Through the Seasons - truss rod changes with a newly built guitar

[justonwo]

Originally Posted by srick

I'm happy to report that the guitar has nicely settled down over the last week. And in that time, the humidity in the house has dropped from 45% to 35%. The guitar is spending most of its time in its humidified case until the springtime comes around again.

I suspect that the wood simply needed time to understand its new reality: it is now a guitar and no longer a tree.

Rick

Good news. Now that I’m taking inventory, I don’t have many guitars left with an adjustable truss rod. The ones with fixed rods never move, which is good because it would be a pain if they did!

For me, the biggest change in luthier built guitars is the gradual increase in action as the wood settles in. It’s not uncommon for a guitar to require a couple of 0.020” reductions in saddle height before things settle. In one case, a guitar needed two neck resets before the action settled. And one of my guitars needs a reset now but I lack the willpower currently to send it in. It’s only been a few years.

I’ve been told by some builders that they over-pitch the neck in anticipation of this movement, though it can be unpredictable. And over-pitching a guitar with a pyramid bridge can be risky business. Pyramid bridges won’t endure tall saddles very long.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by srick

I'm happy to report that the guitar has nicely settled down over the last week. And in that time, the humidity in the house has dropped from 45% to 35%. The guitar is spending most of its time in its humidified case until the springtime comes around again.

I suspect that the wood simply needed time to understand its new reality: it is now a guitar and no longer a tree.

Rick

That's great to hear.
Best,
Jayne