Prob stupid question

But, I've got a 1 year old Martin D16 GT. I was very happy with the guitar. When I got from a 4 week holiday this year, something was wrong. I kept it hanging by the neck on a hook just as all my electrics. Never had any problem with them. But after I came back the B&E strings rattle. The neck seems a little bent backwards. So I guess the truss rod needs a little tweak.
But I'm not sure which way to turn the truss rod and by how much.

Bit disappointed though, my cheap fender is still straight, never had to do anything with that truss rod...

Does anyone here have some advice for me?
Would be much appreciated!

Vincent

Left to make it loosen(flatten out) Right to make it tighter(more back bow) Maybe an 8th to a 1/4 turn to start out. Let it sit for a few hours. All my cheap guitars need less adjustment. The fancier ones need more seasonal care. Think of it like a porshe or ferrari. They need more attention, but they pay up for it response and tone. Not to worry, totally normal.

Left to make it loosen(flatten out) Right to make it tighter(more back bow) Maybe an 8th to a 1/4 turn to start out. Let it sit for a few hours. All my cheap guitars need less adjustment. The fancier ones need more seasonal care. Think of it like a porshe or ferrari. They need more attention, but they pay up for it response and tone. Not to worry, totally normal.

You got that backwards, loosening will give more relief to the neck and tightening will flatten the neck out.

When you get it set up right keep it in a case with a humidifier. Acoustic guitars are much more sensitive to changes in humidity than solid body guitars.

Vunz,
A good acoustic --and you have a good one-- will need adjustment from time to time. Acoustics are compromises between stability and implosion. The closer they get to implosion the better they sound, the closer they get to stability the more like unamplified solid body electrics they sound.

Once in a while the neck will need a tweak. You may need to replace the nut or the saddle once or twice, too. BUt of you take care of it, you'll have a great guitar for a long time.

A plank needs no real care, but it sounds like a plank.

Daniel

Ok, that makes sense; a better acoustic is more sensitive, I can live with that. And the Martin does sound and play much better than the cheap fender.
So I'll will have to tweak the truss rod a bit.
I guess that means loosening the truss rod a bit I guess because if I understand correctly the truss rod is there to counter the pull of the strings and is doing too much right now.

I'm not sure if flattening out or giving more relief are the correct terms because flattening depends on which way the neck is bent I think.
I get a bit confused about which way to turn though.
If a want to loosen the truss rod a bit I turn left, is that correct?
Just to make sure

Anyway, many thanks for the responses so far!

Vincent

The truss rod adds or takes away relief in the neck.

The height of the saddle decides the height of the action.

If it seems like the neck is "bending backwards"....your top could be sinking. If a top gets super dry the area around the bridge can drop inward. If the strings are getting really close to the frets around the 12-18th frets it could be because the bridge and the top are sinking.

Bridges/tops sink when you never humidify a guitar. This happened to my nephew's Martin. Humidifying the guitar properly will solve the problem.

I have four Martins now. I've had 6. Ii would never leave a good solid wood acoustic hanging in a room out of the case unless if I lived in perfect 48-54% humidity all the time.

In dry Wisconsin winters the humidity can be in the 20's. All my acoustic stay in cases with a humidifier.

Your top may be fine but I had to make my comment.

Read this....I love this explanation and refer to it from time to time.......

http://www.athensmusician.net/archive/2001-05-01_geneimbody1.shtml

This is a great illustration.....


John

That link helps a lot. As I play my martin often it is of no use in a case. So I'll let it hang. I think most of the time the humidity is more or less ok.
But now I sure no what to do, and I'll give it a try.

Vincent

PS The bridge is not the problem in this case I think. It has all the (according to the link) earmarks of a slight back bow

But, I've got a 1 year old Martin D16 GT. I was very happy with the guitar. When I got from a 4 week holiday this year, something was wrong. I kept it hanging by the neck on a hook just as all my electrics. Never had any problem with them. But after I came back the B&E strings rattle. The neck seems a little bent backwards. So I guess the truss rod needs a little tweak.
But I'm not sure which way to turn the truss rod and by how much.

Bit disappointed though, my cheap fender is still straight, never had to do anything with that truss rod...

Does anyone here have some advice for me?
Would be much appreciated!

Vincent

Your cheap fender has a maple neck and lighter guage/less tension strings.All Martin necks that i have seen are mahogony with heavier/more tension strings.Maple is less sensitive to humidity/seasonal changes,too.All this is about the neck.That is my first guess as per your description.As others have mentioned-check neck angle,sinking,rising,etc.

I have adjusted my D-16 for years, and I can never remember which way to turn the damn thing. I simply, turn it a little bit, and see which way it goes ( betterr or worse). I then adjust accordingly. As long as you work with due deligence, and don't get ahead of yourself, adjusting a truss rod isn't a big deal. You can screw one up if you try cranking on it, so don't think you can't break it. If you do a lot at once, it may settle even more over a few days.

Here is how I do it.

1. Take off the middle strings or loosen them, so you can turn your allen head wrench without them getting in the way.
2. Turn the wrench in the appropriate direction. I ussually use a small pipe or wrench to help aid the turning process. BUT DO NOT CRANK ON IT!!!
3. Look down the edge of the fret board to determine if your guitars fret board is aligning correctly.
4. Repeat as neccesary. Slow and steady will win this race.
5. Restring, and enjoy.

I would get the neck to almost as flat as possible without it being flat. Then go from there. If your action is high after adjusting the truss rod, you put a slight bow in your neck, but the best way is to sand the bridge saddle ever so slighty until you get it where you want it.

Keep in mind, changes to acoustics need time to settle, so if you go doing everything at once instead of over a couple days time, you may end up with bigger problems than when you started.

I know that it stinks having to keep a guitar in a case but just remember that it's an acoustic guitar. A good acoustic guitar (you have a very good acoustic guitar) is a unique thing. I've read countless interviews with Chris Martin IV where Chris says "The trick to building a good violin or acoustic guitar is to build it so delicately that it could almost pull itself apart.....but it doesn't.....if we over build an acoustic guitar it has no tone".

When Chris talks about this in interviews he always hold his hands up and cups them together and shakes them while he's telling the story......as though something is about to go BOOM.

You cannot let your top dry out. You cannot place them in direct sunlight for long periods of time. All the top string tension is attached to a 2 or 3 mm sheet of spruce. A Telecaster is a solid beast compared to your Martin.

I have an OM16GT (orchestra model). 16's are beautiful guitars. Satin finsih...spanish cedar necks...hand scalloped braces....nice wooden guitars.

Ok, so I'm not from a english speaking country and had to look up 'allan head' but now I'm sure I've got the tools.
But when I look at the guitar, the only thing I see is a hole in the wood where supposedly an Allen head should be hidden. So no point in marking the current position, its not visible.
Does anyone know what size of allan I need? I cant see it....

Vincent

Vincent,
Have a look at this site: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/OwnerManual/manssguitar.html

Lots of helpful information there.

Daniel

Ok Daniel,
I'll think I'll have a go, see what happens.
Thanks

With all the knowledge provided here and in the given links, I had a go.
1/4 turn didn't do much, so I gave it another 1/4 turn after half a day.
Now I wait... but there is improvement, don't want to overdo it.

Thanks all, its playing much better now

Vincent