I can't get no relief.

[Tarnisher]

So I hopped on the Gretsch Americana Wagon and snagged four at $30 each- one for myself, and three for gifts. I had two shipped to my grandma's house for Christmas, but had two shipped to me so I could check 'em out. The first one was great, except that there was some buzzing on the first fret. A few turns of the truss rod, and it was fine. Not perfect, but totally within reason for a cheap acoustic.

The second one, however, came with ZERO neck relief. All the strings touched most of the frets when open. Fretted, it was a little better, but not great. Once again, I started loosening the truss rod. This one was a bit stiffer though. After a few turns, I tuned it up, and I noticed a slight improvement, but still a lot of buzzing. I went back to loosening when suddenly I heard a loud CRACK. I worried that I'd busted something, but I think I just loosened it. After that, it tightened and loosened evenly. But no matter how loose I made it, there is still NO neck relief. The slight improvement was also gone, and now no matter what I do, the strings are right on the frets.

I know that more relief would fix the problem because when I pluck a string and then push the headstock forward to force a little relief, the string stops buzzing and rings true. But the tension of the strings doesn't seem to be enough to give it relief, even with the rod loosened all the way.

Oh, and here's one more question: could this thing have a dual-action rod? After it gets super loose, if I keep turning it, it starts to get tighter. I can't exactly measure the relief with the strings since in all positions they touch all the frets.

What can I do to get this guitar at least semi-playable before giving it as a gift? Hopefully the other ones will be like the first. One of them is for me, so I guess I'll have to keep the dud.

[Guitar_Ninja]

Can you see the nut that fits onto the trussrod? If you keep loosening it eventually it should come right off. Then you can try blowing out the trussrod hole with compressed air and then lubricating the nut with some lithium grease and putting it back on. I've done this before with stubborn trussrods. Though the crack you mentioned doesn't sound good.

[Tarnisher]

I loosened and loosened, until it required almost no torque to turn the nut. Then I kept turning it the same way (counter clockwise) and it began to get tighter. That's why I suspect that it's a dual action truss rod. If that's the case, I think continuing to turn it will start to bend the rod the opposite direction, adding relief. But I'm hesitant about turning it without being sure.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Tarnisher

I loosened and loosened, until it required almost no torque to turn the nut. Then I kept turning it the same way (counter clockwise) and it began to get tighter. That's why I suspect that it's a dual action truss rod. If that's the case, I think continuing to turn it will start to bend the rod the opposite direction, adding relief. But I'm hesitant about turning it without being sure.

I think you will be fine if you go slow. After mine began to tighten up, (counter clockwise) I continued for several more tweaks (no more than 1/3 a turn at once) and gave it a while to adjust between turns. Maybe even let it rest overnight so the wood can adjust.

[Warren Pederson]

With the truss rod lossened a bit, try bending the neck a bit but just the neck (don't have any part of your body touching any part of the body of the guitar. And, don't try to be Tarzan with it, just hold the bend for a minute or two. Might help.