Taylor Truss Rod amateur adjustment

[JKW-HTX]

Hey everyone,
I have a Taylor 114ce acoustic electric
The neck of my Taylor is bowed (side view = bowl) so that my strings are getting further from the neck.
I just bought a 1/4' 7mm nut driver and 1/4 combination wrench.
I don't want to take my guitar to a repair shop/technician.
I think I have to tighten the truss rod?
Any advice/tips on adjusting the truss rod?

[Earl49]

Go for it! The only caveats are to:
1) Never force anything. If you feel resistance, stop. Time to take it to a tech and let them show you what they are doing.
2) Go slow and count your turns. Since Allen wrenches are six sided, I usually counts "flats" or one-sixth of a turn. The Taylor truss rod wrench is a socket, so maybe count quarter turns instead. Go 1/4 turn at a time, and check the neck visually until you get it where you want to be. The largest adjustment that I recall making is 3/4 of a turn for a guitar that badly needed adjustment.

The neck needs a little bow in it, but not much. Relief at the seventh fret should be something like 0.007" on the higher end, checked while the first fret and fourteenth (or twelfth) fret are held (a capo is useful here). A perfectly straight neck is possible but will likely result in some buzzing, as will ANY degree of back bow.

There is also mythology around truss rod adjustments. You need to adjust while the strings are under tension, tuned to pitch. And you don't have to wait overnight for the adjustment to take effect. It will be obvious immediately, but in some cases it might settle a bit more overnight and you might need to back off a quarter turn.

Check out the following Taylor web page.
https://www.taylorguitars.com/suppor...od-adjustments
They used to include a truss rod wrench with their guitars but stopped doing that several years ago, to avoid ham-handed amateur adjustments and the damage that CAN be caused.

[Rodger Knox]

You can adjust the rod with full tension, but it's safer to either take the tension off the strings, or use a bar and clamps to flex the neck in the direction it needs adjustment. You'll probably be fine adjusting under tension with a new Taylor, it's older guitars that usually have problems.
Relief should be in the 0.003" to 0.008" range, 0.07" is way too much.

[Tomy Two String]

I always secure the instrument body and apply tension on the headstock in the direction of the adjustment. The theory is to help it along verse relying on the integrity of the wood to do all the work.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

.......Relief should be in the 0.003" to 0.008" range, 0.07" is way too much.....

Good catch. That's what I get for going from memory. In either event, it isn't much clearance. I like how the Taylor video describes it - two sheets of paper or a business card thickness as a max. Previous post has been edited accordingly.

[JackB1]

Can someone tell me what tools I need to adjust my Taylor's truss rod?

Those tiny screws seem tough to remove. I tried my tiny eyeglass screwdriver and it wouldn't budge. Any tips?

[Earl49]

I have a small Phillips screwdriver (from Lowes, size 0) for the purpose. Eyeglass size may be too small. It sounds like the screws are torqued way too tight - it is very easy to strip tiny screws out of the wood, or to damage the slots in the soft brass screw heads.

I've never measured the tool for Taylor truss rod nuts. They used to supply the tool with new guitars, and I have several laying around -- except for the one that TSA seized during screening for a flight.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I have a small Phillips screwdriver (from Lowes, size 0) for the purpose. Eyeglass size may be too small. It sounds like the screws are torqued way too tight - it is very easy to strip tiny screws out of the wood, or to damage the slots in the soft brass screw heads.

I've never measured the tool for Taylor truss rod nuts. They used to supply the tool with new guitars, and I have several laying around -- except for the one that TSA seized during screening for a flight.

OK thanks. Found out all I need is a 1/4" size nut driver for the truss rod nut.

Now I need to get a size 0 screwdriver. Didn't know they made a size zero

[BT55]

Purchase a Taylor truss rod tool. They’re inexpensive and available from many sources. The handle has a Phillips head screwdriver built into it. As other posters have noted go slow with tightening the truss rod nut. Give the guitar about an hour to acclimate to the adjustment as the neck will continue to move after the adjustment is made.