Strat neck, did I damage or risk damaging it (truss rod content)

[caloyburger]

Hello everyone pleased to meet you all, my very first post here! *bow*

I just took delivery of a new 62 RI thin skin strat that came with a hefty relief, .030 or so. It was definitely not comfortable so I proceeded to do the set-up. First thing I did was to tweak the truss rod. Here's the method I used:

Turned the nut 1/4 clockwise to reduce relief, let sit for 30 mins and checked. Still too much, turned it 1/16, let sit another 30 min, checked...again too much, then another 1/16, this time I let it sit for an hour. Tuned up, checked the relief....still not to my liking. Finally I gave it another 1/4 turn plus a tiny 1/16 to be sure. Perfect! I was able to get the relief to .009 after a total of almost 3/4 turns on the rod. I proceeded to do the intonation and action. In 4 hours I was done and my strat played very sweet. I checked the neck 5 days later and its still holding up at .009 relief.

Now my head starts spinning, at this point I scanned over a lot of articles about neck adjustment and many cautioned not to do more than 1/4 turns clockwise PER DAY! Plus you have to back off the nut, clean and lube it before tightening. I did not do any of this and wish I read all that before proceeding. But I followed the manual provided with the guitar and mr.gearhead's site, 1/4 turns AT A TIME it said, and they did not indicate any large wait time or backing off the nut, tweak, tune...not enough, wait 30 minutes, tweak again and tune etc. thats how I understood it. My question is, did I damage the neck by not following these precautions? After reading that I realized 3/4 clockwise turn in 3 hours is huge. I might have put some damage, even unseen, on the neck. Or can the neck take such adjustments without putting any unnecessary stress? OTOH I did not feel anything unusual when turning the nut...no creaks or squeaks. It offered substantial resistance but turned smoothly and consistently throughout. At least I know the nut was not stuck and it still had mileage. Sorry for the long post though, but I'd hate to damage this beautiful axe. What do you think? Thanks!

[aznrambo481]

I'm sure it's fine. The wood may take more than 30 min to set into its new placement, and that is why they advise to wait so long. As long as you don't overadjust (you didn't), it should be good.

['caster oil]

SO close to my own 1st experience adjusting a truss rod... I had the same questions as you do and never found satisfactory answers.

Except my own experience.

I'm sure what you did is fine... play and don't worry.

[blue metalflake]

I think the key thing is that you checked the neck after 5 days and the relief hadn't changed. You're OK.

[caloyburger]

Ok thanks all...its been a week already and yep the relief still hasn't changed. It looks like I'm ok. Last question though, wouldn't a large adjustment like that put too much compression on the wood behind the nut and truss rod anchor or are these kinds adjustments perfectly normal for as longs as the nut doesn't get too tight or stops moving?

['caster oil]

My personal experience... (YMMV) ... it's normal. Truss rod adjustments are more forgiving than we have a right to expect...

[Stubee]

Forget where you heard this, don't quote me and don't try it...but i have removed Strat necks, bent them hard over my knee repeatedly, taken the nut off, lubed the rod, dumped out lube & cleaned up, added washers, and then put the nut on and really reefed on it. And if I wasn't satisfied, repeat. I've gotten some rather stubborn necks to play fine.

But...I was takin' a chance, had a feel for what would break as I've worked on enough cars, machines or what have-you-to know at least something about not torqueing to the breaking point. I was also prepared to replace a neck if needed, and if it gets really, really stubborn, off to the good pro shop I go. Let them try.

So I repeat: don't try this at home unless you've done a bunch, and then still be careful. A lot of feel involved here, some day I'll probably regret one of these episodes. But my main message is: Strats are tough, so don't worry about what you did one bit. Not even a teensy weensy little bit. You are OK, perfectly fine, no damage done, relax and enjoy yer nice playin' guitar.

[Clive Hugh]

I lived in a hot humid tropical climate for about 6 years and then moved to a dry hot desert. My strat reacted to the drying by bowing so bad it was unplayable and the frets protruded over the edge through shrinkage of the wood. I stripped the hex on the nut and had to remove it. I then machined it down and silver soldered a large hex from a machined cap screw and put it back. I then steamed the neck and while it was pliable clamped it to a bench and before releasing the clamp took up the slack on the truss rod.
I had to do this twice and in 6 years have had no further problems. I have recently made a tele with a mighty mite neck and no doubt it too will react in time.
As was stated in a previous answer necks are tough and will take a lot.

[caloyburger]

Whew...If I see my tech do that to any of my guitars I'll surely get a heart attack on the spot. But good to know that a neck can take that much pressure. I doubt I'll ever reach the point of forcibly twisting the neck to get the right relief but at least I know my neck was able to take a one time large adjustment without problems. And I'm pretty sure it won't need an adjustment like that in its lifetime. Thanks all for the insights and for calming my nerves...Now its time to play!