Every neck I like, without fail, is heel adjustable. Why? Is this really a good thing?

You only have to loosen the neck mounting screws a little over 1/4" to angle the neck enough to get to the truss rod adjustment. It's not that big a deal. My biggest problem was with an early set-neck Mosrite, where you had to remove the neck pickup in order to get to the truss rod screw.

 

^^ agree, nbd

 

It’s not just you. I hate heel adjust truss rods unless they have a wheel like the EBMM and newer Charvel guitars. That’s a good design. Without that I won’t buy a guitar that’s got a heel adjust truss rod.

“But you only have to ____”. I don’t care. It’s a bad design. If the rod is at the other end all I have to do is stick a wrench in/on it. Done.

If I really loved a guitar that had one, I’d just cut a hole in whatever was in the way so I could get to it easily without having to loosen or remove anything. Pickguard, body, all of it. Just cut it right out.

 

I prefer them...I find it shifts the neck's center of gravity closer to the body, reducing neck dive and a general feeling of neck heaviness. Guitars with heel adjust necks generally feel more balanced and less top-heavy to me. YMMV.

 

Are you sure about the Warmoth? My only choice when I ordered my two Warmoth necks was their SIDE of heel adjustment.....and I love it. Nothing on the headstock, so very "vintage" looking......but I don't have to loosen neck from body to adjust. It's a great solution IMHO.

 

Do any of the Warmoth configurations you've looked at include this?
https://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/SideAdjustPop.aspx

 

I have never had to pull a neck to adjust old-style rods. At most, a pickguard...and an on-the-spot rod adjustment has never been the difference between playing a great gig or not. I really don't get the what the big problem is that people have with heel adjust rods.

FWIW, you are supposed to use a #1 screwdriver, and turn using only 1/2 the nut's width...not a #2 or #3 screwdriver right down the middle of the nut, as most do. Bend the neck the way you want it to go, and cover your finish and guard with a cloth first. Never a scratch, never an issue, turning heel-adjust truss rods since I was about 10 years old.

 

My necks don't move around enough to need adjustment very often, or maybe I'm just not that finicky about it. It's an easy five minute job for me anyway, so it's just not a big deal.

 

I agree. I really like everything else about the neck on my Tele, so I took a chisel out and carved an access slot in the body. Caveat is that it's Paulownia, it seems like you can carve a hole in it by staring at it long enough.

 

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As long as the truss-rod nut is accessible I prefer it at the heel. The wheel is the way to go.

Gibson has this amount of hackery going on with their headstock adjustment access ... and they wonder why those necks break so often.

 

I got the tip from here to use a paint can opener. Just remove pickguard and bam. If it's a Strat I loosen the 4 neck screws as previously mentioned.

 

Gibson is Bad, Bad, Bad! Thanks for the Ring Side View and I will be a Fender Neck Guy forever, after seeing that. Nice Necks from Mighty Mite (Indonesian I think) with Truss Rod Adjustment up Top. I am using an Unbranded one I like and Fret Work is way better than a Chinese. It feels like a Japanese, but no Heel Adjustment that you Love!

 

Have never had a heel adjust rod (and THANK you to y'all who spelled it correctly) but it wouldn't bother me, I don't believe, as infrequently as I have to mess with truss rod adjustments.

 

I’m with Jakedog. Heel adjustment is annoying to me. As the weather changes I usually have to turn truss rod maybe a half or quarter turn and it’s so much easier up top. And I like regular action, nothing super low.

 

It really doesnt take much to carve out clearance to access a heel adjust. I prefer not having wood removed in the nut area anyway.

 

Hello. Ron Kirn built me a Jazzmaster a few months ago. Like you, I imagined my neck would end up being heel adjusted so I asked for threaded inserts. That way I can remove the neck from the body without worrying about stripping wood. I live in Wisconsin where the seasons and humidity changes 20 times per month. Alas, my Jazzmaster came with a neck truss rod adjustment. Shoot Ron a message. He can help. I believe he uses the main dude from the former USACG company.

Best of luck.

 

A little off subject but wanted to tell you all that have not tried it that building a Fender style neck is really not that difficult AND is really inexpensive once you have the minimum tools. And the great thing is you can try different things and get exactly what you want. AND you will learn how to level the frets and do a proper setup. You will likely end up with the best playing guitar you have ever had. Home Depot has a hard wood section in many of their stores. They carry maple, cherry, mahogany, walnut, poplar. It is one inch stock which means it is exactly ¾ thick as it is sold. This is the exact thickness you need when you buy a ¼ inch thick fretboard. No additional sizing required. I have found some great pieces of well figured maple by going through the whole stack. The walnut they carry is eastern walnut which is also great for a neck if you like walnut for that.

Harbor Freight router $60
Template bit $18
Bit for truss rod $18
Portable drill press Drill Guide Harbor Freight $20
10 file set (large files for shaping) HF $12
Saw, (Hand, Jig, band)
Tools total $128


Truss rod StewMac $12
¾ inch maple HomeDeot $12
StewMac sloted fretboard $32
StewMac fretwire pre cut, radiused $17
Sand paper $5
Neck material total $78

Total for first build $201 after that $78 for each additional neck you build.

When it comes to a setup a zero fret can go a long way in getting it started. Takes away some aggravation and does not require a nut adjustment when you change string gauges…if want it just right. This is a good solution that requires no modification to your nut slot.

Zero Glide Replacement Nut System

 

Mighty mite neck has a truss rod at the headstock and they are very good necks