Note: Listed below are just some ideas of how you can adjust your truss rod
and other guitar maintenance techniques. There can be
more technical ways to do these tasks as well. Always consult a professional
guitar technician if you have any questions about guitar
setup and adjustments.
One easy way to quickly check and see if you have a bow
in your guitar neck is to pick up your guitar and hold the body of the
guitar up to a light. Take a look from the body up to
the neck and try to see how your neck is sitting.
Usually if you hold it up to a light source you will notice if your guitar neck
is bowed or not. This is not the schooled method of
checking neck bow, but its and easy eyeball method. Most guitars
have a neck adjuster at the top of the guitar (the headstock of the guitar). It
may be underneath a cover or there may be a hole near the center of the nut.
Inside this hole is the end of the truss rod where you can adjust it.
There are also some guitars that have bullet truss rod adjusters at the
headstock. Depending on the type of guitar,
you can adjust the truss rod that is in the center of your necks
headstock with a tool (truss rod adjuster - wrench like tool) usually given to
you when you bought the guitar. Usually a truss
rod adjuster is needed for this task. Ask your
guitar store tech to see which truss rod adjuster tool will work for your brand
of guitar. Try adjusting the truss rod to improve bow of the neck.
A little bow upward is ok. Usually, tightening the truss rod
gives a straighter neck while loosening the truss rod should give a little more
bow to the neck. The adjustment you make depends on your guitar and how
you would like your guitar neck adjustments.
If you do not see a truss rod
adjustment at the headstock it is most likely at the other end or butt of the
neck. Note: It's usually only at the butt of the
neck on vintage guitars or reissue type guitars. This is not the norm for
more modern guitars. See above for modern type guitars. On some
styles of guitars it is possible to adjust without taking the neck off of the
guitar. But in most cases you will have to unbolt the neck from its neck
pocket to adjust a vintage guitar neck. If you
would like to save your current strings, you can put a capo on the
neck to save the strings. Sometimes you will just need
to take off the strings to adjust the neck. This
is a trial and error process, but once your neck is adjusted properly, you will
no doubt get a better sound and feel out of your guitar. Try small quarter
turns of the nut to see what kind of response your getting.
To make your guitar neck straighter try tightening the truss
rod. Loosen the truss rod to give more of a bow to the
neck. The adjustment depends upon your style of play and how you like
your string height on your guitar.
Raising
the pickup height closer to the strings should result in a little better tone
for you guitar. Visa versa lowering the pickup should give a lighter
tone to your instrument. All you usually need is a little
screwdriver to perform this modification. This is a trial and error
process so keep your amp handy to test the sound at different positions.
To do this adjust the screws on either side of your pickups.
Tightening the screws should lower the pickup while loosening should raise the
pickup. Be sure not to raise the pickups to close to the strings or you
may cause the pickup to sound out of phase. And be sure to adjust the
screws evenly on each side so that your getting the same response from all the
strings. To get a balance of sound you may have to angle the pickups a
little away from the lower heavier stings. Again, this is a trial
and error process but may give your guitar a different tone. For
more detailed info on
Pickup Height Adjustment - Click Here
Polishing A Guitar
With a Lacquered Finish - (Note: If your guitar has a Faded Finish (ex:
Gibson SG Faded) the polishing techniques below will NOT work since your guitar
technically does not have a lacquered finish).
For a lacquered
finished guitar body, find a nice guitar polish at your local music store along
with a chamois polishing cloth. Some guitarists use windex on their
guitars, but I have not tried this technique myself. Basically,
you should polish only the major surfaces of your guitar avoiding the guitar
parts like the bridge or tuners. Spray a little on your cloth and polish
away. Also, you may not want to polish your guitar neck unless it is
lacquered because this could hurt the wood on your guitar neck.
Some guitarists prefer oil on there Non-Lacquered guitar necks. Oiled
necks tend to have a nice feel for guitarists. For example, the Eddie Van
Halen Wolfgang Guitars would come standard with a non lacquered oiled guitar
neck. You can find an oil you would prefer to oil your guitar necks at
many guitar stores. Some oil types
include lemon oil, tung oil, or tinted oils. Once you find and oil your
satisfied with do a small test on an area of the neck that is not exposed, maybe
the butt end of the neck. Check to see if this will be the look and feel
that you want on your guitar neck before you oil the whole neck. Basically
take your cloth or chamois and apply light coats of oil to your guitar neck.
If you get some oil on the frets just take a dry cloth and wipe off the frets.
Of course, read the instructions on any oil that you purchase. Give the oil
some time to dry and you have a nicely oiled neck. If your guitar
neck is rather dry it may soak up the first coat quickly, so if this is the case
you may have to apply another coat of oil once the first coat dries.
The string action can be raised or lowered by adjusting the bridge. If
you don't feel comfortable adjusting the bridge yourself try your local guitar
dealer. They usually employ technicians to help with guitar modification.
Basically to raise or lower your bridge adjust the screws on both sides of the
bridge. This is another trial and error process so adjust the bridge a
little at a time and test. If you adjust the bridge to low your guitar may
fret out. This means that the strings are adjusted to low and give false
tones when certain notes are depressed on the fretboard. Also if you go to
high your action may make it more difficult to play chords on your guitar.
So a little adjustment can go a long way.
Some pickups come equipped with adjustable pole pieces. They are
usually either screw type or hex nut type pole pieces. Some guitarists
feel that adjusting the pole pieces so that they are a little closer to the
strings give a fatter of better tone. Others say you should not adjust
them. So it's up to you whether you want to try this task. Check out your
pole pieces on your pickup and see if they are adjustable, and use either a
small screwdriver or hex wrench to adjust. Adjust and test your instrument
with small adjustments. Don't adjust to close to the strings or you'll get
false tones. For more detailed info on
Adjustable Pole
Pieces click here.
Sometimes your tuners may feel loose and unstable. An adjustment may
help out. The next time you restring your guitar take a small screwdriver
and tighten up the screws on your tuners so they are snug. Sometimes with
constant string tension they can loosen over time. Be fairly gentle
with these adjustments because some tuners can damage easily. This
tuner adjustment should help your tuners keep the tension on the strings
properly.
The nut is the plastic or bone piece located near the headstock that holds
your strings in place. If you have a guitar with a tremelo or whammy bar
that goes out of tune when you use the trem, try oiling the nut. Pull the
string up a little and put a drop of oil in each string slot of the nut.
Try not to get oil on the fretboard or headstock. OIling the nut should
help the strings slide through the nut with less friction when the tremelo is
used. Remember as always when using oil a little goes a long way.
Strap Locks are a great feature to add to your guitar. They basically
lock in the strap of your guitar so it doesn't fall while your playing it.
I can't tell you how many times I almost dropped my guitar before buying strap
locks. If your buying more expensive guitars this is a must have
option. I've found that Shaller's work great but others brands will do the
trick. Basically just unscrew the old strap buttons off you guitar and
screw in the new strap lock buttons that you buy. You'll also have to add
the locking pieces of the strap lock to you strap itself. Screw those
pieces together, and you should be able to snap in or strap lock your guitar.
***These are some ideas to help with guitar setup. Always unplug your
guitar from your amplifier before making any adjustment to guitar electronics.
If you are a novice it may be a good idea to get a guitar setup done by a
professional. Most music stores have in house technicians that can help
with this process.
