Author: Lachlan Bush Date Posted:13 November 2020
A Truss Rod is a long metal rod that runs the length of the guitar neck, underneath your fretboard. It anchors at each end so that when you tighten or loosen the nut on one end it will straighten or bow the neck of the guitar in order to counteract the tension of the strings. You can use your truss rod to get your neck almost straight, leaving slight relief, then you can start to consider your action ie. the height of the string from the fretboard.
Before you consider making any truss rod adjustments, you must have fresh strings, stretched and tuned to pitch.
You may need to make occasional adjustments to your guitar to straighten your neck. Being made from natural materials, it is normal for guitars to adjust slightly to humidity and temperature, and the wood will also age and flex over time. The bone of the nut can be affected by weather changes, and using alternate tunings will affect the tension on the neck. Additionally, if you switch from a light-gauge to a heavy-gauge string, there will be more tension pulling on the neck, which will bow it slightly. Conversely, switching from heavy to light-gauge strings will have the opposite effect, releasing tension and allowing the neck to bend backward.
As such, you may need to adjust your instrument every 6-12 months. Most brand-new guitars will need one good adjustment once they have settled, and any further adjustments in future will probably be much smaller.
If you find that your action is too high, or some frets are buzzing the first thing to do is check how straight your neck is, and make adjustments to your Truss Rod if necessary. Once your neck relief is correctly aligned you can tweak the bridge or saddle height to fine-tune your action. This is a quick 5 - 10 minute process and is easy when you follow this simple guide.
Remember: you will need to turn the tool until you engage and feel tension on the truss rod nut, before this point the nut will feel loose and won’t make any difference to the neck. If you then reverse and go the other way, you will need to engage the nut in the opposite direction before it has any effect – you should feel zero tension on your allen key, and you’ll notice more tension when the nut is re-engaged.
You will receive a new truss rod adjustment tool with every Artist guitar, and we also include the allen keys required for both saddle and locking nut adjustments.
The allen keys for Artist Guitars truss rods are 4mm in diameter and are a standard allen shape. This is a common size for many guitars, however, this may vary for other brands (in particular, Gibson, Maton, and Fender, which all differ very slightly).
Remember, guitars are made from natural materials and may need minor adjustments on occasion, this is normal, and exactly why we include truss rods in their construction – don’t be afraid to have a go, just reach out to us if you need assistance!
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I hope this article has helped. if you need any assistance please email:
sales@artistguitars.com.au or call us on 1300 489 816
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