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  #31  
Old 10-21-2015, 04:54 AM
sbeirnes sbeirnes is offline
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I like having an adjustable truss rod, just like I like having rubber tires on my car instead of wooden wheels on a horse and buggy.

Progress is a good thing.
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  #32  
Old 10-21-2015, 05:19 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Lots of religious discussion and superstition on this topic.

I will say that when some of the good guitars didn't offer adjustable necks (Martin), a back industry grew up in the high-end repair shops in the studio cities. A key feature of that industry was proficiency in planing necks on good guitars that had bad actions because they didn't have adjustable truss rods.

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  #33  
Old 10-21-2015, 05:19 AM
Mr Bojangles Mr Bojangles is offline
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Regarding Martin guitars, there is a world of difference between the neck profiles on the pre-adjustable truss rod necks and those with the adjustable rods having the newer low profile necks. I own both, and much prefer the feel of the older Martin necks. Of course, this is a matter of opinion, but my old D-28 is a lot more comfortable than my newer D-28 with the low profile neck. I have had no problems with neck relief on my older Martins. But if I ever do, I won't be able to make a simple rod adjustment. That being said, there is nothing to break, either. (I have had to replace a Fender neck due to a faulty truss rod.) Bottom line, there is nothing to argue about here. Just buy and play what you like.
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  #34  
Old 10-21-2015, 05:39 AM
Aaron Smith Aaron Smith is offline
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As with most things discussed here, people on both sides of the debate tend to paint with too broad a brush.

All other things equal, having an adjustable truss rod is a good thing. Unfortunately all other things may not be equal. So like all design features, you are left with a compromise.
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  #35  
Old 10-21-2015, 06:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flaggerphil View Post
Why wouldn't you want one?
Stability and tone....post#21.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
I normally agree with Dave on most things - but I'm afraid that most who have owned pre & post truss rod Martins over the years know that this simply is not true.

I've seen so many non rod necks that had relief like old mattresses, and ones with truss rods with the same problem.
Can you be more specific about which guitars (generally) have exhibited that type of problem in your experience? The reason I ask is to parse out whether the problems you've seen are really with non-adjustable necks, or with particular design/application of the idea. One bridge collapse doesn't mean all bridges are bad.
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  #36  
Old 10-21-2015, 06:52 AM
j3ffr0 j3ffr0 is offline
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I can only speak from my personal experience which is the lens I look through.

I have seen lots nylon string guitars without them that had badly warped necks. Most under $2,000 because that's what you find in the stores. Someone will always say it's possible to build/brace such a guitar in such a way that it doesn't need one. I've seen enough to the contrary that it gives me pause. That's not to say that I won't one day buy a higher end classical that doesn't have one, but it hasn't happened yet. Knowing that steel string guitars have way more tension, it's very unlikely that I'll buy a steel string guitar without the rod.

I've always bought guitars that had the rod. Some of these I've had for over 30 years. Other than a Sigma 12 string, I've never had a problem with neck stability. I've often given the rod in some of them a quarter depending on season to adjust the neck relief a bit. I have NEVER been sorry I had a truss rod.

The OP should be entitled, "Truss Rod -- Good or Great"
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  #37  
Old 10-21-2015, 07:58 AM
kydave kydave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrathfuldeity View Post
Interesting...I have 2 old harmony H165, same early/mid 60's era of "steel reinforced neck" non adjustable. Both have had neck resets, one I'm sure nothing was done with one tress rod; in the other the orginal steel rod was replaced with heavier steel rod (non-adjustible) and epoxied in. This resulted in a significantly heavier and more solid feeling neck. The guy that did this said that the guitar should never need another reset, the neck is great, no dead spots, no movement with a change of string gauge. It seems...but IDK...its like with this solid neck...the sound doesn't travel up the neck and keeps the vibrational energy in the body...and this guitar is louder, has more projection and has more headroom. However the one with the orginal condition neck, is light as a feather, has a fast response and can be played with a feather touch and easily overdriven...very intimate.
The truss rod has nothing to do with neck reset.

Quote:
but I'm afraid that most who have owned pre & post truss rod Martins over the years know that this simply is not true.
Highly respected luthier John Arnold, who knows more about vintage instruments and has touched more than most people on this forum put together, has more than once said how few of the old T-bar Martin necks have had relief issues that he has had to repair.

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  #38  
Old 10-21-2015, 08:08 AM
fishstick_kitty fishstick_kitty is offline
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My Gibson LG-2 doesn't have an adjustable truss rod and its fine...but I really do like to have it...on most of my guitars, I am comfortable with adjusting the truss rod and sanding down the saddle. Anything beyond that (filing the nut or leveling frets) goes to my tech.

Truss rod tweak have made a couple of my guitars go from good to great though.
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  #39  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:02 AM
00-28 00-28 is offline
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This topic comes up quite often and we get the same old arguments from the few who believe that if a guitar isn't built like a pre war Martin Dreadnaught, then it just ain't right. I get tired of the old hillbilly Keebler elf story like he really knows anything, the "rigid" neck as opposed to the what, a "floppy" neck, the "I can hear the difference, don't know what I hear, I just hear it", argument, and of course the experts, Willi Henkes and John Arnold, who I agree are at the top of their game, but are deep in the pre war Martin camp.

All necks are rigid. On a non-adjustable neck, a steel bar strengthens the neck and the relief is set with the use of compression frets, which keeps the neck under tension at the correct relief permanently, or so we hope. With an adjustable rod, the same mahogany neck, with fretboard and frets that add to a rigid system, uses a truss rod that can be adjusted, which adds the tension needed for the correct relief. One neck is not more rigid than the other. One just uses the frets for the tension, the uses the rod to add the tension.

I have nothing to say about hearing a difference, If you can hear a difference and you believe it is the truss rod, that's good too. If you do hear a difference, why is it that the old way is always better?

I have two guitars with non-adjustable rods and two guitars with adjustable rods, all Martins. The are all good, just different ways to get to an end.

............Mike
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  #40  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:16 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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Default truss rod

This is a useful thread, good info here. My thinking is that if the luthier recommends it, and nearly everyone of them does, then maybe I should have it.

I had an M38 that went through 3 neck resets in the 20 years I owned it. No truss rod of course. Maybe I would have had less trouble had there been one. It was one of the last guitars me before they went to them.
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  #41  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:20 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post
I had an M38 that went through 3 neck resets in the 20 years I owned it. No truss rod of course. Maybe I would have had less trouble had there been one.
Everyone, let's repeat this together:

A truss rod has nothing to do with a neck reset.

Again,

A truss rod has nothing to do with a neck reset.

And, now in three-part harmony,

A truss rod has nothing to do with a neck reset.

Got it? Good.
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  #42  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:21 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post
I had an M38 that went through 3 neck resets in the 20 years I owned it. No truss rod of course. Maybe I would have had less trouble had there been one. It was one of the last guitars me before they went to them.
I know I sound like a broken record, but neck reinforcement has nothing at all to do with neck resets.

That said, three resets in 20 years, or in the life of the guitar for that matter is so odd that something else has to be going on. Either poor repair work or some other fault that is not apparent based on the information given.


(Looks like Charles, and Mike, and I were typing simultaneously.)
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  #43  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:21 AM
00-28 00-28 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post
This is a useful thread, good info here. My thinking is that if the luthier recommends it, and nearly everyone of them does, then maybe I should have it.

I had an M38 that went through 3 neck resets in the 20 years I owned it. No truss rod of course. Maybe I would have had less trouble had there been one. It was one of the last guitars me before they went to them.
It has been stated here several times, that the truss rod, adjustable, non adjustable or lacking all together, has nothing to do with the need for a neck reset. .......Mike
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  #44  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:22 AM
00-28 00-28 is offline
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Wow, we all pounced on The Bard like hungry lions. ........Mike
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  #45  
Old 10-21-2015, 09:49 AM
Irish Dave Irish Dave is offline
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Good, period.
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