Electric Guitar Truss Adjustment

If the electric guitar stopped building, and the strings began to touch the nut or, conversely, moved away from the neck too high, then in most cases this means that it's time to start adjusting the truss rod (or simply the truss rod). This is a must-have part for strengthening the neck strength, found on all electric and acoustic guitars. A classical guitar has no truss, so it is impossible to put metal strings on a "classic" - the instrument can simply collapse from an unacceptable load on the neck and body. How to eliminate the deflection of the neck of an electric guitar by acting on the truss is described later in the article.

A good electric guitar is a rather complex musical instrument, therefore, fine tuning of all structural details (the position of the neck in relation to the body, its evenness, parallelism and height of the frets, the height of the strings above the saddles, and so on) is performed at the manufacturer's factory. However, each tool requires its own special storage and operation conditions, which depends on the materials of manufacture of certain models. The user, on the other hand, often does not even bother to read the manufacturer's recommendations regarding these issues. But it also happens that it is not always possible to fulfill some of the conditions recommended to ensure the full serviceability of the guitar.

Neck deflection is influenced not only by mechanical factors (the degree of tension of the strings, the thickness and stiffness of the strings, overtightening or excessive weakening of the truss, the tuning of the instrument), but also the atmospheric conditions of the guitar.The latter include air humidity, its temperature indicators, the frequency of sudden changes in temperature and humidity.

For a beginner, of course, it will be difficult not only to adjust the truss rod, but also to correctly assess the situation. That is he will not always be able to determine the reasons for the disturbance of the instrument, the rattling of the strings or the severity of their clamping.

That's why it is better for a novice guitarist to contact either the workshop or to more competent musicians who have experience in tuning the rod... If you pull it carelessly, there is a risk of destruction of the neck and even the body of the instrument.

The rod is made of strong and fairly resilient steel. Its main purpose is to resist the pulling forces on the strings, preventing the neck from bending or even breaking. In appearance, the truss rod resembles a bolt, the length of which is almost equal to the length of the neck, since it is inserted into its body from the heel (where the neck is attached to the body) to the head (where the tuning mechanism is located). The cross-section of the bar can be either square or round. On the one hand, the rod is fixed “tightly”, and at the other end it has a nut (screw), by turning which the amount of neck deflection is adjusted.

There are 2 options for the location of the anchor adjustment nut:

• from the heel of the bar;
• in the headstock.

Before adjusting, inspect the tool to find the access point to the rod adjusting bolt. If it is located in the head, then access to it is most often closed by a cover (it can be from the back of the head or from the front). The lid (or the groove without the lid) is easy to see.

If the bolt is located on the heel of the neck, then access to it on most models of electric guitar is also closed by a cover, located mainly on the side of the back. There are also options for upper access to the location of the adjustment device, for example, through the resonator hole in semi-acoustic guitars or the pickup socket.

For the anchor tuning process, you need to have special adjusting keys: they may differ from different guitar manufacturers. Most of all there are Allen hex adjusting screws with diameters of 4-6 mm, as well as nuts for barrel spanners. Images of these keys are presented below:

A screwdriver for unscrewing the socket cover fasteners, in which the rod adjustment mechanism is hidden, is found in every home.

The main thing is not to lose the instrument, since then finding the original key, say, for adjusting the rod of a Fender Strat guitar will be very problematic.

The truss is tuned to such a deflection of the neck of the electric guitar so that the musician can comfortably clamp the strings without overloading the left hand and fingers, but at the same time receive a clear sound from them without rattling, knocking on the thresholds with free vibration or its complete absence at certain frets. That is, such a concept is a normal neck relief. Thus, the correct position of the truss is when it provides a slight straight (natural) deflection of the neck towards the strings. This can be illustrated with the following image:

Here, the neck deflection is almost imperceptible, so it can be called "straight". On an electric guitar, the degree of "straightness" of the neck is controlled by the following method:

• simultaneously clamp the strings at the 1st fret and in the place where the neck is attached to the body (approximately the XIVth fret), using the help of the capo (he fixes the strings at the 1st fret, while his right hand presses the strings at the XIV fret);
• with the remaining free hand, measure with a probe or ruler the distance from the strings to the top of the nut of the VII fret... If the clearance is within 1.5-2 mm, then the neck deflection is within the normal range ("straight"). In other cases, you should adjust the anchor.

The deflection at which the size of the gap between the strings and the nut of the 7th fret is more than 2-2.5 mm is considered too large. Tightening of the anchor is required. If the gap is less than 1.5 mm, the rod must be loosened.

Immediately you need to say: Be very careful when adjusting the truss rod yourself. Overtightening the bolt can cause serious damage to the instrument, up to the neck breaking and cracking the body.

The step-by-step steps in setting up the anchor consist of several points.

1. Unscrew the fixing screws of the anchor adjustment socket cover with a screwdriver. The cover is removable.
2. Guitar strings are tuned to the standard tuning for a musician.
3. When tuning the rod, the guitar must be in the working position., that is, to be in the hands of a guitarist (for example, to hang on belts if he is playing while standing, or to be located with a shell on the hip if he is used to playing while sitting). In the working position, more accurate adjustment results are obtained.
4. Insert the wrench into the slots of the adjusting screw (nut) and turn it a quarter of a turn in the desired direction... If neck deflection needs to be reduced (the strings are too high above the neck), then the screw should be turned clockwise. If the deflection towards the strings is insufficient (the strings are too low above the neck and even touch the saddle), then the adjusting nut must be turned counterclockwise, thereby weakening the rod and allowing the tension force of the strings to increase the deflection of the neck of the instrument.
5. After each turn of the screw, the gap between the strings and the nut of the 7th fret is measured according to the above control method... And also the strings are tuned to the original tonal scale, as it can change. It is better to tune the guitar using a chromatic tuner that senses even a slight change in tuning.
6. Adding 1/4 turn of the screw each time, you need to achieve the necessary gap between the strings and the metal nut of the 7th fret for comfortable playing.... Each guitarist has his own, which depends on the manner and style of playing. One is enough for a gap of 2 mm, while the other is small and 3 mm. But you shouldn't forget about the limits of guitar construction.

After adjusting the rod, checking the tuning of the guitar and the ease of playing it, it remains to put the cover of the adjusting socket in place and screw in its fasteners with a screwdriver.