2 Way Adjusting Truss Rod And Carbon Fiber Rods

[IPA or death]

I'm making a maple bolt on neck and have a Stewmac Hot Rod to put in it. I also have a couple of carbon fiber rods the same length as the truss rod. Should I put these on either side? I know the carbon rods will add stiffness but will that hamper the adjustment of the truss rod in any way? What category does this fall into: not advisable, unnecessary, good idea, wouldn't hurt, etc.?

Thanks for any advice you can give from your experiences.

[Bmth Builder]

If its just a 6 string its probably not neccessary.

[IPA or death]

Yes Neil, it's just a plain old six string and the thickness of the neck is going to be average, not super slim or anything. The maple is a nice eastern curly variety too so stiffness of wood is as most Fender style necks are.

Are these carbon rods mainly for basses then? Under what circumstances would you use them in a 6 string?

[joshvegas]

I think, but don't quote me on this, the rods make up for lack of mass in a neck the thinner you want it the more flexible it becomes so you add the rods to stiffen it up the trussrod is an adjustment for any bow in the neck.

Lol I kinda made that up on the spot can you tell?

Edited May 16, 2009 by joshvegas

[IPA or death]

I think, but don't quote me on this, the rods make up for lack of mass in a neck the thinner you want it the more flexible it becomes so you add the rods to stiffen it up the trussrod is an adjustment bow in the neck.

Lol I kinda made that up on the spot can you tell?

Very convincing .

What you say does make sense though, so please stop it!

[Keegan]

Not necessary and might make it impossible to get enough relief(though not likely), especially on a Maple neck.

You might use them in a non-maple, baritone, or super thin neck.

Edited May 16, 2009 by Keegan

[joshvegas]

Not necessary and might make it impossible to get enough relief(though not likely), especially on a Maple neck.

You might use them in a non-maple, baritone, or super thin neck.

thats what i meant by lack of mass keegan having i've still to try my bamboo laminate reinforcement rods!

[Keegan]

Why not just make the whole neck out of bamboo laminate?

[WezV]

i do it most of the time.

Its true that they are not necesary, the millions of guitars in the world without them proves that... but necks with them are more stable and usually have noticebly less tonal dead spots

it is untrue that they make a neck too stiff!!

I quite often do it with laminated necks made from very dense woods which are already stiffer than the average guitar neck... and they are still fully adjustable!

the one warning i would give you is about the hot-rod. dont adjust it with strings at tension!

[joshvegas]

you mean my random thoughts where accurate?

[mikke]

Ive been thinking about the rods for a while too...(actually, ever since i read about them at benreuters.de!)

But one thing Ive been wondering is that should the rods be solid or would hollow ones be okay?

[IPA or death]

i do it most of the time.

Its true that they are not necesary, the millions of guitars in the world without them proves that... but necks with them are more stable and usually have noticebly less tonal dead spots

it is untrue that they make a neck too stiff!!

I quite often do it with laminated necks made from very dense woods which are already stiffer than the average guitar neck... and they are still fully adjustable!

the one warning i would give you is about the hot-rod. dont adjust it with strings at tension!

So even with a carbon fiber rod on either side of the Hot Rod, the neck bow (if ever there is any) will still be fully adjustable?

BTW, what happens if you adjust the Hot Rod with strings at tension?

[WezV]

I quite often do it with laminated necks made from very dense woods which are already stiffer than the average guitar neck... and they are still fully adjustable![/quote]

So even with a carbon fiber rod on either side of the Hot Rod, the neck bow (if ever there is any) will still be fully adjustable?

yes

BTW, what happens if you adjust the Hot Rod with strings at tension?

the same as can happen with any rod, you are quite likely to strip the adjustment and you run the risk of snapping the nut off

the hot rods adjustment nut seems particularly delicate so its a precaution worth taking

[j. pierce]

I will have to say, I don't have a perfect A/B comparison (which would be difficult given the methods of construction) but in general I really like the sound of a neck with carbon fiber in it, and use it in all my builds now. Like has been stated, no real dead spots, and it seems to have a little more "snap" to it. (Not really brightness, but a little more defined attack if that makes sense.) I have rebuilt the neck of one of my builds with a new one that had carbon fiber in it (amongst other changes after I ruined the original neck; I used maple from the same board) and I really liked what it did to the sound.

I haven't had any problems adjusting a neck with carbon fiber in it until you start to reach the limits of the rod - but in those cases, you're really adjusting out for something that should have been addressed in construction or resolved in a different fashion than just cranking the rod. For all normal cases, the carbon fiber doesn't seem to interfere with the use of the rod.

I do take to not only removing string tension when adjusting the rod on these guitar, but pulling or pushing the neck slightly in the way I want the rod to adjust the neck. The rod doesn't end up having to force the neck into position - just hold it there. (Did that make sense?)

My guitars without carbon fiber really need adjustments twice a year as the humidity changes; while I might tweak the ones with carbon fiber a little bit, they can stay playable all year long without needing adjustment. I have one guitar I haven't touched the rod on but once since I built it a few years ago, and that was just to tighten it a little more to get rid of truss rod rattle.

I think in general, they're cheap insurance, and plenty of folks have used them with no ill-effects.