Acoustic Guitar Truss Rod Adjustment Direction

How to adjust an acoustic guitar truss rod.

Acoustic guitar truss rod adjustment direction.

When tightened it counteracts the tension created by the strings the strings pull the neck forward. Locate your guitar s truss rod. Adjusting the truss rod of your guitar alters your guitar s neck relief the amount of bow in the neck measured by the distance between the strings and the frets. An adjustable truss rod is either one way or two way also known as single action or double action.

The trick is knowing when you ve got the neck the way you want it. Some bow is necessary for a guitar to play well but you don t want it to be bowed too much. The truss rod is a slim steel rod inside the neck of your guitar. But a change in string gauges climate especially a change in humidity or simply the player s taste may require an adjustment even on a new.

You can find the adjusting nut either at the peghead or through the sound hole depending on how your guitar is designed. The neck of most guitars has what s known as a truss rod which is a one or two piece adjustable metal rod that goes down the inside of the center of the neck. Different manufacturers put them in different places but they re usually at the headstock under a cap just behind the nut or where the neck joins the body just under. Sight the neck to see what condition it s in.

While the amount of relief is a matter. That is why truss rod adjustments are normally done in conjunction with a set up. Starting with a dead flat neck i increase neck relief slightly until the instrument plays without buzzing. When adjusting a truss rod in either direction you are changing the force applied to the rod.

Loosen the nut if the neck is back bowed. When a quality guitar leaves the factory the truss rod is adjusted according to the maker s taste in setup specs. The types of forces that act on a truss rod are compression tension and torque. S l november 16 2012.

Loosening a truss rod turning counter clockwise adds relief to decreases tension on the neck which results in increased higher string action height. Tighten the truss rod adjusting nut to straighten a neck that has an up bow. The truss rod pulls the neck backward. When making truss rod adjustments i first assess the instrument s action and playability along with the players aggressiveness and playing style.