One More Truss Question

[Asherman]

The routed area for a truss rod... is it the same depth the whole lengh? or does it need to curve down?

(does anyone have a sort of cross section picture of a guitar neck... real pic or diagram)

cheers.

[KeithHowell]

It depends on the design of the rod. The Fender/Gibson design requires a curved channel, the lowest part of the curve (ie furthest from the fretboard) being about 6mm (1/4 inch) more than the ends. The rod is then covered by a curved fillet which pushes it into the shape of the curve.

The stew-mac hotrod and similar designs as well as the double rod designs ( the rod is bent in half and the adjstment nut acts against the rod not the wood of the neck) require a flat channel.

I have seen a design, by Yamaha I think, where the rod (Fender/Gibson style) is put into a straight channel, however the nut end is shallower than the body end. Ie the rod is the hypotenuse of a triangle with respect to the strings and gives a counterforce on the neck when tightened.

Hope that helps.

Keith