TRUSS Issue,,, how would YOU Spell Relief??

Right. If everybody understands that the string is being used as a straight edge, all good. If you just say “distance from the string to the fret” without mentioning that it’s held down at two specific points, it sounds like you’re describing the action.

And, in fact, I did clearly state just that in my post. You took one sentence out of context and commented on that sentence rather than what I said in my post.
 
Lol...I love it when something so simple made complicated like a convoluted balls of cat hair.

Relief is whether the neck is straight or bows upward; nothing to do with the distance between the string and fret. Ideally you should shoot for no relief at all or dead straight neck, but some people like a slight bow.

This should clarify it:

Neck.png
 
Lol...I love it when something so simple made complicated like a convoluted balls of cat hair.

Relief is whether the neck is straight or bows upward; nothing to do with the distance between the string and fret.Ideally you should shoot for no relief at all or dead straight neck, but some people like a slight bow.

This should clarify it:

Neck.png

Thanks for posting those picture for those in the forum who are hearing about this idea for the first time.

Relief is whether the neck is straight or bows upward; nothing to do with the distance between the string and fret.

The first part of that statement is partially correct (because there can actually be a negative bow, and negative relief, as in your third picture), the last part is totally wrong.

Those pictures "simplify" it, but they don't "clarify" it. Because if a neck is bowed you only know that it is bowed...you don't know how much it is bowed, which can be very important when you are setting up a guitar. "Relief", as I have stated, is the measurement of that bow. The relief measurement tells you how much bow there is and how much adjusting you need to do to the truss rod to correct it. "Relief" is NOT the same thing as "action".

I personally like my guitars with no relief and very low action. Some people like their guitars with no relief but very high action, especially slide players. Some people like their action so high that they create what I refer to as "pseudo-action" by scalloping their fretboards. I have never tried that myself, but I can certainly see the benefit for some playing styles
 
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YE GODS! The ONLY person who doesn't understand a simple explanatory drawing is ^^^ YOU ^^^.

I understand it perfectly. That's obvious, from my post.

Making an ignorant statement like that directed at me is uncalled for and only expresses a lot about your (lack of) understanding of the subject matter. But I have no desire to get into an emotional heated debate with you...we've both gotten into trouble for that kind of bantering before and it has no place on the forum. So keep your negative comments to yourself.
 
Honestly I don't go to exact, detailed, mm measurement when setting up the neck, doc. To determine whether the neck bows or sits straight I rely on my plain vision, looking down the neck from the headstock then adjusting the truss rod accordingly.

On a side note lately I've found an upward bow on the bass side only while the treble side is dead straight, weird.
 
Honestly I don't go to exact, detailed, mm measurement when setting up the neck, doc. To determine whether the neck bows or sits straight I rely on my plain vision, looking down the neck from the headstock then adjusting the truss rod accordingly.

On a side note lately I've found an upward bow on the bass side only while the treble side is dead straight, weird.

I agree, and I hope I didn't offend you...not my intention at all. I usually don't actually do the measuring, but some luthiers do. Like you I just sight down the neck. I'll sometimes put a straight edge on it but still don't actually measure it. Most of what I do when setting up or adjusting is by sight and feel/playability. I just got technical in my post to add clarity/distinction to similar terms.

I've also seen necks like that, or with the opposite situation. There can be many causes but it usually is due to either the grain of the wood causing warping/twisting, or inaccurate sanding of the board.
 
So, if I've run out on the truss, going counterclockwise, trying to create a bit more bow, & the truss come off, I TSOL? As it sits now, the neck is damn near as straight as can be, so I raised the action so I'm not fretting out, and I have applied physical force on the middle of the neck, but I don't want to stress to hard. It's it unusable, but I'd like have it set up right.
Many thanks in advance & be well all~
Kenny
 
It’s interesting that your problem is not enough relief... usually people run out of adjustment to straighten the neck.

what gauge strings are you using? Put a heavier set on and see if that helps.
 
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