exhaust_49 Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 I planning a warmoth guitar and would like to know what everyone has experienced with the regular single action truss rod (from warmoth or not). I was thinking of building my guitar with a double adjusting truss rod like the one on warmoths site http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/...ion=truss_rods but does having a single action truss rod really lead to wood compression and bumps in the fretboard in most cases? I ask this because the double rod has a more metallic sound to it (I have a neck from them with the double rod) and my guitar is modeled after a 59' lp and rather not have that metallic sound in my guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 As far as I know, Gibson and Fender both still use single action truss rods on the majority of their guitars. From a player's standpoint, I personally don't think there is a difference between the two types of truss rods, unless you have a neck that actually needs to have a forces relief. The truss rod should have absolutely no bearing on the tone of the guitar, safe for *possibly* the added stiffness (and even this can be subjective). Its more likely that your LP's metallic tone (perhaps a better description of this is in order?) is due to the wood and pickup choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhaust_49 Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 It's not so much the sound that makes me want a single rod, I would like to know if a lot of people have had problems with wood compression and the fretboard devoloping bumps using the single rod. Im making this guitar and plan to keep it for life and am trying to find the best choice because I don't want to (want to try to avoid as much as possible) any problems or replacing parts e.g. neck because it devolops these symptoms. Is a single rod really that bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 SRV had his #1 for an awefully long time. There are many examples of old guitars with single acting truss rods that are still in use. I really wouldn't worry about it at all. You realise, another factor is how much you have to adjust the truss rod to get the neck the way you want it. In my case, I've never actually needed to use the truss rods in necks I've built. I build them straight and they always seem to fall into just the right amount of relief. So if there's no tension on the rod at all, it wouldn't have an effect on the neck. Just things to think about. I hope you come to a conclusive decision. It really wouldn't hurt to just save yourself the worry and get lmii's double acting rod. It's a bit thinner than stewmac's. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhaust_49 Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Im thinking I might use the double rod because my neck is going to be made of white kornia which is a softer wood than say maple. Im also getting warmoths 59' roundback neck carve (the neck from warmoth I have now is thinner and has the double rod and sounds a bit metallic) so I figure the extra wood will help to offset the sound of the rod. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 what kind of wood was in the neck and body of this "metalic sounding" guitar you had. also, what pickups did it have? I refuse to believe that a truss rod would be the sole factor in making a guitar sound metalic(which I assume is the same as "twangy"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Again, the truss rod would not make your neck sound "metallic." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhaust_49 Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 My first guitar was a squier strat. I replaced the neck with the warmoth neck made of maple with a pao ferro fretboard. The body I'm guessing is plywood but it could be alder. As for the pups I havent changed them since I got the guitar. There bottom of the barrell fender squier single coils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Well there you go, single coils and a maple neck? Of course that's going to be bright, or twangy, or metallic, or whatever you want to call it. It wasn't the truss rod(at least the truss rod didn't influence the sound as much as everything else) that gave you that tone. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRocker Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 The Warmoth rod is a double expanding rod in its construction, but it's not double adjusting or "double action". It does not adjust relief in both directions like the Stew-Mac Hot Rod and some others. Their rods do not sound metallic, period. I've played several Warmoth bass necks with their truss rod rod and two steel reinforcing bars, and none of them have sounded metallic. Their truss rods do weigh about twice as much as a conventional single rod, and weight can affect tone. But every piece of neck wood is different anyway. I doubt most players could tell the difference between the Warmoth and a conventional rod in a blind listening test. But there's nothing wrong with a conventional single truss rod. Gibson invented and patented it in the 1920s and has been using it ever since. Fender's been using it for over 50 years. Taylor uses the same style rod. Rickenbacker changed in 1984 and now uses 2 conventional style rods. How much more evidence do you need that they work just fine? Some guitars do get lumps and bumps from compression after years under tension. But not all of them, not by a long shot. And although I don't see anything wrong with Warmoth's rod, I'm not convinced that it will prevent lumps and bumps. The neck is still under tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 My first guitar was a squier strat. I replaced the neck with the warmoth neck made of maple with a pao ferro fretboard. The body I'm guessing is plywood but it could be alder. As for the pups I havent changed them since I got the guitar. There bottom of the barrell fender squier single coils. ← If it's plywood, you'd be able to see that, unless they completely painted the cavities (unlikely in the neck pocket). But cheap alder can be just as 'chirpy' (my take on your 'metallic'). Kind of hard to imagine a Warmoth neck in a plywood Squier, but there you go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 If your worried about the use of softer wood, you should really try to use CF(Carbon Fiber) Rods to strengthen the neck without adding undue weight. It just makes the neck much more stable, in fact I use it in every guitar I build, because I want the guitar to play great in any climate it might be in and take out the need for adjusting the truss rod once set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 If your worried about the use of softer wood, you should really try to use CF(Carbon Fiber) Rods to strengthen the neck without adding undue weight. It just makes the neck much more stable, in fact I use it in every guitar I build, because I want the guitar to play great in any climate it might be in and take out the need for adjusting the truss rod once set. ← +1 What the man said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 More mass definitely adds up. Take a vintage les paul for instance, you've got a lightweight trussrod, lightweight tuners, and a lightweight bridge (aluminum). I think this all adds up to impact the tone in a way that one can hear. Now, replace these things one at a time and listen, and the differences will probably be subtle (with the bridge probably being the most notable tonal change), but they will all add up. We're talking a vintage les paul here and not a squier bullet. I personally prefer to stick to the vintage formula as much as possible, but I highly doubt that all things being equal that going to a double exanding truss rod will impact the tone of the instrument in a negative way. I've never built a guitar neck from scratch, but I'm seriously thinking about going with a Hot Rod for my first couple of necks until I get the hang of it. Using a single action truss rod and having to route that curved channel seems like a little too much for a beginner to deal with. Also, Gibson's 50's explorers and v's are made out of all Korina and use single action truss rods. I've never heard of them having ANY neck problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 Also, Gibson's 50's explorers and v's are made out of all Korina and use single action truss rods. I've never heard of them having ANY neck problems. ← How many of these almost priceless instruments have you actually got your hands on??? Seriously, its all irrelevant. Single, dual action, doesnt matter. By the time any wood compression/warping/insert whatever here, develops (which is EXTREMELY rare), you'll be well into 'needing a refret so we can just resand the fretboard anyway' territory. PS. its probably cheaper to just buy a new warmoth neck than get a pro to refret it anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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