Newbie seeks neck / truss rod advise

It suddenly got super humid here in Austin and when i picked up my tele today, there was a lot more fret buzz than usual. A lot of it is on the A string. I understand that i should probably loosen the truss rod about 1/4 turn at a time to give it some relief and more of a bow.

When I take off my neck, should i unscrew the neck bolts evenly (each one a little at a time) with the strings off? And put the neck on the same way? I just dont want to worry about making things worse. Thanks.

Before you make any adjustments, you need to measure. Fortunately, that's easy: hold down the string at the first and last frets (a capo is helpful) and check the gap at the 8th fret. There should be less than .010" gap, but even that is huge. I shoot for under .005"

If there's no gap (tap on the string over the fret, if there's a little "tink" sound, there's a gap) then loosen the truss rod about 1/8 turn string it up and let it sit for a while.

You don't need to worry about uneven torque on the neck bolts, though it is helpful to double-check them all for tightness after you've gotten them all tight once. There's some flex in the neck plate and the first couple of screws will likely be a little loose after you do them all.

Here's another tip: before loosening the strings, capo the 1st fret to hold your strings in place. Makes it easier to tighten back up after adjusting the truss rod.

that's great advice koko, sounds simple enough:)

It's about as complicated as checking the air in your tires. Good luck :-)

well, i did it! gave it a good liberal 1/4 turn CCW and the fret buzz is so much better! its not perfect, the e and a buzz a bit around the middle of the neck. and the action is definitely higher, when the humidity goes down, will i be able to have lower action without fret buzz?

thanks guys:)

You might want to examine the neck a little closer at the buzz point. If it is really humid or the humidity have undergone dramatic föuctuations a fret might have losened a tiny bit from the fretboard and hence become a little higher. You can use a feeler gauge and carfully slide it at the base of the frets to check. A short piece of plastic could be useful to check three frets at the time by a rocking test i.e you put e.g à credit card with the edge over three frets and see if it rocks over the middle one. If so that might indicate a high fret or a low fret. Just an extra test to ensure the levels of the frets. I. am not saying you have a fret come loose but if the problem does not cortects with yet a turn this might help. You might also need to adjust the saddles arter adjusting the neck and when the buzz stops you might need to check the intonation. If a fret is loose it can be pressed back with a soft piece of wood and a kept in place with a drop of super glue but be careful if you go that route. Do not mean to stir you up your guitar will probably be just fine anyway but i like to have a plan b, c, d etc when it comes to guitars :-)

thanks voodoo, i just gave it another 1/8 turn and i'm going to see what happens. i bet it's fixed. i dont want to adjust the saddles if i dont have to, because the truss rod's going to have to go back where it was when the weather changes, or when i move.

p.s. when i stick a quarter under the strings on the 12th fret, it moves the strings to get underneath. so the action is still very low im told.