Tips on How to Set Up a Guitar : How to Adjust the Neck on an Acoustic Guitar

[palbo4]

what happens if you adjust it without having it in tune?

[Metallimeister]

@palbo4 I always loosen all the strings before adjusting

[palbo4]

@Metallimeister and that doesn't mess it up or anything? because i tried that and it didn't do anything but when i tried to retune it again it sounded kind of weird

[Metallimeister]

@palbo4 You'll have to tune a few times to get it accustomed to the adjustment.

The neck needs to settle into the new adjustment.

Do a minor adjustment, tune, play, tune for a few hours or even longer. Wait until tomorrow and try it again and see if you need more adjustment.

[palbo4]

@Metallimeister all right thanks!

[1701mcfly]

Under bow = Relief

[Mabtheist]

@1701mcfly Only a tad bit of under bow = relief. He even notes that there is a tad bit of under-bow as there is supposed to be.

[sidloads]

any precautions ?

[1701mcfly]

@sidloads I've turned hundreds of truss rods.Only ONE snapped! And it sounded like a gun ! I always loosen it first, then re tighten on a guitar I have never done before.Trouble neck with a lot of relief may need you to physically pull the neck AS you tighten.It takes a few guitars before you get a FEEL for how tight the allen or nut should be.(When possible, take off the truss nut and lube it.)

[BonoSlayer1]

@TyneGibbs12 he does what he is meant to be doing

[Cytagasm]

@TheJagzy if you loosen the strings then it makes it difficult to see any changes in the bow of the neck after adjusting. Having the straight string next to it gives a good comparison point

[KokoBallad]

lol dude i almost bought a new guitar THANX MEGA SHAKE!

[smitty747]

Awesome video young man. Thank you for sharing this. I kinda already knew what to do, but wasn't sure which direction to turn the allen key. At the moment my strings are too far from the fretboard, and as a result my fingers get sore pretty quick. Again, thanks for sharing. Expert Village ROCKS ! I've viewed a lot of their video's.

[liamakacracky]

dose anyone know how to adjust the neck on an eletric acoustic so th strings arnt touching the fretboard when im play?

[28crazyguy]

what happens if your guitar nut falls? do i just put it back on and let the string tension hold it in, or should i just glue it back.

[SuperShaneTV1]

@expertvillage im just sacred i might break the guitar neck when im tightening the truss rod...or is that just me?

[DrPepperGuitar]

@SuperShaneTV1 it seemed that way at first for me two but if you just keep pushing it gets easier and loosens up.

[Friendsofthefruits]

thanks for the it did make a diffance

[dvnobles]

It's funny in all these truss rod adjustment videos, they always say a quarter-turn and then actually turn it about 1/8. A quarter turn would be a full 90 deg....which I wouldn't suggest. //Dan

[bollocks74]

@dvnobles if you want to get technical, it's 1/6 of a turn. an allen key has 6 sides, thus...... ;)

[musicman19191]

Bite my underbow.

[DJCrowe501]

Thanks...I fixed my Washburn like a pro, and it sounds awesome...thank you!

[ILikeToShred]

Don't turn the truss 3 quarter tones... turn it one, then wait over night then do it again. The neck needs times to settle! If you rush it you could warp the neck, even if at first it looks fine.

... sorry did i say warp, I meant "Over bowed"

Jeeze...

[DJK290]

@dmaster225

1.) get yourself a newer or better guitar

2.) Go to a good luthier. They can press and shape the neck straight, but unless you have their expensive equipment, you can't possibly do it yourself properly.

[dmaster225]

@DJK290 guess ill go to a luthier, since this guitar has sentimental value for me, I wont mind trying to find one.

[stephenpoi]

You're supposed to loosen off the strings before you tighten a truss rod!!!! Lucky you didn't shatter the truss rod...than the guitar is wrecked!!

[TheOruzu]

@dmaster225 You probably have a really cheap guitar; if there's no truss rod there's nothing you can do to adjust the neck. You should go get yourself a higher quality guitar.

[wingchunone]

@beanfield200 Dude, aesthetics don't matter. Is the good use of it that counts.

[explosionguy]

GOD BLESS YOU FOR HELPING ME I NEEDED THIS BADLY!!!!!

[syaoranpies]

what if you get fret buzz when you tighten it?

[liamakacracky]

dose anyone know how to do this on an electo/acoustic?

[JHVH1]

@Ianpbx They didn't put them there, they are a youtube feature and you can turn them off.

[theguitarhero1000000]

how long does it take to work

[crankychick]

@Ianpbx You can turn the captions off.

[CarsonsGuitarLesson]

@crankychick HOW!

[crankychick]

@CarsonsGuitarLesson There's an up arrow at the very right hand corner of the video on the bottom. Click that and then click the "CC" option.

[JasonH42000]

Thank you so much I've been wonder how to adjust the truss on my acoustic! Very good Video!

[pivovinorakija]

@desr2395 turn of ''cc''

[eoghanhennessy15]

this is basically a demonstration of how to use an allen key?

[310taylor]

yea 3 turns is insane to tell people good job buddy

[moelicious1]

HOW TO REMOVE CC......lower right of player, click up arrow. You will see a red CC option. Click it to remove the subtitles (aka captions).

[aerockster]

BY THE WAY, to tell whether the neck is over or under bowed, look at the SHADOW of the strings.

[MikeLagrisola]

thank you so much. I thought i was gonna have to pay so much to get it adjusted. I got mine all set up, thanks to this video. awesome, thanks dude.

[Hypnixio]

thx

[DRthirdLEGGED]

how can not adjusting the truss rod over a long period of time effect playability?

[th3echelon89]

You will have alot of fret buzz. I have a buzz on my 9th fret, and that's bad.

[ukandoittowithkandoo]

Changed my stings today same gauge i had on before but not the strings are touching the frets ??? crazy man. 1more thing i scraped super glue of the nut that i foolishly put on would that be a factor to in the strings touching the frets?

[PostHardcore24]

hey that helps alot! But one thing, when you stick the alan wrench thing where do you stick it exactly? Cuz there's not a hole or anything on my guitar so idk. Help?

[dlmahtani7]

So my acoustic guitar was exposed to some extreme cold weather and now frets 12 and 13 give the same note.

I'm assuming this is an overbow?

GC wants to charge me $35 to set this back right. Will a couple of tweaks counter-clockwise do the trick?

[coolcustomer31]

@dlmahtani7 i would just pay the $35 if you can afford it. its not that much and it will play alot nicer.

[dlmahtani7]

@coolcustomer31 Yeah. I got t done. Thanks dude.

[lisian123]

before you start to adjusting your neck, LOOSE YOUR STRINGS, its important sometimes! if the bolt is older or if the neck wasnt adjusted for a long time it could be that your bolt break!!! if your strings are LOOSE, there is no tension anymore and the bolt will revolve much easier either. ( sry, my english isnt the best ;-P )

[heartywhistler]

Yes, I agree. I just asked my guitar teacher about adjusting the truss rod, He also said to loosen the strings first.

[samescenario]

oops I was turning it counter clockwise no wonder I made the underbow worse !!

[josephpatrow]

Thank you! From my experience, this is a sign of someone who knows what they're doing!

[josephpatrow]

Hard to tell without seeing the guitar. I'll need details of the guitar, any damage to the nut and bridge areas, and the curvature of the neck.

[grayzy111]

hi mate!! you've just solved my problem!!! thanks!! keep up the good work..... graham, liverpool, england.

[reebocken]

nice! Congratz! :)

[xXbroot4lsamwichXx]

okay, so my grandpa gave this 40 something year old epiphone texan.

well, with it being so old the nut snapped. I got the nut replaced. it used to be the action was better than my sg, but now it's terrible. so i removed the nut, and shaved it down a bit.

Now, the action on the first couple frets is good, but near the 9th,10th etc. the actions still high.

help? please?

[chanchllla]

neck is probably warped sonn

[reebocken]

i got my mothers old guitar a year ago. It's now approx. 38 years old. I cvhanged the ctrings and it works perfect. :p

[PittSteelers1345]

I got a really nice Gretsch Acoustic and when I put on .56 gauged strings I think I may have bent the neck and I have gone back to 52s and It is still bent i think. The action is really high and the neck looks bent. The neck looks bent on my electric too because I went up to .53 strings

HELLP PLLLZZZ

[anupnick]

THIS GUY IS RIGHT>....

I just did a TRUST ROD ADJUSTMENT>... and it worked...

Had a very High action on my guitar...

I tightened the trust rod... and now its FIXED>..

[MrChinesechicken21]

you aint kiddn i bought a guitar and had the same problem i did it and the action is lower and it sounds a hell of alot better

[evks82]

hi i want to adjust action height to low so it is easy to play does it do it?

[BKLOUNGE321]

Do semihollow body guitars have truss rods?

[WaffleWafV2]

just about every guitar made after 1921 (with the exception of classical guitars) will most likely have a truss rod

[drywaldo]

ALL decent quality guitars have truss rods. Save yourself some greif, if you need an adjument, take it and have it done.

[gooman989898]

under BOW... not under bouw

[nsaretard]

i have a made in korea alvarez and tried with little if any success to lower the necks action.. the strings are way too high across the entire neck. not sure if the tension bar can adjust this alone.

[GammonAndSpinach]

You're right to doubt . . . the tension rod is used to adjust the relief, or bow, in the neck, as he does: NOT the action! The action will change when you adjust it, and high action may be a clue that the relief is wrong, but high action can result from a lot of different causes. If use the rod to compensate for some other problem, you'll wind up with the relief out of whack.

[bunburyZ]

what does action mean ? I'm pretty new to guitar so i was just wondering.

[GammonAndSpinach]

Action is the height of the strings above the frets, usually at the twelfth fret if not otherwise specified.

A new guitar that has never been properly set up may need the saddle and nut heights adjusted as well as the truss rod. And maybe frets leveled. Try to do all those jobs with the truss rod and you'll have an awful mess, and maybe break the rod.

[GammonAndSpinach]

I disagree with this guy about adjusting the rod with strings tensioned. Slack 'em off, turn the truss rod nut no more than 1/4 turn (if you MUST play with it) and then tune up and play it for a month. It can take that long for the neck to settle to its new shape.

[bunburyZ]

k thanks. i have a pretty old guitar [30 yrs] acoustic and it has pretty high action. my dad said he'll get me a new one in a few months so untill then i was thinking I would tighten the truss rod a bit.

[GammonAndSpinach]

An older guitar with high action may need a neck re$et. If it's a decent instrument a reset is worth doing -- good guitars improve with age; 30 is hardly broke in for a Martin or Gibson. If it's a real cheapie, go ahead, just take it slow and observe. Truss rods break easy (DAMHIKT).

[GammonAndSpinach]

Before you touch the truss rod, though, consider lowering the saddle. That's the part of the bridge the strings ride over. If it's adjustable, crank it down. If it's fixed, file it (just the saddle, not the bridge) keeping roughly the same shape. Saddles are replaceable; you won't hurt anything.

[bunburyZ]

thanks.

[drywaldo]

The distance from thebottom of the strings to the frets is refered to as the "action". High action=hard to play

action to low=fret buzz +bad intonation.Every guitar has a different action heigth, usually the high and low is determined by the factory, you can get the spects from them. Action is a matter of preference. There are several factors invloved so do try it yourself, pay a few dollars and have it set by a pro.

[arinlares]

to lower a necks action, i think you need a new nut.

[phototecglobal]

Can anybody make it abit clear, I understand what he's doing & why he's doing it, also how it's done, but potentially sounding stupid, is this the case sometimes with new guitars, because that one he's working on is brand new. I'm asking because I have a new acoustic with a fairly high action, should I be doing this? please someone. Thanx

[firegeek22]

Very true

[Bempley]

i agree

[behradng]

the easier way which even I had to use in building one of my guitars is to raise the saddle height not too much but just a tiny bit this will help if the the frets are all placed properly now, if one of the frets is higher that other ones it will always buzz the way to check that is either get a ruler and check the flatness or mark the top of each fret with marker and use a cloth taped to flat surface run it along fret board then if in some frets the ink robs off it means that its higher

[tylerammon]

what if the socket for the wrench is stripped? cuz mine is and... i cant turn the action down at all any more... :(

[melonheed3]

man that's bad news...because the socket is continuous with the truss rodd..and the only way to fix that would be to pop off the fretboard and put a new one in.....just get a new guitar

[firegeek22]

Or you can just get a new neck

[tylerammon]

im going to try an ease out cuz the bolt is tripped... if not then im going to buy a new gtr

[firegeek22]

alright well i wish u luck

[THUMBSEY]

mines stuck :S

it wont turn

[guitarslim56]

Nice video!

[JmJones2]

he doesn't seem to stress the importance of an "underbowed" neck enough. at least he isn't telling people to use the rod to adjust the action...

[fmcnally]

so this will straighten up straight away ??

[guitarslim56]

Give it time. Give it a few minutes, maybe more. Depending on the guitar, you might have to wait overnight. Patience!

[thesixtiesguy]

My 12 is underbowed but doesn't have a trussrod adjustment. OOuch!! bloody fingers

[guitarsnstuff93422]

How about a 12 string

[guitarnoob14]

aint u suppose to loosen the guitar strings when u are tightening the truss rod so u dont over stretch the strings? in my oppinion, if u dont loosen the strings a little then they could stretch so much that u need new strings or they end up breaking :-/

[Itsnotjustahobby]

it deosn't stretch the strings enough to break them.

[guitarnoob14]

i mean they can stretch when u adjust the neck then when the guitar needs tuning again they might snap, not they will, they might

[robbyrudy]

you are exactly right

[robbyrudy]

this comment was meant for guitartec

[ekserchina]

So what do you do if you don't turn the truss rod and try to adjust it? Isn't the truss rod there for adjusting? So what I'm trying to get at since you're so experienced why don't you tell us what to do and how to do it???

[guitartec]

What I mean, is that it's not that simple a procedure to do. You don't just turn the truss rod and call it a day. If you do it the way our friend above is saying, you can end up with an ineffective truss rod. You actually need to physically help the rod make and keep the adjustment by literally bending the neck in the direction you want it to go. You need to know the proper amount of force to use. You also should leave the truss nut in the tightened position after you make your adjustment.

[ekserchina]

I got a used 12 string washburn I'm trying to fix up a bit. The neck is underbowed and the action is not as low as I would like it to be. The problem is It's really hard to turn clockwise. What do you guys think? Please only serious guitar lutheirs. No amateur opinions please. Thanks.

[fergible]

This guy tightened too much at one time. It really should have been done a quarter turn at a time, leaving a few minutes in between for the neck to adjust.

[inkey2]

keep in mind high action can be from (1) bridge saddle too high, (2) top of the guitar buldging upward from string pressure at the bridge area, (3)Too much bowing in the neck (4) A high nut...or all of the above

[Adamiskew]

ahaa

[IndieTechno]

what guitar is that

[hawkpanther7]

i loosen my strings doing that

[kentorwow]

alvarez baby

[SupaDoctar]

I really dont get any of the info on this video. What is the tightening for? incase you the strings are closer to the neck? or even to the neck? which one?

[RFawakhiri92]

The strings pull tension on the neck, so that makes the neck bend which causes higher action and more buzzing while you're playing. To make the buzzing stop and to get lower action, you look down the neck to see how big the curve is from the tension of the strings. Then you tighten the truss rod so that it can make the neck straight. You don't want for it to be exactly straight though. You would want for it to have the slightest amount of relief, meaning you want it to have a little curve.

[SupaDoctar]

I am the kind of guy that needs to open something up in order to know how it works... Just that, it's me. But thanks, I think I get the slightest ideal how it is done professionally since I just started to play. Again... thanks.

[moejobe]

i cant turn the truss rod on my martin wit the l ranch.

[godaddict]

either way??? Try turning it back the other way first.

[2JobsStillPoorUSA]

Moe!! Honey take your martin in for servicing... you can break your truss rod if not careful and that is a huge expense to fix.

[kangkarot12]

I did that and it's straight.

but my e string is not making and sound.

when I press down to any fret it makes a buzzing noise.

someone help meeee please.

[bpl222]

make Sure that it is straight somrtimes its hard to tell...

ummm, another reason as to why it might be buzzing is because the knobs that hold the strings in place on tunning machine may be loose; next time you re-string your guitar take a wrench and tighten them up a bit. I've seen this done and heard an improvement. Good luck!

[Leftyguitarplayer123]

Alright, In not a guitar expert, but it sounds like your neck is like twisted, like sideways. Im not sure what your options are for that

[Bancaer]

You've just gone too far, turn it back a bit. Remember it's not supposed to be 100% straight

[godaddict]

no sound at all....that's curious. Are the strings possibly touching the fretboard? You may have overtightened it..The saddle may also need to be shimmed... or replaced...that's the piece that the strings go over from the bridge pins.

[vbcoach76]

I have an Ovation 1771 Balladeer and the action is amazing. It is easy to adjust the truss rod, but once you get it adjusted and you stick with the same weight of strings, you shouldn't have to adjust it at all. As for falling off your lap, Ovations are not for everyone. If you are more comfortable playing your guitar with some angle rather than straight up and down, you will have trouble keeping the Ovation in place. Some people try using a strap even when sitting down.

[JazzGuitarist2007]

THank you for this info and lesson

[frankorrall]

Thank you!

[unknown42286]

sweat, I just fixed the buzz sound on my guitar!

[rumpelstiltskins]

this is really hard for my ovation guitar....

[ErikBucaneg3018]

i think ovation isnt that good

[alcoholman01]

yea i had one, okay sound and always sliding off my lap

[redking15ca]

i cant really tell if my neck is bowed and which way i need to tighten it, it seams to have a tid bit of a dip at about the 7th fret... i dont know, i think i need to adjust the bridge...

[CherryBurstLesPaul]

Is it really necessary to tune your strings before you adjust the neck? I have a guitar where I can only adjust it at the top and if my strings are to tight, I can't really tighten the trustrod that way. By the way, if I loosen them so that I can tighten the trustrod, I don't see much difference while tightening.

[groovadelicrelic]

You need to tune to pitch because the truss rod counter-acts the tension of the strings on the neck. Without the strings tuned to the right tension you won't know how tight the truss rod needs counter-act.

[Doneroma]

thats happened to me a couple times if its an acoustic and you dont have any way you can adjust the bridge height than all you can really do is raise the action just a little until it stops cutting out

[secorandam]

hey i have a prob , every time i bend a full step bend or more i cut the string .. i asked a guy about this nd he told me it's the neck adjusment .. so wut should i do ???plz reply a.s.a.p thn

Aly

[GreenGrass1243]

I would say don't do it if you have know idea what you are doing.This guy is a pro, take your guitar into a shop and get it done it does not coast to much and you will save yourself from wrecking your guitar!