No Relief!

[mijstrat72]

I posted this same question on another Forum on the net, but I want as many opinions on what to do as possible.


My '86 MIJ strat '72 RI has no relief whatsoever in the neck. I keep the truss rod finger tight so it won't buzz or vibrate whilest playing. But I would really like to get some more relief in the neck. I have tried running with the truss rod completely loose and still no relief, straight as an arrow at best.

The start plays very slinky right now, but when I want to do some Dick Dale stuff, I get ALOT of fret buzz. I keep it at a fairly consistant 50% humidity, there is some minor fluctuation, but nothing to extreme.

Any ideas on how to gain some more relief for my neck?

I'm running 10's, tried 11's, but my finger joints won't put up with that.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[pchilson]

Take off the neck. Put a chunk of 2x4 under the heel and one under the headstock. Use a clamp in the middle of the neck and put some clamping pressure on the neck to bow it. Wrap the neck in a heating pad while doing this. Leave it for about a day. Keep the truss rod nut loose while doing this.

I just finished doing this on a neck that was quite severly back bowed. Worked a charm.

[pfogle]

Originally Posted by pchilson

Take off the neck. Put a chunk of 2x4 under the heel and one under the headstock. Use a clamp in the middle of the neck and put some clamping pressure on the neck to bow it. Wrap the neck in a heating pad while doing this. Leave it for about a day. Keep the truss rod nut loose while doing this.

I just finished doing this on a neck that was quite severly back bowed. Worked a charm.

I've got a '79 strat with this problem - the truss rod is loosened off and there's not enough relief.

I'm considering your clamping fix - two questions:

what's a 'heated pad' - how warm, etc

also - is the fix permanent in your experiences?

thanks
Phil

[evol04gt]

zero relief is actuallly FINE... technically speaking, it will intonate better and action will be better with zero relief.... as long as you arent buzzing anywhere, keep it.

just make sure you arent conVEX.

[evol04gt]

i didnt read well.. lol.... honestly, check your nut height too.... a low nut height will do wonders for inproving action and reducing buzz since you can raise the saddles a little with out sacrificing playability... also consider leveling your frets (most common reason frets buzz)

[rangercaster]

Dick Dale plays very large gauge strings w/ high action ... slinky doesn't work for his sound ....