Gretsch Guitars - Tech Tips - Truss Rod Adjustment

Master Gretsch guitar technician Brian Thrasher takes you through adjusting the truss rod on your Gretsch Guitar.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Gretsch
• guitar
• truss
• rod

[Bradleeo]

where can you get a feeler gage?

[TwoTones]

These vids are great. I was having some fret buzz issues but ended up solving it by adjusting the thumb screws on the bridge. How do you know which method you should use?

[BonnardsBluesBand]

Hello.. i just bought a billy bo gretsch guitar and i wanted to adjust the truss rod but when i turn the tool to make the relief it was completly loose! this is a factory problem?? Because i have my warranty!

[StephenFAwesome]

This was exactly what i needed to know for my acoustic Historic Series, i can't wait to watch the rest of your vids.

[HypotenusLuvTriangle]

I found this takes care of fret buzz at the top of the fretboard. I am having an issue where the upper and lower frets have no buzz, but after following these instructions, I'm still getting buzz in the middle fret range, ie 6-13, on the D and G strings mostly. What can be done for that?

[WoodEver195]

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[XTAZLA]

The maximum relief or clearance on a neck should be around the 8th fret capoing the first fret and pressing at the last fret or Fender used to also recommend where the neck meets the body fret. Leaving your guitar leaning against something especially in the winter may result in a compound warp of the neck which usually means the frets have to be removed and replaced to plane the fingerboard straight. The heat from the funace in winter dries out the wood so leave your guitar by a cool wall.

[XTAZLA]

What is important on a guitar is that the fingerboard is manufactured as straight as possible and then that the frets are correctly installed and leveled and crowned with care. The nut height is important to be not too high hard to play and pull strings sharp.or too low buzzing. There are proper measurements but a rough rules of thumb is to have a hair of clearance under string and first fret when you press the string between the 2nd and 3rd fret.

[XTAZLA]

I have been starting with 4/64's which equals one 16th pick up height when depressing string at the last fret for the bridge pick up and 6/64"s which is 1 and a half 16ths for the neck pick up.

[XTAZLA]

@countryclassic automotive feeler gauges for spark plug gaps at automotive stores. Fender recommends about .010 inches for relief but the Custom Shop uses less relief like more about .007 approximately. I find it depends on how hard the player picks or strums. For a more aggressive technique I use more relief. Fender FMIC owns many guitar companies including Gretsch recommends action height of 5/64's on strings D, G, B, E and 6/64's which is 3/32nd on low E, A. Approximately I use 6/64 on D. .

[johntrik]

How much of an inch is the feeler gage you re using for measuring? Is it 0,008 of an inch??? THANKS! ! !~

[riddler2468oasis]

@Bradleeo Hardware stores.