This is pretty important for steel-string acoustic guitars as they are typically fitted with heavier gauge strings than electric guitars. This could be due to changes in temperature and/or relative humidity or simply be the result of prolonged tension from the strings gradually forcing structural changes over time. Wood, being an organic material, is subject to change.

a quarter turn at a time.įor a more detailed explanation of truss rod adjustment continue reading below, and if you are interested in learning more about acoustic guitar maintenance click the link to check out some of our other articles. Next, access the truss rod (located inside the soundhole on acoustic guitars) and, using a nut driver or hex key, turn counter-clockwise to increase neck relief or clockwise to reduce neck relief. Too much relief can affect intonation and string action.

insufficient neck relief can cause fret buzz and/or dead notes. To adjust the neck of your acoustic guitar first ensure the guitar is tuned to concert pitch. But, if you are in a hurry I’ve summarised the steps below: In the following article, I’m going to show you how to inspect, and adjust the neck of your acoustic guitar via the truss rod, to ensure your guitar plays and sounds great.

Perhaps the most important component of any guitar is the neck, it’s the interface of the guitar, so it pays to ensure the neck is in good shape.

Buzzing past 12th fret