How To Adjust The Neck Relief On A Gibson - Guitar Maintenance Lesson
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- čas přidán 10. 10. 2017
- How To Adjust The Neck Relief On A Gibson - Guitar Maintenance Lesson
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The process of adjusting the relief on a Gibson style neck is almost identical to the Fender. The only difference being the tool you use to adjust the truss rod, and that you have to open up a cover that hides the truss rod. The tool you need instead of the Allen key is a nut wrench, and for Gibson guitars you need a 5/16" which normally comes with the guitar. If they don't, they are easy to find online.
5/16" trust rod nut wrench
Now it's time to give it a try! There are a few steps to follow in order to get this correct, so we have written a handy checklist for you below:
1. Tune the guitar up to pitch
2. Capo the 1st fret and fret the last fret (thus giving you a straight edge)
3. Take your feeler gauge and measure at the 7th fret until you find a gauge that fits perfectly
4. A recommended relief for US strats is 0.008" to 0.012", so any higher or lower than that you will need to adjust (If you are unsure what recommended amount of relief your guitar is, check the manufacturers specs.)
5. Take the allen key and adjust the truss rod. Right for tighter (if you need to move from 0.014 to 0.012 for example) and left for looser (if you need to go from 0.006 to 0.008 for example)
6. Remember to adjust in increments of two hours on a clock face (for example, 10 to 12).
7. Retune your guitar back to pitch and repeat the process until you have the correct relief.
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take a shot every time you hear the guitar tech say "okay"
I’m in two minutes.....allready totally hammered...
@@brianfrederiks haha
Thanks for the vid. I've had an explorer for over 20 years and no one seemed to be able to do this properly. I made a custom tool for the nut, it's in a bear of a spot. It hasn't played as good and sounded as good in years. Thanks again.
Great, nice close ups. Exactly what I needed. Thank you, I feet confident to try it on my LP Studio badly in need of adjustment.
Excellent video! Thank you for sharing this with others! 👍
Many thanks for these videos - helped me set up my brand new les paul which had gone as bit wonky and buzzy in transit!
Hello! To make the adjustments, can the guitars be supported on the table with a support on the neck (as in the video) or should they be adjusted in the position of playing?
Very good this channel!
First comment is that this was helpful to me as I had a Hagstrom Super Suede - excellent instrument and badass looks - that wasn't playing well as it came out of the box. I checked the neck relief and found it to high. Action on the contrary had been set too low (probably to compensate). So in less than 15' I made both adjustment and now it plays great.
The second comment is that it is incorrect to believe that the frets above 17 (where the neck joins the bodY) do not contribute to the relief. They do contribute to the TOTAL relief, as even if the neck is assumed to be straight beyond the 17th fret, from a purely geometrical consideration, the fact that the neck extends further affects the relief, if this is measured by fretting the 17th or the last fret. So, it is a matter of convention - which fret to use - but needs to be specified.
Third comment is that how the guitar is (vertical, or lying on a table, or anything else) does not really matter, due to the extremely high stiffness of the neck the deformation induced by the various orientations is negligible. It can be demonstrated with formulas, but if someone does not believe it, he can just measure the relief with the guitar in different orientations.
Thanks guys , Great video!
I like at :59 where he says "kinda like reverse of an allen key" (this would be called a Socket) :) Thanks you Guys for making this video I have the 345 version and was looking for help setting up my neck relief
Thanks! This helped me get the action closer to what I like on my Gibson 335 knockoff (Bruno Conqueror hollow body). I never liked playing it because the action was too high for my liking. Now it's pretty cool. (BTW the knockoff has an alan wrench hole rather than a nut)
Outstanding! I have a 1955 Les Paul Jr, single p90, beautiful sunburst. My Dad purchased the guitar in 1956. Barely touched.
Wonderful instrument, but the neck is in need of adjustment.
As you say, I will try on my own first.
Thank you both
Yeah give it a try Steve and see how you get on. We may be able to help if you have any basic questions! Otherwise, go see a pro near you ;)
On a Les Paul is it correct to fret at the last fret or fret where the neck joins the body?
thank you sooo much.
Would fretting actually be an accurate way of measuring? They wear down differently?
Hey man! Great tips! I think having a little bit of upbow is fine at times for relief. But not too much! :D
I think my guitar Gibson E175 is bend in around the 12 fret but a technician told me that someone was tided the neck to much. What will happened to my guitar? Will the adjust metal inside the neck come out? I used litter gauges strings in it, it touch a little bit around the 14 fret. I scare to loose my guitar.what should I do?
I got pain in neck from heavy bass and need some relief.
I have an epiphone SG with tune-o-matic, and i really want it to be as bendable and as low as it gets,.
I tried to adjust the bridge and the truss rod, but i got a little buzz (not the worst though). Is that ok? Or i'll have to clean the buzz off?
I'm really late on this reply, but it depends on the player. For me, if I was playing technical metal, country or jazz I'd do anything to remove the buzz. If I was playing something like grunge and the buzz isn't too heavy (as you say), I'd learn what provokes it and use it to my advantage, giving an extra "dirtyness" to my sound when I wanted it.
You just saved me a bunch..thanks
No problem Michael!
This was so helpful, thank you!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful :) :)
Your Guitar Academy loved it, all my guitars feel perfect after this series of videos!
Hi guys, I raised the tailpiece and now I feel more tension on the strings. Is that normal? Thank you.
I know that’s a 335, but on a les paul wouldn’t you fret where the neck meets the body at the 17 fret. I’ve tried both methods I always measure more relief when using the last fret than the 17th fret. I’ve looked everywhere for an answer, last fret or body fret, what’s right?
One of the things that's not often discussed is that different radius necks call for different feeler gauge measurements when dealing with Truss Rod. 15" Radius can go .008 but a 12" should not. 12" radius should be .010-.012. You see people on vids all over youtube saying " I prefer the straightest neck possible" without even remotely touching on the fact that every guitar they own are 15" radius lol.
you guys seem to be replying to comments so i have a question that may be slightly relevant: i have an epiphone les paul standard. when i play certain frets (mostly the top 9 frets) on my D and A strings, they buzz. what could be causing this? could i just make a saddle adjustment or should i try to give the neck a little relief?
#Id like to know the cause and remedy for this as well,
anybody?
Hi Guys ! I am French, own a Memphis Gibson es 335 P90 Ltd série from 2007 and it sounds awesome BUT always buzzing making metal part buzz ( do not know where it comes from !!!) even after changing the nut and the bridge for a tonepro one ! I love this guitars but am very disappointed because my thinline telecaster and my Duesenberg star player tv NEVER rattle or buzz.....Do not know what to do ! Do the neck have to be straight as possible ? I cannot play unplugged with it , it sounds like a dobro 😬. Thanks for your answer and help, kind regards from France, Gaëtan
You will need some neck relief, therefore, do what they do in this video and adjust relief to your liking between .008 and .012. (imperial measurement). (Buy some automotive feeler gauges these are very cheap. if it still buzzes after this, then adjust your bridge height if this does not help check for high frets and file them if needed,. The Truss rod nut uses a 5/16 socket you can get a 1/4 inch drive socket adapter and then use it on the end of any ratchet style screwdriver My 2015 es345 had a factory relief of .039 inches horrible and this video really helped put "Rita" back into operational heaven.
I think i finally understand neck relief.
I've noticed that some guys measure relief by fretting (17th fret) where the neck joins the body and some fret the last fret. To my way of thinking the top upper register frets are not affected at all by the truss rod so wouldn't it make more sense to check relief where the neck joins the body?
Hi Randy - Very interesting thought! I've messaged James to get his opinion on it, so please bear with me until I hear back from him :)
Hi Randy, so James said: "Yeah, there’s not much affect above the 17th from the truss rod, suspect the measurements/assessment won’t be affected.." I hope that helps a bit :)
@Your Guitar Academy: Unless you own a Gibson Reverse Firebird like a great many of due. 99% of the fretboard on a Firebird is outside the body.
@@yga both of your comments here are for sure some of the best in CZcams history, reading the question, replying, look for the info, and deliver the info, so simple but so awesome of you guys
Thank you for very helpful video! I have a question! I use capo on 1 fret and fret the last fret and i have not a space between 6 string and fret but i have a lot of space between 1 string and fret. Does it mean that my neck is twisted? Sorry for my English! )
It could be that but it's impossible to say for sure without seeing it. My advice would be to take it to a guitar tech or your local guitar store and see what they think. Do you have a local guitar store you can go to?
Thank you for your answer! Yes, there are some guitar stores in my area. I will try something! P.S. It would be nice to see a good tutorial about refreting guitar at home! I have Epiphone Les Paul, and i love this guitar, but i just destoyed frets over the years, and unfortunately, there is no good guitar tech in my city.
Thanks! Yeah try the guitar stores first, and hopefully, you'll find someone with the skills to do it. Refreting is a definite step up from these videos, but we'll bear it in mind and see if James is available for more cool vids :)
CustomMelody your neck probably isn't twisted. i've seen a lot of guitars in poor shape, but i've never seen _that_ before. sounds more like you've just got heavier strings on a guitar that was set up with lighter strings. it's something you see a lot when you use heavies, most guitars that you find in the shop will have like 9s or 10s on them. heavier sets will get closer to the frets just because they're a little thicker. did you get a chance to take it to a tech yet?
if not, see if you can measure how much space you have between the high string and the frets. if it's not too crazy, you can probably fix it with a saddle adjustment. either way, that low string touching the frets is a problem. i'd loosen the rod _just a little_ until that bottom string has some space over the 7th or 8th frets, then gradually adjust the last few saddles so that the high strings aren't sitting so high over the frets.
rinse and repeat. don't make any huge adjustments at one time, make tiny adjustments, then check everything, then make more. big adjustments won't hurt your guitar, but it will make your job a lot more difficult. play while you adjust too. if your strings are buzzing when you use the lower 5 frets, your neck is either too straight or bent backwards too much and you need to loosen the truss rod. if they're buzzing when you're fretting above the 12th fret, your neck is bent _in_ too much and you need to _tighten_ the rod.
if you can't get the action on those high strings down without the strings buzzing somewhere, then yeah, there might be something wrong with your neck.
also if you're going to tackle refretting, get a couple of cheap necks off of Amazon or something to practice on, because you're _going_ to fuck it up at least once. it's a whole thing.
Thanks a lot for your reply! I use 11 - 46 in standard tuning and i'm extremely comfortabe with them. I spend a lot of time reading about setup and i loosened the truss rod a little bit. There is no problem with string buzzing on 0 - 10 frets now, but my bends are dying on 13+ frets. And the bridge height is high enough. If i raise the bridge it become not comfortable to play. I just killed my frets playing Em pentatonic licks) And seriously, there is no guitar tech in my city at all. At least no one can make refreting. So the new guitar is the only option for me.
Instead of using alien measurements why not use milimeters? Hahah
I agree very annoying
Because that's what Gibson, being an American company, use. - they never adopted SI units, which originated in continental Europe. And incidentally, being an Englishman approaching 60, I was also brought up using these units, before we adopted the European standards. In the UK these units were/are referred to as 'imperial' units, as they were in standard use across the British empire [please note, I am simply reporting the facts here, and I am making no statements that should be construed in any political context].
I found a guy on youtube I set my epiphone 60S tribute to his specs it was perfect string hieght he said 2 mil low e 1and a half mil high e luckily my thruss rod was OK it can from the factory 4 mil low e and 3 high e
OddGreen 0.0008 inch = 0.23 mm
@@yoyoyuyu234476 Eight thousandths is 0.008.
The setup and they way it's filmed make this seem like a medical procedure. Appreciate when such great knowledge is shared. Cool stuff #guitardoctor
Does adjusting the truss rod effect intonation?
Hey there! Yes it does affect the intonation, it's always a good idea to check the intonation after you adjust the truss rod. Hope that helps :)
Set neck relief > adjust action > set intonation > adjust pup height > play and balance the string volume by adjusting pole pieces if possible.
What about setting a guitar up for drop tunings and heavier gauge strings
Do the same thing but obviously make sure you tune to whatever tuning are in! At the end of the day, you are still measuring the height of the strings from the fretboard whether you're using a .38 or .56 gauge string (:
Well his "shot down the guitar to show the straightness" @ 9:25 only showed he doesn't understand the concept of Depth of Field in photography. All we saw was an out of focus image. Amusing. :)
what if the strings start buzzing after adjusting the neck relief ?
“yeah....mhmm....okay.....sure....alright.....perfect....yep....yes....of course.....”
Went from 10's to 8's on my LP. I had to adjust and think I did pretty well. Except G string has buzz. Better, but still buzz..Should I move the individual saddle back ? Will that raise that individual string a bit ?
I’d say adjust the action
Do not move the saddle if it's intonation right. You have a high fret somewhere.
Hi! does neck curvature affects strings tension? I have a 339 with 10.46 string and they feel so hard to press from frets 1-4... thanks :)
If you mean the neck bending, it could make it feel harder to fret the note but it doesn’t affect the actual tension, it just means the strings might be further from the fretboard than they should be. You would then have to press it further to get to the frets. But then that would happen on more than just the first four frets… tricky one!
I have a gibson les paul studio 2016t ebony with gold hardware. When playing, when bending my high E string at the 12th and 14th frets ONLY, I fret out. Meaning, I get no sound on the bend, it dies out. So I thought I would loosen, not tighten the truss rod and when I did this the but started unloosening from the rod, so in essence the guitar can only tighten? Is that right? what am I missing? I can't imagine tightening it up, it would get worse with more frets getting fretted out, please help, thanks,
Hi Roland - Wow that's a very specific issue. I'm going to chat to our tech experts today and get back to you with an answer. Bare with me... :)
Ok so I have had a chat with our tech specialists and It could be caused by a number of things. I wouldn’t go straight for the truss rod. If it’s only happening on a couple of frets, it could just be that one of the frets needs levelling off, or the action could be too low. If you can, and just to be safe, I would take it to a guitar tech. Does that help at all?
Thanks, I meant to type "nut" not but, however, you get my point thankfully. I read on a Gibson forum post that there wasn't much that could be done, and if you can find anything on what to do, that would be great. I have never ever done anything to the truss rod, the guitar is in great shape, never had issues with it at all, so this is really a bummer, and I just want to play the blues and hit those notes:) I appreciate your help!
Yes, i really don't want to shave off frets down because it would be unlevel, and that leads to other issues maybe. When I put a ruler on it, they are level, so I thought the bend in the neck was the issue?
I had the same issue and I had to shim the nut .
Hello guys at "Your Guitar Academy"!
I have checked my epiphone les paul ace frehley signature with the capo method cause my low E and A strings were buzzing all the time, and I have like ZERO space between the fret and the string. how much shall I loose up on the truss rod? Oh by the way, I'm mostly playing rock.
Thanks for your advice!
Hi Benedek! Bare with me whilst I put that question to James - I want to make sure you get the right answer and he's defo the man to answer it! I'll get back to you as soon as I've heard :)
Ok, I heard back from James who suggests loosening (anti clockwise) the truss rod an 1/8th of a turn, retune then check, repeat if more relief is needed... Give that a try and see how you get on! :)
Your Guitar Academy I'll try it as soon as I can, thank you!
Relief demystified 👍
Just ordered a set of feeler gauges and a truss rod spanner. See what you've started..................
Haha! Thanks Nick! Yep, we did exactly the same after filming these vids!! :)
Adjust relief with guitar on its back NOOOOO always adjust in playing positions
Hey there! Yes, you are absolutely bang on, and it's something we had to do purely for filming process. I think in another video in the series James does mention that. Great point to mention again here though, thank you :)
there is a neck support thingy that the guitar is resting on in the video. the weight of the guitar is going the make the neck rest push on the neck giving it more bow than you would have had it in a playing position.
Also, you should not assume your frets are perfectly leveled, only once that is leveled you can measure the relief at the frets, otherwise the relief should be measured at the fingerboard, and not with a capo because strings don't make a perfect angle with the fret they leave a little higher off the fret and make the measurement a little off higher if done with a capo, it should be measured with a notched straight edge and taking the fingerboard, the wood, as reference, once you hace a straight neck then you can check frets and level if necessary after doing a neck relief setup, unless you are sure 100% your frets are completely leveled, once that is true then it should be measured with a straight edge over the center of the frets and in playing position...
Actually the stiffness and tension of the neck are so high that the deformation of the neck due to its own weight are negligible. With simple formulas this can be shown. But people like to have beliefs I guess
@@fabiopunk1661 Come on you can even hear the difference in tuning, why do you need formulas when you can use your ears. And what are the downsides of being precise? If there are not, then why would you even consider doing it differently? Just set it up on your knees it works perfectly well
My les paul has 2mm at 7th fret and 2mm at 21st fret but then like 1mm at first fret. How should I fix this?
2mm is 16/1000 in btw. Would like to have it at about 1mm for whole neck if possible
I'm about to pop a capo on that thing
Haha! Nice! Good luck ;)
Simon pegg is looking well
Hahaha! I never noticed that until now... I'll let James know ;)
Looks like harry enfield doing a vic reeves impression
So what does 8 thousandths of an inch look like? My gauges just say .007 and 0.18mm for example. Google is no help either.
Thanks
I was also wondering this
. 007 is 7 thousands of an inch
Wouldn't it be safer to detune the guitar before making any truss rod adjustments?
You adjust while at pitch
My tech sets mine at .005. Is that too low?
Hi Stan, I guess the answer to that is how it plays for you? Do you get any buzz on any frets? Do you enjoy the action when you play?
It's what you like.
6th string= 5 6/4" 1st string= 3 6/4" on mine.
Stan if thats thousands", it's way to low. Use "
After watching many videos, it seems like .008-.0010 is where you generally want to be. You can get lower than .008 but .005 like u have would likely start buzzing. Its personal preference, but that seems pretty low to me.
Shouldn't you test relief in playing position??
The neck on my guitar needs to have a slight bow put in. When I go to loosen the nut on the truss rod, it has no resistance on it. It is almost as if it is turning freely. What does this indicate and what's my next step?
It could be a number of things so I would probably take it to a tech to be sure. You could try tightening it up to see if it starts to resist. If it does, it could be that it was just completely loose.
As I say though, if in doubt, always play it safe and take it to a tech. Sorry that we can't be of more help but with guitar necks, it's always better to be safe than sorry!
Does the neck move ? , perhaps the threads are stripped, try a new nut,
Just to bring some EXTRA light in this, not ALL Gibsons have 2 screws in the truss rod cover.
Firebirds and Flying Vs have 3 screws.
I see where you are going with the 2 screws ("fake les pauls have 3") BUT, just to clarify that actually not ALL real Gibsons have 2.
Cheers!
Hi Agustin! Many thanks for this comment - Very insightful and important information for anyone watching this video :) Sorry we didn't have time to add it to the video either!
Some say fret 1st and last fret and measure the 12th, some say fret 1st and last and measure the 7th, and some say fret the 1st and where the neck meets the body with measurements again ranging from the 7th, 8th, or 12th fret. Geez. Who's correct?
But what is the height of the relief in mm? This number never appears in any tutorial. Thank you.
Hi Sunbike! Bare with me a little bit whilst I just double check with James, make sure we get you the right answer :)
Hi sunbike! Ok so you can just use this: www.unitconverters.net/length/inches-to-mm.htm That way you will be able to work out all future issues as well :)
Google it, core blimey.
.008 of relief is .203 mm. Sorry everyone else is an asshole and couldnt just answer a simple question. Hope this helps my guy. Once you learn to setup on your own youll be thankful yoy did. Its so easy. And saves a lot. I went from my own setups. To custom modding my les paul. Custom neck shave. Custom inlays. Refin. And now building custom guitars and amps. Its as much fun as playing
When I try to add relief to my les Paul’s neck, the nut starts to come off. Why?
Hi there! I'll double check this with James for you and get back to you asap with an answer! :)
Hi again! Ok I spoke to James and he's not 100% sure without seeing it - He said it could be that the nut needs a little glue during the process. I would definitely recommend taking it to a pro in this case!
Your Guitar Academy it just starts to unscrew itself rather than actually adjust the truss rod. I’m fairly positive that gluing it in place would fix the problem, I was just curious as to whether they are glued in the first place.
Thankyou for the fast response! I really appreciate it!
Ok great! Glad that helped a bit, and yes it does sound like that is the problem. Good luck!! :)
Glue on the nut Haha i don't think so, The neck should move either way when the trus rod nut is turned , if it won't go then your neck has had it.
Add relief is slackening the trus rod nut , if the nut is undoing off the rod without the neck moving it's fcuked. Sorry.
You get relief at 11:29
I find it funny that p
Some people are afraid to adjust a truss rod.
I would say, take a shot every time they say "ok", but I won't for two reasons. One I have more respect for my liver, and two, I don't want to be rude here.......Oops!
The dude sounds just like Paul bettany
Haha! He'll love that... Especially since he's a big Marvel fan! ;)
Without having to watch it again tell me which string you were measuring the relief off?
Hi Terry! It was the low E string at the 7th fret: 1:40 in the video :)
0,2mm.
11 minutes to twist a ruddy screw left or right, Christ
BUY IT HERE :www.ebay.com/itm/132868507836
all i got from this video was '' mmmhhh K''
Nice vid but you should talk more.
"Allen key... not wrench" lol
Les pauls dont use an allen Key they use a nut wrench
@@wrenchinrock ahh I see
Stop moaning people - it was good of him to take time out of filming all those films with Nick Frost.
Blah Blah Blah ! Just the fundamentals ! Not a algebra class gentlemen !! Just tell me which way to turn the darn thing !! Cheers from San Antonio Texas !!Lol 😆😆😆😆
Why all this bull shit just adjust truss rod until buzzes then turn back until stops buzzing job done
You know how u adjust relief on a gibson?
You break it that's how....junk!!!
The way these guys are talking you'd think they were about to perform minor surgery on their own genitals, not tweaking the truss rod on a guitar...
WTF is 16/1000 of an inch ?! That shit is so confusing, USE METRIC!
No disrespect intended, but how much better would this be with just the tech talking, without translation into Kindergarten level language.
Good video, well intended I'm sure but way tooooooo much long winded waffle!
I can't believe How Many you tube videos discuss This Topic?
#1. if u have a guitar of the high quality; And u don't know how to do this, u don't deserve one!
#2. If u don't know How to do this, then take it to a tech, u hack!
Then why are you on a video showing how to do it ?
@@toyotanerd2269 oh...are u demanding me to answer u? go fuck yourself, u can be in a store but not buy anything asshole
With that logic, you shouldn’t be able to use English with the piss poor grammar you’re displaying
@@JMakesWell another snowflake spelling checker, u get to talk to men like me like this from the safety of your mom's basement.
@@johnpike5836 you probably have never picked up a guitar in your life just another internet bully. Snowflake ? You got so salty over my simple question. If your not interested in vidios of how to adjust your truss rod don't watch. Did you ever think perhaps this vidios is to teach new players ? You had to learn at some point. We're you born with this knowledge ?
To much talk and not enough rock.
God blah blah blah
This is not the proper way to do this. You don’t capo the 1st then fret the last and check the relief at 7. How the hell is that the middle of the neck. You capo the first fret then fret the 13th and check relief at the 7th fret. You know half way of what you fretting. Think I’m wrong watch a video of how Gibson does it.
link please??
They did it proper