truss rod and brace questions.

[nhsmitty]

Started working on my Yari today since it's been in a stable environment for a couple of weeks now.

I found the truss rod to work in only the tightening direction, decreasing neck relief. When I loosened it, hoping to get a bit of relief, it actually started to back out of it's hole. (adjustment is inside the soundhole) Does this mean it is broken?? Or do some truss rods only work to remove relief in case the neck has forward bow?? Luckily the relief is pretty good, but I wanted to get a bit more to see how it affected a couple of buzzes I'm trouble shooting. It DOES work to take out bow and WILL make the neck flat!!!

Also while in there (after restringing actually), I found a top brace that was cracked and starting to sag.. About an inch long crack near the end of the brace where it makes contact with three others at the X intersection. All the other braces looked fine so I got some glue in the crack as best I could and clamped it.. What would cause a brace to crack down the middle. Appeared to be with the grain, maybe a natural occurence due to environmental changes the guitar has gone through?? A weak area in that brace??

I questioned the top before getting the guitar, looking as if it was sagging in front of the bridge but decided it wasn't.. Obviously it was sagging a little and it wasn't all optical illusion as I chalked it up to.

Good things.. I removed the electronics and the saddle transducer. Made a shim from another saddle and WOW.. More volume and sustain. Brighter tone also.. Not sure if I like brighter, but that can be changed back.

Then I found the cracked brace. She's clamped and resting nicely in the recliner now..

So goes my Yairi saga..

[Rick Turner]

Many truss rods do work only in one direction, for instance the old Gibson-style compression rod. Do you know if it was a rod coming out, or was it perhaps only the truss rod nut coming off of the rod. There again there are several ways to make truss rods, and the compression style typically has a removable nut where as the double acting style, whether single rod or double rod, has the nut welded or brazed to a rod which turns inside the neck.

Check the websites of either LMI or StewartMacdonald to see pictures of different styles of truss rods.

[nhsmitty]

Steve314.. Not sure if you will read this, but when you replied to my initial Yairi thread mentioning possible brace issues, you were soooo right.

While I thought it was optical illusion (or normal wear), my eyes weren't fooling me after all. I removed the clamp from the guitar this afternoon and it was definitely slightly sunken in. Because, NOW, it's as flat as a pancake since I repaired the cracked brace. Amazing difference when I sight the top from the side. Behind the bridge even looks better.

Your words about the braces had been ringing in my head since you posted them. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have looked closely at them and went about my business playing it "as is" thinking the top was normal from age and wear.

Thanks, dude..

PS.. Stuff like this is one of the things I dig about this place. Fantastic exchange of helpful info for the novice like myself.