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I had a guitar leave my shop last week that had normal relief in the neck.
It's back and neck is as staight as an arrow,I have loosened the truss rod tension right off.
It's for a bluegrass player who likes light guage strings so I need to get some relief back in the neck.
any suggestions?
oh yeah, it's a double acting rod

If the rod is not imparting relief or reverse relief then the rod is not functioning, The nut is stripped or the rod is broke

The rod as it is right now is in the no tension zone.
I'll go back out to the shop to try again.
Thank you for your help

Is the rod a true two way (Allied), or is it the LMI double action rod (bottom rod doesnt turn, its welded at one end) .. if you install the LMI rod and dont tension it to begin with proir to levelling, then it wont be two way ... loose is as mcuh as you get going to add relief.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

light gauge strings or not, are you saying that when strung and in tune there isn't enough pull on the neck at all?

Yes, it is an lmi double action rod.
Yes thats correct

Ok cool. In your op you say that ""I had a guitar leave my shop last week that had normal relief in the neck."" What has happened since then? In other words, it seems like the truss rod was at one time capable or providing relief. Has something stripped? broken? Something here has changed.

In my opinion the truss rod's neutral zone should not coincide with the neck being flat. It should have been set at neutral when the neck was either bowed up or back but not dead level. This is why frets are leveled with tension (from the truss rod) on the neck to provide a sort of "preload"


By the way, is this a guitar of quality or a cheapie?

My opinion is that if the truss rod was working previously but now it does not impart any deformation to the neck either positive nor negative then the rod is immobile and non functioning.

If you can tell me you are feeling tension being applied via the resistance of the thread as you attempt to impart relief but that the neck is not moving then common sense would tell me that the threads are moving but the rod is not due to a separation in the rod at the end of the threads. Now if you can tell ne that you do not feel any difference in the tension via your Allen wrench as you turn it one way or the other, then common sense tells me that the nuts are stripped.

The key here is are you feeling tension build or is the feeling always the same.

OK my customer has admitted to turning the truss rod.
In my attempt to provide some relief the socket that the allan key fits in fell Off
I'm guessing that it just felt as though it was in a neutral position because it was on the verge of beaking off.
Anyhow he has agreed to pay for the repair.
told him I'm not sure how much it will cost.

can I get the fingerboard off without re and re the frets?

Yes it is doable. You need to clean off the old glue for both surfaces before gluing back up the fretboard. Do you know the removal process? Have you removed a fretboard before? It is not that hard. It is easier to get the heat on the fretboard if the frets are not in the way but it can be done with them in place. You need a decent seam knife and some toothpicks to keep the separated area from cooling causing it to re-adhere

I'm thinkin I could use a clothes iron set at 150 degrees an workit off with thin pallet knives
will the fretboard retain its shape, will the frets come loose?

This could be a good excuse to order a fingerboard heating blanket.
I took the FB with frets off of a cheap Epi recently with a blanket and it worked fairly well. The frets didn't move, but some of the 'pearl' dots popped up, so that would have been a problem if I'd planned on re-installing the board as-is. Perhaps I over-heated the board? I think those Chinese cheapies are put together with 'magic glue' which seems quite tenacious....

Cheers
John

150 degrees won't work , use medium heat. You need to get the glue to 165 to get the glue to let go.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thank you