truss rod adjustments - how often should I do it?

K

kelvinktl

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Sep 22, 2015
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Hello all,

I recently purchased a custom 24 with pattern thin neck (made in 2017) and I found the guitar neck to be quite sensitive. I remember setting it up with low action and minimal neck relief and it was playing great.

Occasionally the neck relief changes depending on the weather and I know it's all normal but yesterday the increase in neck relief was pretty noticeable so I used the truss rod to adjust the neck (1/8 of a turn, clockwise) and it now has minimal neck relief again.

So my question is how often can I use the truss rod to make adjustments? Can I use the truss rod whenever I feel there's change to the neck relief? I started using the trem lately as well so I was wondering if it has any impact to the neck in terms of action or relief? (Nutsauce works great now the guitar stays in tune well enough I can use the trem) The guitar is kept in my room on a guitar stand and the humidity in the room is normally between 60-75%

Many thanks!
Kelvin
 
Wow, you must have some crazy weather. I've only needed to change the truss rod adjustment when initially set up (maybe a second time after it settles), and when changing string gauges/tuning (which I don't do so much any more, but others do).

I'll leave others to answer the question.
 
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Yes I live in Asia and it's summer here so temperature and humidity vary quite a bit. I'm keeping the guitar in my room with air conditioning on when I'm home to try to minimise the effect already but unfortunately looks like it's still affecting the guitar.

I owned 513 and P24 (both pattern regular neck) and they weren't affected as drastically so I'm trying to understand what's really affecting the neck - is it the pattern thin neck or it's the weather or it's because I'm using the trem now?
 
Keeping the guitar in its case buffers temperature and humidity changes that occur daily in every room over a 24 hour period. Air conditioned rooms get hot and cold, wet and dry, depending on whether the air conditioner is pumping out cool air or the room is warming up.

You might have better luck keeping your guitar in a case instead of on a stand. Just a suggestion.

The trem isn't going to cause a guitar to need a neck adjustment. My trem-equipped guitars are very stable, but I do keep them cased when I'm not playing them.

The thinner necks will tend to be more sensitive to string pull, of course. But PRS' thin necks are still pretty thick compared to many guitars, so I wouldn't worry about it. And I agree, adjust the relief as often as necessary. You aren't going to break the guitar.
 
Sometimes it's just that particular piece of wood. I have PRSi that I've never touched the truss rod on because they've never shifted (or at least not that I've noticed). I've had others that have been tweaked a couple times, and at least one that was tweaked at the store before I could even play it, again after I bought it, and probably five or six times since then. The most sensitive guitar I've had is a Hamer Eclipse - for whatever reason, that neck seems to need tweaked periodically no matter what.
 
It depends on the guitar. My traditional jazz archtops certainly require more seasonal adjustment compared to my solidbody guitars. My 2003 Carvin for instance has never once required a trussrod adjustment, neither has my Parker once it was set correctly to my tastes. My 2007 HBII required one as soon as it arrived. She's off to my friend Ben Bruton to get some of the nasty dinged frets cleaned up. I imagine that guitar may require seasonal adjustments much like my other hollow guitars.

Let me add another piece to this. I keep a humidity and temperature gauge in the room where my guitars are. Being in the northeast US, we get hot and humid summers and our fair share of winter. I keep a humidifier in the room with the guitars as soon as the furnace goes on, and can usually keep the room between 40-60% RH year round. I wasn't always so good about that, but now that my small collection is relatively nice, I'd like to keep them that way.
 
Thanks for replying all! Very helpful tips.

This custom 24 is the PRS I like the most but at the same time it seems to have the most amount of issues too lol
 
My custom 24 moves a lot too, i live in an area near water where the humidity fluctuates drastically from day to night, and even moreso lately. I keep a feeler gague handy and evey so often i measure the relief and set it back at .010.
 
I have never had to adjust a truss rod after an initial setup on any guitar I have ever owned, and we're talking since 1981. I live in Northern California which has a pretty even climate but even when I was in Virginia that has warm humid summers and snow in the winter, never.

I think what Les says about keeping guitars stored in cases carries a lot of weight, I never leave a guitar out of it's case when not in use. A habit from my gigging days.
 
Yeah I've started storing my guitar in the case - one question though...Do you store it with the guitar tuned or strings loosen?

Thanks guys!
 
I've heard if you play with your truss rod too much you can get addicted to it. Eventually, you aren't as satisfied when someone else does it.

Edit: adjusting your truss rod of course
 
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lurker john said:
If you're playing it regularly, you don't need to loosen the strings when you put it into its case.
Click to expand...
yeah I think I'll just keep it in my mono case without loosening the strings cos the hardcase is just too much of a hassle lol
 
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