I think I need to adjust the rod but which way?

[Napthol]

Been playing my Hendrix Strat lately. It has had a fret level from a new guy I've never used before, and he did a real good job on it. It's been playing buzz free up until maybe a week ago. Now I can hear some buzzing starting to creep in. I live in Minnesota and we are moving from summer to fall so the temperatures are getting a little bit cooler and I imagine the humidity may be changing as well.

I think I may need to adjust the truss rod but I never know which way to turn it. Relief right now is about .006".

Noticed buzzing around the 12th 10th 14th frets.

Should I straighten the neck and raise the action? Try that first?

Or should I put more relief in the neck by loosening the rod?

 

[beaubrummels]

Loosening would be counter-clockwise. Tightening would be clockwise. But for the right solution to the problem, I think ICTGoober would be the best to advise. He repairs guitars for a living. There are a few other builder/repairers on here also, like GuitarDoc.

 

[Top-L]

Buzzing at higher frets usually means raise action, and you may be able to straighten neck a little. This transfers the hot spot from high on neck, to lower on neck.

I dont really know how to describe the process in 100 words or less. Ive never seen it printed before, but you cant damage the guitar by experimenting with small changes.

 

[GuitarStv]

Don't adjust the truss rod because frets are buzzing. Check if the truss rod needs to be adjusted at all.

Hold down the low E string at the first fret and the 14th fret. Then check the action at the 6th fret. It should be a little bit less than the thickness of a business card. If it's not, adjust the truss to raise the rod up or down as needed. If this is set OK and you're still getting buzzing you either need some fretwork or to raise the action a bit.

 

[Clint 55]

You have to learn the look of what bow you like. Do this by sighting down the neck from the heel. Some guys like straighter necks, some like more bow, either is acceptable. The only time relief will cause buzzing is if there is too much bow which puts the deepest spot in the middle of the neck and creates a hill in the upper frets. You want to get rid of that by tightening the truss rod. If the bow looks acceptable, then you'd have to raise the action to get rid of buzz.

 

[Napthol]

I followed GuitarSTV's suggestion and my Strat is playing better now. There was more than the thickness of a business card at the 6th fret.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Yah, if you're happy with the amount of relief you've got, raising the action a tad usually does it.

 

[Chistopher]

To remember which way to turn it's still righty tighty, lefty loosey. And if you tighten your back muscles you will stand straighter, same as the neck on a guitar

 

[Top-L]

You have to learn the look of what bow you like. Do this by sighting down the neck from the heel. Some guys like straighter necks, some like more bow, either is acceptable. The only time relief will cause buzzing is if there is too much bow which puts the deepest spot in the middle of the neck and creates a hill in the upper frets. You want to get rid of that by tightening the truss rod. If the bow looks acceptable, then you'd have to raise the action to get rid of buzz.

Every neck is different. I set them up for the lowest action. Some take more relief than others.

Generally, if the neck is set straighter, you will need a higher action. And if there is more relief, you can get away with lower action, although as you mentioned there might be a hill on upper frets.

Some necks can be set straighter without buzzing on low/mid frets. And sighting down the neck may not be always accurate because the plane of the frets may not perfectly be in sync with the fretboard.

For myself, there is not a "look" that I like, but what the guitar is able to give.

What I do to really test how well the neck is doing once it is close to finished, is to play single notes and then pull back on the neck slightly to see if there is too much relief in that area. If you play a note and can apply a decent amount of backwards pressure without any buzz, there is too much relief/action in that area.

 

[Clint 55]

I go for the same arc regardless of the neck. I like the notes to feel springy so I set as much relief as possible but without the neck bending back and creating a hill in the upper frets. It's good to be able to use measurements and be scientific but I like the ability to intuitively know what's going on with my set up and get the effect I want.

 

[ehdwuld]

I like my neck dead straight with as little relieef as possible

 

[GuitarStv]

I followed GuitarSTV's suggestion and my Strat is playing better now. There was more than the thickness of a business card at the 6th fret.

Nice! Yeah, over the years I've found that this is a pretty good spot to put truss adjustments for most guitars to minimize buzzing.

 

[Mr. B]

Just because someone did a "fret level" on your guitar does not mean you can't still have high frets. Depends on whether they knew what they were doing, and whether your neck wood is stable. I have never before seen the number of unstable twisted shifting necks as I have in the last few years, especially since new woods have been used to replace rosewood.

If you plan on owning a guitar for a long time, you need to buy a capo and special made setup ruler so you can measure relief accurately. Then watch a good detailed video about truss rod adjustment so you understand what it is you are doing. Some guitars, if you are REALLY lucky, can play without buzz with a completely straight neck, but most need some relief. Changing neck relief also changes your string's playing height, so you need to reset that after adjusting the truss rod. That is another reason to own the setup ruler.

 

[ehdwuld]

Just because someone did a "fret level" on your guitar does not mean you can't still have high frets. Depends on whether they knew what they were doing, and whether your neck wood is stable. I have never before seen the number of unstable twisted shifting necks as I have in the last few years, especially since new woods have been used to replace rosewood.

If you plan on owning a guitar for a long time, you need to buy a capo and special made setup ruler so you can measure relief accurately. Then watch a good detailed video about truss rod adjustment so you understand what it is you are doing. Some guitars, if you are REALLY lucky, can play without buzz with a completely straight neck, but most need some relief. Changing neck relief also changes your string's playing height, so you need to reset that after adjusting the truss rod. That is another reason to own the setup ruler.

We had the discussion about notched straight edges in another thread

Everyone said you dont need them

 

[Top-L]

Just because someone did a "fret level" on your guitar does not mean you can't still have high frets. Depends on whether they knew what they were doing, and whether your neck wood is stable. I have never before seen the number of unstable twisted shifting necks as I have in the last few years, especially since new woods have been used to replace rosewood.

If you plan on owning a guitar for a long time, you need to buy a capo and special made setup ruler so you can measure relief accurately. Then watch a good detailed video about truss rod adjustment so you understand what it is you are doing. Some guitars, if you are REALLY lucky, can play without buzz with a completely straight neck, but most need some relief. Changing neck relief also changes your string's playing height, so you need to reset that after adjusting the truss rod. That is another reason to own the setup ruler.

I have been measuring my necks before leveling the frets and I have been getting good results on even some "problem" necks. But I don't have a formal system worked out; some of it is based on intuition. The big decision is just exactly how to set the truss before leveling, which dictates where most of the meat is taken from the frets. If a neck is perfectly straight and develops good relief over the length, then obviously just set it straight and level. But I have found that's generally not the case.

I use notched to measure the board and straight edge to measure frets. They are not always in sync, especially if a guitar has been plekked previously.

Every neck develops relief in different ways, and I think its possible to work around that by the decision of where to set the truss before leveling. My results are as good or better than new guitars I have received, but am always looking at ways to improve my results. It may be that an Erlewine neck jig is the next step, although I've been happy with my results so far.

BTW, due to the way the string oscillates, I think some relief is necessary. If a perfectly straight neck is playing without buzz at a very low action, that suggests it has been plekked (or levelled with some back bow) and the fret heights are not in sync with the neck itself.

 

[Napthol]

The guy that did my frets did an excellent job. There was absolutely no buzzing frets anywhere. If I called him up and told him I think I have some high frets I can just imagine what he would say. It's is much, much more likely that the neck has shifted a bit due to humidity and temperature changes and the fact that it's a new guitar. I doubt very much that my late guitar technician always re-leveled the frets when I told him I had some buzzes developing.

 

[Napthol]

Well I just got done practicing on my Player Strat and I still got some buzzing. Most every fret has a slight or some frets more noticeable buzz. I took my straight edge and a magnifying glass and looked at the relief at the 8th fret. There is practically none. The straight edge is practically touching the fret. I think I may have straightened the neck too much.

I'm going to put some relief back in the neck and see where that gets me.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Usually you've got have some relief.

 

[Mincer]

Well I just got done practicing on my Player Strat and I still got some buzzing. Most every fret has a slight or some frets more noticeable buzz. I took my straight edge and a magnifying glass and looked at the relief at the 8th fret. There is practically none. The straight edge is practically touching the fret. I think I may have straightened the neck too much.

I'm going to put some relief back in the neck and see where that gets me.

Sometimes that kind of buzz doesn't even come through the amp. I don't concern myself about that.

 

[ICTGoober]

Acoustic buzz on an electric guitar is not a big deal. Buzz coming through the amp? It's time to make some choices.