Gibson Truss Rod Adjustment Direction

A little truss rod adjustment goes a long way as you can see by measuring your string height before and after with a string action gauge.

Gibson truss rod adjustment direction.

Push it all the way in. With a properly functioning truss rod you probably won t need more than 1 8 turn in either direction to get what you re after. Loosening a truss rod turning counter clockwise adds relief to decreases tension on the neck which results in increased higher string action height. To add relief to the neck you ll want to loosen the truss rod or turn the truss rod nut counter clockwise.

Future when you re adjusting the truss rod make sure the allen key is seated properly in the truss rod nut. An old school truss rod bolt at the bottom of the neck image credit. Whichever setup you prefer a straight neck is a good starting point. The neck of most guitars has what s known as a truss rod which is a one or two piece adjustable metal rod that goes down the inside of the center of the neck.

You can adjust the truss rod with a nut located at one end. Your guitar must be tuned to pitch using your preferred gauge of strings when you do this and under tension or it simply won t be correct. It also shows you which direction you should turn your tru. That is why truss rod adjustments are normally done in conjunction with a set up.

Got annoying fret buzz. Different manufacturers put them in different places but they re usually at the headstock under a cap just behind the nut or where the neck joins the body just under. When making truss rod adjustments i first assess the instrument s action and playability along with the players aggressiveness and playing style. This video shows you how to eliminate it by a simple truss rod adjustment.

The types of forces that act on a truss rod are compression tension and torque. The truss rod adjustment on a gibson les paul is done using its brass nut at the headstock end of the neck located under the truss rod cover funnily enough. Starting with a dead flat neck i increase neck relief slightly until the instrument plays without buzzing. Truss rod adjustment of a solid body electric guitar like a gibson les paul.

When adjusting a truss rod in either direction you are changing the force applied to the rod.