Quote:
Originally Posted by codecontra
I have been playing guitar for over 30 years and never dared adjust a truss rod. I always brought my guitars to a luthier. However I decided to take a shot at adjusting the truss rod on my Takamine EF341SC. The action was a bit high 4/32" and I figured a little tweak was all that was needed.
I have read over and over to go SLOWLY and only a 1/4 turn at a time. However I noticed that the nut was very loose and turning it even a half rotation made no difference in the action. I actually had to turn it quite a bit to even feel any tension. I probably turned a good few rotations before the action moved at all. Now it is at 3/32" and feels/plays quite nicely.
But it seems that the truss rod nut was completely loose. Is that normal or a problem I should have checked out?
Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!
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First of all, you are approaching this incorrectly. There is so much incorrect information out there. Loosening or tightening a truss road is for RELIEF only, yes it can affect action but that is a side effect. Do not touch your adjustable truss rod unless your relief is off. The order is simple.
Relief: it should be nearly flat. Capo the first fret E string or hold it down with one finger and hold down the string on the fret where it joins the body (12, 13, or 14th fret). There should be just a hint of light under your bass E string or 0.004-0.008” at the mid fret (6th or 7th). That’s it. Don’t touch it again unless this measurement is off. I use 0.005”
Nut: the nut slots should be adjusted when new and anytime the frets are leveled. The nut slots should be at the fret height or a few thousandths higher. I have mine at fret height.
Saddle. This is where you adjust action. Measure the 12th fret action from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string. Take off or shim double that amount at the saddle to get your action where you want it. I use 0.090” bass and 0.060” treble. That’s pretty low and some who use a pick heavily will want higher. “3 & 2” is the standard for most techs. That’s 3/32” (0.094”) on the bass and 2/32” (0.063”) on the treble.
Relief, nut, saddle in that order.
Now if you don’t know which way your truss rod works the simple answer is it is there to counter act the tension of the strings. Normally tightening the truss rod puts back bow into the neck and loosening it lets the string tension create more bow. Simply place a tuner on your guitar. Tune the E. Tighten your truss rod nut 1/4 turn and you will see it sharpen the string (the string has more tension so you’ve lengthened the string or placed back bow into the neck) or you will see the E string go flatter, or you’ve loosened the string by creating more bow in the neck.
Hopefully that makes sense. Do not use the truss rod to lower action because it’ll throw off your real set up.
Relief, nut, saddle. That’s it.