SE245 neck relief issue

[ajwguitar]

Hi all,

I'm new here but not new to PRS guitars.

I've got an issue with my SE 245 where I can't remove the relief from the neck. The result is that even when strung with 9's the neck has far to much forward bow. When adjusting the truss rod (looking down the neck from the nut end, in a clockwise motion) the truss rod adjustment feels like it's hit the end of its travel and won't budge any further. Backing the adjustment off the other way, to add relief is no problem and the truss rod adjustment moves smoothly.

Anyone got any idea as to what could be happening and anything to try to resolve the issue?

Thanks in advance.
Andrew

 

[Lewguitar]

If the truss rod is working normally, it should provide 2 way adjustment.

At about 3:39 he gets to the meat of the matter.

You might be turning the truss rod nut in the wrong driection or not turning it enough.

This Dan Erlewine video is helpful too.

 

[Draconomics]

Hi all,

I'm new here but not new to PRS guitars.

I've got an issue with my SE 245 where I can't remove the relief from the neck. The result is that even when strung with 9's the neck has far to much forward bow. When adjusting the truss rod (looking down the neck from the nut end, in a clockwise motion) the truss rod adjustment feels like it's hit the end of its travel and won't budge any further. Backing the adjustment off the other way, to add relief is no problem and the truss rod adjustment moves smoothly.

Anyone got any idea as to what could be happening and anything to try to resolve the issue?

Thanks in advance.
Andrew

Right, so you probably already know SE's have two way rods. There will be a dead zone where it feels like you are spinning the rod and nothing is happening, but you are just in between, and then it starts engaging again and it'll feel like its a little stuck or fighting you, but that should be normal. Also, if youve never been in there doing any adjustments, the rod will be sticky, especially when removing relief. I can't say I've ever had a PRS where the truss rod is just stuck and wont budge.

Just extra PSA on truss adjustments, dont do anything greater than 1/4 turns at a time (PRS rods are very sensitive and generally I recommend no more than 1/8 a turn at a time). If you think youre going to spin the rod more than half a rotation, stop there and let her sit for 20 minutes, then get back to it.

 

[ajwguitar]

If the truss rod is working normally, it should provide 2 way adjustment.

At about 3:39 he gets to the meat of the matter.

You might be turning the truss rod nut in the wrong driection or not turning it enough.

This Dan Erlewine video is helpful too.

Thanks for that. I'd seen the PRS one before but not the Stewmac one so that was informative. I'm definitely turning the nut the correct way, it's just incredibly stiff!

Right, so you probably already know SE's have two way rods. There will be a dead zone where it feels like you are spinning the rod and nothing is happening, but you are just in between, and then it starts engaging again and it'll feel like its a little stuck or fighting you, but that should be normal. Also, if youve never been in there doing any adjustments, the rod will be sticky, especially when removing relief. I can't say I've ever had a PRS where the truss rod is just stuck and wont budge.

Just extra PSA on truss adjustments, dont do anything greater than 1/4 turns at a time (PRS rods are very sensitive and generally I recommend no more than 1/8 a turn at a time). If you think youre going to spin the rod more than half a rotation, stop there and let her sit for 20 minutes, then get back to it.

Thanks for the explanation. I persevered and got a little more play out of the truss rod and managed to get the neck reasonably straight tonight. It was incredibly stiff and didn't really ease up at all. I'll let it sit overnight and see if the adjustment holds or if I need to try again tomorrow. Thanks for the help, will let you know how I get on.

 

[Lewguitar]

Would be a good idea to lubricate the threads of the nut and truss rod.

Not sure what to recommend. A drop of mineral oil or even 3-In-1 oil might help.

Be careful with that oil. It can get all over quick.

Start with just one drop.

 

[Draconomics]

Would be a good idea to lubricate the nut the threads of the nut and truss rod.

Not sure what to recommend. A drop of mineral oil or even 3-In-1 oil might help.

Be careful with that oil. It can get all over quick.

Start with just one drop.

It might help a bit. I'd use those 3-in-1 bottles with the precision tip spout.

Thanks for the explanation. I persevered and got a little more play out of the truss rod and managed to get the neck reasonably straight tonight. It was incredibly stiff and didn't really ease up at all. I'll let it sit overnight and see if the adjustment holds or if I need to try again tomorrow. Thanks for the help, will let you know how I get on.

Good luck! I'm willing to wager its stiff from never being messed with before. Sometimes the threads get crusty. Just doing small adjustments should get her there, and like I said, let the neck sit for a while so it can settle into its new shape.

 

[frankencat]

Thanks for that. I'd seen the PRS one before but not the Stewmac one so that was informative. I'm definitely turning the nut the correct way, it's just incredibly stiff!


Thanks for the explanation. I persevered and got a little more play out of the truss rod and managed to get the neck reasonably straight tonight. It was incredibly stiff and didn't really ease up at all. I'll let it sit overnight and see if the adjustment holds or if I need to try again tomorrow. Thanks for the help, will let you know how I get on.

Just a word of caution, it is possible to break a truss rod if you muscle it too much. There is a point where it reaches the end of its travel and if you force it beyond that it could break. You will know this has happened when you hear a snap or pop sound and the rod suddenly spins freely. I have replaced a few and it’s not a job for the faint of heart. That said, sometimes a rod will just get stuck and have a lot of resistance for whatever reason. You have to judge if this is the case or not, but if you come to the end of its travel where it doesn’t want to turn anymore, stop. Although I have repaired or replaced several truss rods in my time I have never personally seen a PRS of any sort with this problem. BTW lubricating the nut on the end of a dual action truss rod doesn’t really do anything because the nut is secured to the rod and the whole rod turns, not just the nut. If you can get some lube on the threads there is an anchor nut at each end that the threads go through and this might help. Good luck!

 

[ajwguitar]

As mentioned above, after the first adjustment I got the neck pretty straight but left it in a slightly lower tuning to reduce the strain in the neck. I noticed after a day or so a little more relief had appeared but it was still fine.

So I then made a further adjustment to try and get the neck pretty straight in standard tuning which I managed with a bit of effort. In between making the adjustments I applied some force to the neck to attempt to provide some back bow with my hands to try and assist with with the adjustment and heard a couple of creaks in the neck. I'm not entirely sure what's going on but given that the adjustments do seem to be having an effect it would seem I'm not at the end of the truss rod adjustment travel so perhaps the truss rod is binding on something in the neck making for the really stiff adjustments and in providing some manual force to the neck the friction was momentarily eased? I did try some 3 in 1 oil which appeared to disappear down the truss rod hole but I've no idea if it's helped.

Has anyone experienced something like this before?

I'll leave the guitar for a couple of days and see if the neck remains close to straight in standard tuning.

Thank you to everyone who has tried to assist.

 

[Draconomics]

As mentioned above, after the first adjustment I got the neck pretty straight but left it in a slightly lower tuning to reduce the strain in the neck. I noticed after a day or so a little more relief had appeared but it was still fine.

So I then made a further adjustment to try and get the neck pretty straight in standard tuning which I managed with a bit of effort. In between making the adjustments I applied some force to the neck to attempt to provide some back bow with my hands to try and assist with with the adjustment and heard a couple of creaks in the neck. I'm not entirely sure what's going on but given that the adjustments do seem to be having an effect it would seem I'm not at the end of the truss rod adjustment travel so perhaps the truss rod is binding on something in the neck making for the really stiff adjustments and in providing some manual force to the neck the friction was momentarily eased? I did try some 3 in 1 oil which appeared to disappear down the truss rod hole but I've no idea if it's helped.

Has anyone experienced something like this before?

I'll leave the guitar for a couple of days and see if the neck remains close to straight in standard tuning.

Thank you to everyone who has tried to assist.

The neck creaking sounds bad, but often is normal on a neck that has never been adjusted before. With cases like that, patience is key. The last thing you want to do is strip the nut or worse, though PRS rod nuts are quite resistant to being stripped given that you use the correct wrench. You actually can snap the truss rod, but you got to tighten the neck alot before you get there, but it can happen and replacement is often more expensive than the guitar.

One last word of advice, and I'm sure you know this, but when you tighten the rod, do it with slacked tension. You put alot more stress on the rod when youre tightening it against the tension of the strings. You can loosen it at tension, but dont tighten it at concert pitch tension.

 

[ajwguitar]

The neck creaking sounds bad, but often is normal on a neck that has never been adjusted before. With cases like that, patience is key. The last thing you want to do is strip the nut or worse, though PRS rod nuts are quite resistant to being stripped given that you use the correct wrench. You actually can snap the truss rod, but you got to tighten the neck alot before you get there, but it can happen and replacement is often more expensive than the guitar.

One last word of advice, and I'm sure you know this, but when you tighten the rod, do it with slacked tension. You put alot more stress on the rod when youre tightening it against the tension of the strings. You can loosen it at tension, but dont tighten it at concert pitch tension.

Thanks. The nut still looks to be holding up ok but I am mindful of it stripping so am keeping an eye on it.

Yes, I've been doing the adjustments with the strings slackened quite significantly to reduce the amount of force required as much as possible.

 

[ajwguitar]

A few days have passed now since getting the neck up to standard tuning with the correct relief and I'm happy to report that the neck has remained pretty straight with the correct amount of relief so I think the adjustments seem to have worked.

As I said above, I'm really not sure what the issue is with the truss rod being so stiff to adjust but I'm happy that I've now got a working guitar. I don't know if the 3 in 1 oil managed to lubricate the thread or whether the creak the neck let out when I applied some force to it freed up the rod. Either way I'm happy.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions in getting the guitar back playing nicely again.

 

[bodia]

A few days have passed now since getting the neck up to standard tuning with the correct relief and I'm happy to report that the neck has remained pretty straight with the correct amount of relief so I think the adjustments seem to have worked.

As I said above, I'm really not sure what the issue is with the truss rod being so stiff to adjust but I'm happy that I've now got a working guitar. I don't know if the 3 in 1 oil managed to lubricate the thread or whether the creak the neck let out when I applied some force to it freed up the rod. Either way I'm happy.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions in getting the guitar back playing nicely again.

Glad to hear!