fguihen Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 hey,i changet the low TRS II on my RGT 42 to a schaller floyd rose with hardened inserts. for a week or so before my new bridge came i had all strings off my guitar. then i put on the new bridge ( dropped in) and restrung with my usual size 9 strings) now theres bow in my neck. the head is bending up toward the body ( ie theres obly a tiny distanc between low E string and 1st fret, the distance increases comming up to the 7 fret, and reduces ever so slihghtly comming to the end of the fretboard). how do i rectify this?? i know its something to do with the truss rod but i dont know which way to turn it and how much. before all this i had a perfectly straight neck. please help. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 while looking down the neck (towards the body) tighten the rod clockwise(only a small amount) what i do is hold the guitar vertical between my legs , pull the neck straight with my left hand and tighten the rod with my right hand. If the rod seems very tight , LEAVE IT ALONE! you may strip the threads, get it setup by a pro i would like someone to back me up on this just incase im wrong and you mess up your guitar. hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Yep that's right.... Put your finger on the 1st fret and one finger on the last (impossible to do with one hand ) Look somewhere in the middle of the neck how much the string is above the frets. There should be a little space so you can slide under a playing card. The string should NOT hit the frets, otherwise you have a backbow!! Like John said, turn the rod clockwise. I usually don't turn more than a quarter each time ( keep the strings in tune, don't untighten them). After turning the rod, let your guitar sit for a few hours... I always wait a day, because the neck can come back again... necks are weird I know! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 your right there , its very important to leave it for a day or so before you can be sure of the results . I spent about 3 days fine tuning the neck bow on my strat. , better to play it safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fguihen Posted February 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 ok, i turned the nut about half a turn and now its in my room standing up after i played it a little. the nut was stiff but not too stiff. could i put WD 40 or some penetrating oil on it to keep it oiled or would that be bad for the wood?have i done everything ok?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Your doing OK, some people have been known to inject a small amount of WD40 down the truss rod to keep them lubed. Just a drop should be plenty and wipe up any excess if your going to do it. If your just refering to the nut itself I would prefer a dab of white lithium on a Q-tip and just rub it around the threads (since it's usually a tight fit in there anyway). <But thats just me others will differ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 Be careful of anything that "runs" like oils, wd-40, etc. I'm thinking something thicker that don't run is better, like Vaseline or maybe anti-sieze compound. Or Brian's idea of Lithium grease might be good. Take the truss-rod nut completely off and blow out any loose dirt and clean out any other crud, dust or dirt you can. Check to see if there's a washer in there. Sometimes the washer is pretty chewed up and you might want to replace it with a washer in new condition. also, sometimes the wood becomes compressed and then what happens is the truss-rod nut runs out of thread before it's tightened enough. An easy solution for this is to add 2 washers to simulate how the truss-rod worked before years of wood compression changed things a bit. With the truss-rod nut out, dab a little vaseline inside it's internal threads and smear a light coating on the face of it that touches the washer or metal piece that it bears against when being tightened. Don't put so much vaseline that a bunch oozes out when you screw the nut back in. A dab'll do ya !!! It's bad to have wood or finish anywhere on a guitar get soaked with grease, oil, wd-40, etc. They cause finish to lift off off wood, glue joints to come apart, all kinds of bad stuff. Just like the damage done when people put drops of oil on those exposed gear tuning machines on the headstock. I have been told that truss-rods work better when the nut is taken off and lightly lubed and washers added/replaced if needed, then put back on an adjusted. One very popular guitar repairman, doesn't start making truss-rod adjustments until after he's first performed this truss-rod nut maintenance routine. I'm going to start paying more attention to it myself and doing it to every guitar I work on now. I didn't realize how important it is until recently. I know I always write too much and act like I know everything. I know a lot, but not everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.