samick.

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Now, I can see an infinitesimal bow on the Samick's neck. If I straighten the neck "1/10 of a tad", the strings will be a few millineters closer to the frets.
Ahhh - the difference a silly millimeter can make, huh?
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So, I tried it.
I turned the Allen head bolt on the Samick (clockwise) about 1/4 a turn.
I could hear something move inside. I didn't want to go too far, so I stopped, and re-tuned.
No difference.
I figured I'd give it a few days, and see if it 'settles-in,' what with the extremes in heat & humidity around here).
No difference.
I repeated the process, and went another 1/2 turn; heard something move in the neck again, & stopped. Again - no difference.
I used a guage to measure the string distance, to remove any subjectivity. No change.
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OK - any suggestions, or comments?
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Please reply if you have had first-hand experience with the whole truss-rod thing.
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Jonny? Billy? Anyone?
Alan

Take it to a tech.

I don't mess with my truss rods (Ibanez actually voids your warrenty if you do).

When you're messing with the neck of your guitar, I feel it's prudent to leave that sort of job to the pros.

Minor truss rod tweaks are OK, but if you hear something strange coming from the neck, stop right there, and take it to a tech like ColorsFade suggested.
You really shouldn't tweak the truss rod to make a major adjustment to the action.....a professional should make adjustments to the action by adjusting the nut or saddle.

I've watched Alex toodle around with every one of his guitars, both acoustic & electric. The poor electrics he dismembers, shims the neck at the shoulder, adjusts the truss rod, etc. The acoustics he usually just adjusts the truss rods, but I've also seen him remove the saddle & sand a bit off the bottom before placing it back into the bridge. He usually leaves the nut alone, but I've seen him sand that down on occasion, too. He even scalloped the neck of one of his Strats once. He said it helped his speed, but later decided he didn't like it that much & sold it. I got brave & adjusted the truss rod on my son's guitar last week. It made quite a difference in the playability of that cheap guitar, but I don't think I'd be brave enough to try it on a more expensive model. Oh, what the hell; where's my Taylor?!?

Hi, guys,
Thanks for this advice.
After reading these dire warnings, I found some professional advice on this subject.
Here's some good sites for info on this topic:
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http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/trussrods.htm
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http://www.athensmusician.net/archive/2 ... mbody1.php
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I suspect I'll be backing the rod out 1/8 turn, and then sanding down the bridge.
Alan

Hi Alan: I would not adj. the truss rod anymore than you have. i agree that you should have a tech look at it. hearing a noise when you turned it, may not be a good thing. best of luck.

Yeah, the techs say it could mean you're at the end of the adjustment already.
They say you should first LOOSEN the truss rod (make the neck bow even worse), to get the feel of the tension on the allen bolt.
Then you re-tighten it back to where it was, and then tighten it 1/8 turn, and let it sit for a day or two.
If it needs more: try another 1/8 turn, and give it another day to settle in.
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To check the neck for any bow, put a capo on the first fret, and then hold the strings down at the 14th fret.
Inspect the 6th or 7th fret - there should be just a tiny, tiny clearance between the strings & those frets.
This is normal, because strings vibrate in approximately an oval pattern, & they need the clearance to vibrate.
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Anyway -
I backed my truss rod out a bit, and sanded the saddle down.
First I drew a pencil line around the base of it, then sanded it off, and then I did one more pencil line.
This allows you to remove the perfect amount.
So, I took off from the saddle an amount - oh, - maybe the equivelant to the thickness of my "D" string.
It made a difference, too. I like it - it's better.
Now I've got to get used to the slight timing change I encounter in fast songs, when I grab chords anywhere from the 6th fret on up. There's no difference in slow songs - just the chord-intensive fast songs.
The action is better.
I'm going to try out, it for a week, and then I might take off one more pencil thickness.
I don't want to go too far, or it could buzz.
Alan

sounds like you got er handled......let me know how it turns out.