Truss Rod adjustment ES-1L

[Melkor]

Hey, I recently got a ES 1L kit and I have gotten to the fret dressing/fling part (neck not attached to body as yet). When I looked at the neck it had a pronounced concave bend and to straighten it enough to start the fretwork I had to tighten the truss rod right up to the point where there is no more tightening adjustment (loosening off only returns the neck to concave). Is this a normal occurrence with these necks and if not is there a way of fixing it or should I consider getting another neck?
Melk.

[Sonic Mountain]

I had one neck like that, but I returned it for other reasons. Just to be clear, is it bowing so the middle of the fretboard sits higher than the 1st and last frets (convex) or is the middle lower than 1st and last (concave, like what you would expect from heavy strings pulling on it?)

If you are all the way at adjustment from it being convex, I would say that is OK. The tension of the strings will pull it back and you have a stack of adjustment back to fight the string pull. If you are all the way at adjustment from concave, then any further adjustment after you put the strings on will be impossible, which is not ideal and probably worth returning. Does that make sense?

[Melkor]

Sorry, yeah it is convex. Thanks Sonic, I will continue with it in that case. I was fairly sure the string tension would pull it back a bit but wasn’t sure if it would cause any problems. Just as an aside, when looking at the headstock it looked like the tuner holes were out of alignment. I did some measurements and they are. On the LP I built it was the same thing and it made the tuners out of wack. Is this something that Adam should know about!
Cheers

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah, Adam is well aware of the tuner hole issues. The problem stems from the templates in the factory and we can't seem to get it completely rectified. Some are certainly better than others, but it's always a bit of a dice roll. Most people dowel and re-drill them if they are particularly noticeable, they often only have to move less than a mm, so the dowel is easily covered when the tuner is installed.

It's annoying, but its also a trade off on the kits being so cheap.

And re the neck. If you've got it straight enough to fret level, then it should be fine and will settle once strings are on. I'd expect a bit of messing around at setup time.

[Melkor]

Thanks Sonic, good to see Adams onto it. Figured it would be a manufacturing problem. Mine are out by about a mm or so, so I might have crack at doweling myself but I may stuff it up, I’ll see. Thanks for the advise mate.

[Bradboy]

I've got exactly the same problems. Bows back & the holes are out of alignment. Did you get your neck fixed?