What have I done

[Trevor Davies]

Well everything ended up going together easily and I did end up with my guitar for Christmas 🎅

However … there is no relief? When you hold down the string on the first and 20 fret the string sits on all the frets-no gap. I went through the truss rod adjustment video’s which said I had to loosen the truss rod. I managed about a full turn before it got stiff but no discernible change in the neck bow. They say don’t force the truss rod when it gets stiff, but no one gives a definition of ‘stiff’. I saw a video a number of months ago where they had the neck by itself on the bench, supported at the ends, and a clamp in the middle applying relief. Would anyone recommend trying this.? Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. It looks good, but I would like to be able to play it too.

Hi Olddon:

2 things to check.

1. Neck relief - is there a slight curve in the neck (ie the headstock bends away from the body) when you look down the side of the neck. If not then then truss rod will need adjusting. I would have thought you would be tightening the truss rod by turning the allen key anticlockwise. I have had to apply a lot of force to get them to move before (so lucky I did not know about stiff rule). I would not change it by more than a quarter turn at any sitting.

I do not think you need benches!

Normally I aim to have the neck straight when preparing the neck, and then the addition of the strings normally provides enough relief.

2. The strings can be raised using the bridge. Raise the height of the bridge. For my build the threads are a good 0.5 cm out from the lowest position.

I hope this helps.