Winter Guitar Adjustments

[unixfish]

I finally did mine.

I have been dreading this for months - and I don't really know why. Partially because we have so much stuff going on at work and at home, I feel guilty for taking the time.

I was not ready to get back into a work project just yet today, and I have a change to do this evening, so I found the allen wrench, my capo, and my feeler gauges. They were all in my guitar case.

For my Tele, it was 3 minutes and I was done. It needed a slight tightening of the truss to reduce bow a bit; about 1/6 of a turn or less. This guitar is only a year and a half old, so it is still settling.

I don't know why I dread the process so much. I think I am more afraid of problems than the actual work involved.

My Strat was close enough. Thank a deity of your choice, since I have to remove the neck to adjust that one. P. I. T. A.

 

[ChicknPickn]

Same here. A couple of my Teles needed a little truss rod adjustment. That was all. Fortunately, the adjusters were at the headstock.

 

[Boreas]

I usually put up with it until Spring and everything hopefully goes back to normal...

 

[tomasz]

I usually wait until Spring and everything hopefully goes back to normal...

I do the same!)

 

[Marc Morfei]

I only ever had one guitar that demanded frequent adjustments. It was a Strat, and I finally sold it, partly because I was really not very skilled at setups back then. Today all my guitars are pretty stable so they rarely need adjusting. I can deal with minor variances. Having a humidifier in the guitar room helps a lot.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I keep all of my guitars in their cases with a humidifier and don't have to do anything.

I also work on people's guitars who don't.

 

[Freeman Keller]

This is preventable

 

[Milspec]

I usually put up with it until Spring and everything hopefully goes back to normal...

Guilty here as well

 

[chris m.]

In my experience, once you have a guitar set up to your preferences, the only thing you ever need to tweak is the truss rod-- either due to weather or due to a one-gauge change in guitar strings. I.e., going from 9s to 10s or vice versa, for example.

As far as the truss rod goes, it's usually a very small adjustment that I can do by hand and don't need any gauges for- just the right truss rod tool. If I capo at the first fret, and hold down the 6th string at the highest 21st or 22nd fret, the 6th string becomes a straight edge. I then take my free hand and tap on the 6th string above the 9th fret to see how far it moves before it hits the fret. It should basically move just an RCH or two and then hit the fret. If it's already touching without pushing down, loosen the truss rod a scoche. If it's more than a couple of RCHs above the fret, tighten the truss rod a scoche.

At this point I only own one guitar with the adjustment at the heel and thankfully it has a boat neck and is super stable. It's my #1 guitar-- a Tele-- so that's lucky for me.

 

[Jared Purdy]

I finally did mine.

I have been dreading this for months - and I don't really know why. Partially because we have so much stuff going on at work and at home, I feel guilty for taking the time.

I was not ready to get back into a work project just yet today, and I have a change to do this evening, so I found the allen wrench, my capo, and my feeler gauges. They were all in my guitar case.

For my Tele, it was 3 minutes and I was done. It needed a slight tightening of the truss to reduce bow a bit; about 1/6 of a turn or less. This guitar is only a year and a half old, so it is still settling.

I don't know why I dread the process so much. I think I am more afraid of problems than the actual work involved.

My Strat was close enough. Thank a deity of your choice, since I have to remove the neck to adjust that one. P. I. T. A.

Since putting all of my guitars (a Strat, LP and a Martin) in their respective cases with humidifiers as soon as the furnace comes on, I have no need to make any adjustments. The action on all of them stays perfect. Both the Martin and the Strat are eleven years old, so they are completely settled. The LP is only three years old, but the action on it is consistent all of the time.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I keep all of my guitars in their cases with a humidifier and don't have to do anything.

I also work on people's guitars who don't.

I have never kept my guitars anywhere but on stands. So far nothing has come up that I couldn't handle myself. Perhaps I've just been lucky.

 

[chris m.]

I keep all of my guitars in their cases with a humidifier and don't have to do anything.

I also work on people's guitars who don't.

That only works if you never take them out of the case. I've done outdoor gigs on cold nights where just the colder temperature made me want to tweak the truss rod a little bit.

 

[Boreas]

I rely a lot on my whole house humidifier. I only keep about 10% of my herd out of the case at any time. The acoustics that are rotated out go on their cases if the temp and humidity plunges.

But us old farts that live alone and rely on humidifiers should recognize that an emergency hospital stay of a week or so may result in coming home to damaged guitars that were left on the stands when they hauled you away. If you are lucky enough to have friends/family, instruct them to protect your guitars. And don't forget to feed Kitty...

 

[Jakedog]

I keep a room humidifier going from the moment the heat comes on the first time. Keeps me from having to do much of anything. Ever.

 

[chris m.]

I rely a lot on my whole house humidifier. I only keep about 10% of my herd out of the case at any time. The acoustics that are rotated out go on their cases if the temp and humidity plunges.

But us old farts that live alone and rely on humidifiers should recognize that an emergency hospital stay of a week or so may result in coming home to damaged guitars that were left on the stands when they hauled you away. If you are lucky enough to have friends/family, instruct them to protect your guitars. And don't forget to feed Kitty...

Maybe I live in a more forgiving climate but if I have a guitar that can't stand up to the changes in my normal indoor climate without getting damaged, then oh well, it ain't gonna work for me, no way. Temp range from around 63 to 83, maybe gets up to 90 inside during a bad heat wave, Mediterranean climate, gas furnace. No central A/C, no humidifier. I mean, I have to play gigs outside, sometimes in the hot sun, sometimes on a cold, foggy night, sometimes under an awning when it starts to drizzle a little....if it can't handle the range of indoor climate variation, how could it possibly handle the outdoor?

 

[Jakedog]

Maybe I live in a more forgiving climate but if I have a guitar that can't stand up to the changes in my normal indoor climate without getting damaged, then oh well, it ain't gonna work for me, no way. Temp range from around 63 to 83, maybe gets up to 90 inside during a bad heat wave, Mediterranean climate, gas furnace. No central A/C, no humidifier. I mean, I have to play gigs outside, sometimes in the hot sun, sometimes on a cold, foggy night, sometimes under an awning when it starts to drizzle a little....if it can't handle the range of indoor climate variation, how could it possibly handle the outdoor?

It’s the prolonged stuff. Here in NEO we spend 4-5 months with forced air hear running in the winter. It severely dries out everything. Including people. I’m putting neosporin on my cracked eyelids right now. No joke. Lotion is a thing to keep knuckles and elbows from cracking. It gets DRY if you don’t have humidity pumped in.

Fret sprout, buzz, whacky neck relief, are all part of what happens to any electric guitar no matter how good it is. Acoustics can crack and split in addition to that stuff.

It doesn’t whack a guitar out to go to a gig for a few hours, or to be on those conditions for a little while. For 4-5 months straight? You’d better have a decent humidifier. Or keep them in cases with individual humidifiers.

Likewise in this climate, the summers are very humid. Basement practice spaces can get WAY damp and over humidified, so having a de-humidifier for those spaces if that’s where you keep your gear can be a good idea as well. Keeps things from getting soggy and corroded.

I can take my guitars out in the winter to a bar with forced air heat and play then all night with no ill effects. The only bad thing that happens is if it’s 71 in the bar, and 0 outside, and the stage is by the door, you’re gonna have tuning issues every time someone goes in or out and arctic blasts you.

 

[Monoprice99]

Winter in NE & Central FL and the RH% doesn't change much for very long before it gets back to almost the same as Spring => Fall. Worst RH dry day 28%, but within 2-3 days it was back to RH 45-55%. And it may get as bad as RH 60-62%. When it does drop from the normal 55% in he house, the strings detune to alternate tuning. I just have to be careful about tuning the guitar because as the RH get back into range, the opposite happens and the string go sharp from standard E.

 

[JIMMY JAZZMAN]

Adjusting a Telecaster is total bliss, a Stratocaster could take a number of days and fray ones' nerves.

 

[unixfish]

I let the guitar sit overnight. It settled in nicely. A quick tune, and it just feels wonderful again.

I will probably need to unwind the same amount in the spring. No biggie, and easy. I just have to remind myself how quick and easy it is. I get caught in the trap of "I have 5 minutes, I'd rather bang out three riffs than adjust the guitar". Just. Have. To. Take. The. Time...