First time truss rod adjuster

need to slacken off my truss rod Ithink) as cant get action set without pretty much everything abobe the twelfth fret rattling and choking , how much is a reasonable amount to loosten the rod by , (in turns , ie , 1/4 turn 1/2 turn ????) and standing at the headstock looking down the neck , which direction do I turn it to un flatten the neck a bit ??????? first time trusser and a bit dubious , but I want to learn the black art , help appreciated , ShadowChancer

Put a capo at the first fret, fret the low E at the last fret and see if there's any relief at the 12 fret. By doing this you are using the string as a straight edge. If there is no clearance whatsoever or less than a business card thickness you want to turn the truss rod
clockwise (looking down the neck) a quarter turn or so. If it's difficult to turn your better off taking it to a tech as a broken truss rod is not something you want to deal with.
Having said that, the first thing I would suggest checking is nut relief and saddle height.

YellowBeard's very close, though there are a couple of details to correct:

You want to check the relief at the 7th-8th fret, not the 12th. The 7th-8th fret region is the midpoint of the neck.

The relief should be less than a business card. A target should be about .005", which is half the thickness of your high E string. Sometimes you need as much as .010", but that much relief is usually indicative of some frets needing work.

Truss rod adjustment isn't a black art, it's much more closely related to geometry than alchemy :-)

After you get the truss rod adjusted properly, then check your string height. If it's correct and you still have buzzing in the higher registers, you likely have some high or low frets.

Too much relief actually causes more buzzing in the higher registers.

By releif ? what is releif , scuse my ignorance , but I`m realln new to this type or adjustment , I`m an electrician/engineer so the tech side is easy enough it`s the aplication of it thats mysifying me SD

YellowBeard's very close, though there are a couple of details to correct:

You want to check the relief at the 7th-8th fret, not the 12th. The 7th-8th fret region is the midpoint of the neck.

The relief should be less than a business card. A target should be about .005", which is half the thickness of your high E string. Sometimes you need as much as .010", but that much relief is usually indicative of some frets needing work.

Truss rod adjustment isn't a black art, it's much more closely related to geometry than alchemy :-)

After you get the truss rod adjusted properly, then check your string height. If it's correct and you still have buzzing in the higher registers, you likely have some high or low frets.

Too much relief actually causes more buzzing in the higher registers.

True, might actually need tightening.

.005" might be a bit ambitious, .010" to .012" (depending on radius) seems a bit more realistic unless your frets are spot on...which is pretty rare and always temporary.

By releif ? what is releif , scuse my ignorance , but I`m realln new to this type or adjustment , I`m an electrician/engineer so the tech side is easy enough it`s the aplication of it thats mysifying me SD

See here (http://www.fender.com/en-GB/news/index.php/?display_article=552)

what is releif , scuse my ignorance , but I`m realln new to this type or adjustment

No need to apologize. Better to ask questions than make a neck into firewood.

Relief is also known as bow, as in the forward curve the neck takes on due to string tension. The strings try to curve the neck forward, and the trussrod tries to pull it backward.

Now, a very important question: What kind of guitar do you have? Most likely your guitar has a single acting trussrod, and the above advice is good. If you have a double acting trussrod, then you need to approach things differently.

The two most important things to remember are to use the proper tool to do the adjusting, trussrod nuts are relatively fragile and it's easy to ruin them by using worn or the wrong sized wrench. The second is to go easy, try an eighth turn at a time, and give everthing time to settle before adjusting further.

Cheers for that , I have a Squier Tele standard , the antique burst one , single rod I think , this is a great format for advice eh ? you de mystified the jargon in two lines , mant thanks SD

you de mystified the jargon in two lines , mant thanks SD

Yeah, sorry about that, it usually takes me 300 words just to say 'hello'.:mrgreen:

You're in good shape, that's a single acting trussrod. Tighten it to remove relief (clockwise), loosen it to allow more relief (anticlockwise).

I use the long end of the allen key down on the t/rod hole and turn the short end with pliers...use your wrist to turn it.. not your whole arm/shoulder...

sometimes the short end of the key will gouge against the wood on the sides of the hole when you turn it.....

also slip the two middle strings out of the string retainers/nut slots to give more screw turn room....

go easy and you'll be ok....

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but while we're talking truss rods, does anyone have a preferred method for adjusting a truss rod on a vintage style neck (52 reissue for example) where you have to destring, remove the neck from the body, adjust, replace neck, restring, curse because it's still not quite right, etc?

You could grind a suitably sized hex key to form a right-angled slotted screwdriver of sorts and adjust the rod with the neck in situ, it's been discussed on the forum before, or you can make the job just that bit easier by slapping a capo on the first fret after detuning prior to removing the neck.

There's also a handy reference on the home page under the "resources" tab which includes an even handier "acronym decoder" FWIW.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but while we're talking truss rods, does anyone have a preferred method for adjusting a truss rod on a vintage style neck (52 reissue for example) where you have to destring, remove the neck from the body, adjust, replace neck, restring, curse because it's still not quite right, etc?

I find it easiest to capo the 1st fret, detune, remove the neck, adjust, then reassemble. I've never found the right angle screwdriver or paint can opener to be easier than this method.

Cheers guys for all your help , starting the job this morning after my early cuppa , follow the posts later in the day , (telecaster for sale - spares or repair lol , will take it cautious at first , getting a brand new mexican tele next month anyway so if it all goes wrong Im covered , thanks again and in advance guys ShadowChancer

:lol: guys thanks a lot for all yourr advice and help RE my first bash at trussrod adjusting . just completed the job , 1/4 turn clockwise as you look down the neck from the headstock , nut turned easily and smoothly and the key I used was from my works tool kit so it was pro grade and a solid fit . , nice new strings fitted and already it plays ten times better , the action isn`t killer low , but that`s fine as I`m a bit heavy handed and give the old thing a bit of a pounding from time to time so it`s perfect for me , got a slight buzz on 6th at fret 14 Guess a high fret , but I can live with it as its not too bad at all and I am planning to put a maple neck on it at some point in the future anyway . did the intonation again just to be sure and it`s spot on , gonna give it a good workout later and stretch in the strings a bit , will check the setup daily for a few days to check for "settling" and just to be sure it`s bang on , all in all , saved myself abour £35 in the guitar store for the same job , will enjoy a nice refreshing pint of chilled cider down the local tonight with my savings :roll:lol again many thanks to all , Keep on rockin in the free world eh ? ShadowChancer :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::lol::lol::lol:

See, now you no longer a truss rod rookie and you've found out there's nothing to fear. At some point in time every guitarist should learn how to do a complete set up including truss rod and neck angle adjustments so you got one of those out of the way. Congrats.

This is a great place to come for help with any technical issues from the mechanical to the electrical. There's is always someone here who has done what you need to do before and knows how to coach you through it. No better place to learn about a Tele than here.

during my recent truss rod adjustment i also discovered three slack tuning pegs (really slack) which would not have been doing much for the tuning either , so double hit and a step closer to paradise bt tele lol ShadowChancer

saved myself abour £35 in the guitar store for the same job , will enjoy a nice refreshing pint of chilled cider down the local tonight with my savings...

You might as well know, you're hooked now. You're going to start buying tools. This winter you're going to learn to solder, and build a partscaster. Then comes the router and templates. Next winter you'll be building necks. The summer after, you'll perfect your 'burst painting. Then comes the pickup winding...

You're doomed! :mrgreen:

Thanks for the capo tip guys, it does make it much easier!