This video is the model for how a tutorial should be done - no infuriating intro, no hype, just really helpful, to the point information delivered by a friend. Thank you!
Literally came down to the comments to say this, he seems like the kind of patient, knowledgeable and loving grandpa any kid would want to have whether they play guitar or not
This is the best truss rod video I’ve ever seen. Not only is it so simple and well explained, but I’ve learned so much in these 5 minutes that I’ve been searching for for a very long time. The visuals (both pictures and him showing us) were absolutely perfect. Thank you so much.
@@andrepereira744 No I agree, it's completely cleared things up for me too. I guess I've just been watching the wrong videos but this is one of the first videos I've seen that describes what it does and HOW it does it. Plus the animations make it very clear. There are so many crap videos where people just say "now put your fingers here and here on the fretboard, and if the string bounces do this, else do this..."
Man, who ever is editing these videos together is doing a fantastic, top-level job. I need to watch these videos and whoever you are has made the educational task as pleasant as imaginable.
Return of the Native I suppose being someone’s apprentice is sort of like an internship, then? You work for them to get experience and maybe earn a little cash?
*You should've say "I would pay to be his apprentice" dude, is not a privilege to have you under tutelage it is a privilege to have someone like him as teacher.*
Are you from an orphanage, jail or on drugs buddy? Why are you humiliating the old man? Just keep your mouth shut and give thumbs down, why the bad language?
I think a lot of people fear adjusting the truss rod because they don't know what it does and they worry they'll make a bad situation worse. This video finally clears it up in a way any noob should understand.
as a noob, I'm fully aware of what the truss rod does, I mean it takes only a tiny bit of common sense to guess a metal rod inside a wooden neck would be for. My issue was "how much should I turn it?" I've turned it hard enough to hear a crunching sound, and that was pretty scary. This video is great because it shows how to approach it. I've read about truss rods and seen diagrams, but in the end they aren't very helpful at all.
I’m a grandfather. I bought my grandson a Les Paul a year ago...guess what we’re doing when he comes over this weekend? THANK YOU SO MUCH! Maybe I’ll get my Fender Strat back...maybe ;) Comprehensive, crystal clear, communicative, concise, conscientious, compelling, and complete, and all of those c’s earn an A+. First RUclips channel to which I’ve ever subscribed.
Dan Erlewine is an institution! This man worked on some of the most legendary guitars in the world and his contributions are unmatched! Dan should be give an honorary induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
@@TheChadPad Well, Grammys and other music shows recognize and award engineers and techs, but luthiers are often praised only by the artists who depend on them. But yes, there should be a way to honor all those who work hard in the shadows and make artists sound great.
I think Joe Meek, Jim Marshall & others have been recognised for their contributions to music etc..but l agree there's some talented ppl behind the scenes whove gone unnoticed.
I don't even own a guitar nor I play a guitar, yet I am here and watched the entire video and amazed listening to such a soothing instructions and I can feel his passion on guitar coming through. I wish he was my next door neighbor; I would go there everyday to just talk and help him on whatever he is upto. God bless
There’s a lot more to learn here, apart from the string’s action and rod adjustment. Some of them are: genuineness, benevolence, teaching and communication skills, simplifying and briefing the subject, and many more! Sir,...thanks a lot for your gracious, well prepared and absolutely professional video! Salute
The truss rod has always been the final frontier for me with doing guitar maintenance. 5 and a half minutes later upon finding this video, I know feel I have a pretty good grasp on the idea. I think I'm ready to start doing setups.
@@773Spair Oddly enough, I threw together a surface mounted floyd rose guitar build, with a nice licensed bridge, to learn on, and despite having the worst frets ever that came on the well used neck, with no ability to switch it out at the moment for lack of money, that stuff came fairly easy. I did learn the hard way, though. The knife edge got slightly worn by my bad attempt to mess with the action (I didn't get too fairly far thank God). Also, for intonation, I stick something under the bridge to jack it up, do my adjustments, then put it back. I find that far easier than loosening everything, adjusting, putting it back, checking, and doing that over and over.
Fantastic content. The way Dan delivers the tips ( simple , clear and concise) he makes novice people confident in making their own adjustments. I wish they had a shop near me so that I could give them my guitar for more in depth customization work.
I've been playing guitar / bass for 15 years now. I was always afraid to make adjustment to the truss rod, because I had a wrong idea on how it works apparently. Got a new bass yesterday which was not set up correctly and I was about to take it to a store to get it fixed. With this video I adjusted it myself in 5 minutes. Thank you!
THANK YOU. Out of the last ~100 vids on this, yours is the first to tell & show which bow direction tightness of the truss rod makes on the neck. Most just say right to tighten but never say witch bow direction that is. LOL. You rock in more ways than one! ❤️
When I took lessons back in the 80's and complained the action was too high.My instructor took my guitar to the tech who was in the shop. "He's gonna adjust your truss rod, he'll bring it right back and we'll get on with the lesson" I said I wanna see. "No, you mess with a truss rod you can break the neck of your axe man. ALWAYS bring it in for a truss adjusment." Now I wanna break his neck. I was always a hands on kinda guy, figured if I saw it being done, I could do it myself , no big deal.
This really helped a lot. I did some adjustments on my bass that I'd been afraid to adjust for years and it fixed the issues I wasn't even fully sure my bass had. Thank you for the simple and clear explanation of what to do and how it works.
I have done a lot of reading about adjusting guitar necks and still couldn't get it down. Thank you for this video I Now understand it totally. This was a Godsend. Thank you lots.
The best truss rod adjustment video on RUclips. Simple explanation, graphical information with a bit words of encouragement. The confidence level to set the truss rod is high right now. Thank you. 🙂
This is the greatest and most relaxed video ever. All that i want to know is here. I can`t say thank you enough . Video is not too short and not too long, just perfect. Thank you, god bless you.
Something I like to do is to first set the intonation at the 12th fret. Sometimes, I like also setting it at the 14th vs an open string. Then, if my 7th fret note is playing sharp compared to an open string, I'll know that the neck has too much bow. This helps me nail down the exact best setting for the rod.
One of the best video tutorials I've ever seen. Short, straight to the point, contains diagrams which make the matter extremely clear, and a clear, nice sounding voice.
I've been setting up my guitars for over 20 years now, and I've learned most of the trade secrets and specs for whatever guitar I'm playing. Saved myself a lot of money by doing it myself. I just purchased the correct tooling for setting up guitars, now all of mine are near perfect for me using manufacturer's specs. Thanks Dan for the info...
@@theofficialdiamondlou2418 No, I don't. But I do everything else. I have a special friend that does frets, haven't needed him in years. I have a sort of light touch so not a lot of fret wear. Then again I don't hold on to them for long periods of time except for the ones I have now and they're keepers.
Thanks for sharing, that was really educational. I've had to make a few truss rod adjustments on my acoustic guitar that requires an allen key right by the sound hole.
I know the following story does not go with this video but worth telling a luthier as you . I have a Martin D-35, 1970 year. It has been played a lot. A few years back I needed to have some work done that I did not know how to do. There were a couple of braces inside that were loose. The neck was bowed and I hate strings a mile from the frets. The tuners needed to be replaced. I took it to an authorized Martin Luthier in my town, Columbia, South Carolina. He kept my guitar for over 6 months. That did not bother me a lot but after awhile I began to question if he was even working on my guitar. I went by his shop unannounced and he was still not finished. He said he would finish it by the next two weeks. He called mw and told me to come by and pick it up. It looked pretty good. The bow was out of the neck, new tuners, a couple of new frets and of course new strings. I picked it up and played it for a moment. I was better but still a little high on the tenth fret. I told him that the strings still needed to be lowered. He took it back, and a few minutes come back and said that was about a low as they would go. It was ok but not like it was new. He charged me $1,300 for the work. I was a little shocked but being stupid as I was, did not question it. I got home and began playing it and the more I played the more pissed off I became. After a few days, I called his shop and he had moved out of town somewhere in North Carolina. I wrote a letter to Martin and of course, NO reply. After doing some research of my own and watching video's like yours, I figured out just what the problem was. The neck needed to be re-set to get the action back where is was supposed to be. The bridge bone was cut so low the strings could not be lowered without a neck re-set. I don't play the guitar anymore as it really makes me angry as to what happened to me and a great guitar. I hope one day that SOB gets what is coming to him.
Come on man! You can’t let this little lesson keep you from playing guitar! Everyone who can’t play is jealous, playing guitar is a source of joy! Nothing will help put this bad experience behind you like playing the guitar!
I hope you just mean that you don’t play THAT guitar anymore. That is a bad deal, I feel that you need a great luthier to perform a neck reset on a guitar like that. The amount he charged you is outrageous and should have included a neck reset at that price. Sorry to hear that.
@@alphagt62 At one time, I was a pretty good player. But losing interest has taken most of my talent from me. Maybe one day I will get back into it or at least have the guitar repair by someone that cares.
Thanks sir, can't thank you enough for this amazing lesson on guitar truss rods, been looking for a tutorial to really understand how trus rods work and the only one that really dig into the concept was yours, thanks a million
Brilliant, thanks Dan. I just took a bit of relief out of my 2007 Tele neck. I used a 3/16" hex key and it worked really well. I eased the neck back a bit then tightened the rod (so as not to compress the wood too much) as mentioned it your "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great" book.
The significance to that silly expression is that it sound wrong to say it backwards. Lefty tighty righty loosey or righty loosey lefty tighty just don’t sound ...right. It works pretty well for noobies until they run across some left handed threads for the first time. I always preferred clockwise talk but I’ve seen a lot of people stop for a second and repeat that little saying.
Nooz Zoo - Good point, but it can be a quick and helpful reminder since it's such a popular and easy phrase to remember. It works as long as you think of the direction of the rotation as starting from the top (12 o'clock) of the nut or bolt, with regard to your perspective of it. But yea, I think most people (at least I do) just intuitively imagine "righty" as being clockwise and "lefty" being counterclockwise, since that's the direction the clock hands move when at the starting position (12 o'clock, or 0 o'clock).
The one thing I've noticed, over the years, is that Gibson truss rods are really sensitive. Even 1/16 of a turn can make a world of difference, hence the .012 feeler gauge used at around the 5th, 6th or 7th frets for proper neck relieve. I have one guitar that I got down to .010 on the neck relief and it plays fine with no buzz.
A few years ago I went to my local library and took out every book I could find on electric guitar repair, in doing so, I learned how to do all my own adjustments and repairs, probably saved me hundreds on repairs over the years:-)
Great video! One question: should I do this while the guitar is in tune, in tuning I play in, or should I loosen the strings first? Truss rod is accessible from the headstock in my case. Thanks in advance!
Great video! I am going to share this with a lot of people. Most people I do work for are the same - afraid to try adjusting the truss rod or are simply confused about the way it works. Also, those strings on that sg! Oof, my fingers feel gross just thinking about playing that 🤣
@stevecollins I was thinking the same thing! I picked up an Epi SG cheap with similar strings a while back and I was thinking whether I get my shots before or after removing them!
I've been tinkering on guitar for 20ish years and I've always been terrified to touch my truss rods but Dan made it easy to understand and my guitars are playing great now. Thank you!
I've been scared to adjust my truss rod for ages. Knowledge banishes fear, and thanks to this tutorial I just gave it a try. 80% of my fret buzz is gone, and my strings feel around 5 times lighter. I will never play with bad action again. Thank you so much!
Thanks Dan, Its amazing how many truss rod videos do NOT give clear visuals of direction to tighten, yours does! My 72 Les Paul started backbowing and this got me up and running again!
Such a great piece of instruction from this gently spoken man. I am fed up of watching videos with the "presenter" shouting "hey, what's up dudes" in a loud voice or something similar. this video gave me the confidence to check my guitars out in the morning, thank you.
That's probably because the truss rod nut was frozen. it happens to Fender guitars quite often because they don't have a truss rod cover. and the truss rod nut is exposed to the elements. especially guitars that sit in a guitar stand for long periods of time. because dust, dirt, lint, and moisture that are in the air. can settle down into the hole that the truss rod nut resides in. causing the nut to basically rust stuck on the truss rod. being as I build and repair guitars I have to warn customers. that there's a chance this could happen whenever a truss rod adjustment is required. and something I've been doing for some time is cutting a piece of foam rubber so it fits nicely into the adjusting hole. it's been a huge gripe I've have had with Fender for a long time. but finally after all these year's Fender has done something about this issue. now they make a plastic plug that fits in the truss rod hole. this issue happens to other guitars also but not near as much. it mostly depends on their environment the exposure they have and their age.
I tend to check intonation and neck bow anytime I change the kind of strings I'm using. Recently took off the D'Addario Lights on my new acoustic and went to extra lights, hoping to get lower playing effort and lower action for more accurate playing. Since XL's are thinner than Lights, I knew they would exert less force...that is, less upward pull, on the neck. Lighter strings helped lower my action a little, but it was still too high for my preference. So I did exactly what Dan said....I used one of the strings to check the amount of bow on my neck. I put on a capo at fret #1, and fretted the fat E string at the base of the neck, where it joins the body of the guitar. This gives you a straight line from the 1st fret to about the 14th fret (depending on the guitar). If you then check the middle of that string, you'll see some distance between mid-string and the frets. This shows how much up-bow you have to work with. I had probably 1/16th". That was good, since I knew I could then adjust the truss rod a bit. In my case I wanted the neck to have lower action and less upbow. So I tightened my truss rod a bump or two at a time. This takes up-bow out of the neck, because the truss rod counteracts string pull. My action got way better. Nice and low. There's still a little bow, but VERY little. But how do you know if you have tightened the truss rod too much? When it's too tight, the bow goes out of the neck, and the strings eventually will rattle on the mid-neck frets. That's when you've gone too low. So back off some of the truss rod tension at that point until the rattle just goes away. That's as low as your action can get unless you want to do some lowering adjustments to your saddles or sand the bottom of your saddle bone.
Okay, this has me doubting the sanity of human kind: why on earth would one give that video a thumb down????? We have an experienced guitar-technician giving solid advice about an hugely important issue for guitarplayers. With patience and not a yota of patronising attitude. Even if you're not into his laidback american attititude or the fingerpicking-folk-guitar-background-music and prefer hectic cuts and sound effects - does that really make this a thumb down video? Obviously there are 43 keyboard-warriors with no life at all......
It's just that they're sooo cool wallowing in their disenchanted stated of suffering for their art, they aren't allowed to like anything. They have to "keep it real" man.........
Many thanks! I bought a darling little Ibanez short-scale bass. It didn't start having some razzle until three or four days after it arrived. Truth be told I was pretty nervous about attempting a truss rod adjustment on my own. But with the help and encouragement of your video I got the job done. I actually spent about 12 hours feeling depressed when the problem made itself known; buyer's remorse set in like a plague. This was an online purchase and I dreaded the process of returning the instrument via FedEx more than I feared destroying my new bass with the Allen wrench. (Most of the razzle came from fretting the D and G strings at the first two frets. A quarter turn at a time, retuning after each adjustment and it plays perfectly now.) Thank you again!
Thanks for the explanation, after watching this I've adjusted the truss rod on my Les Paul and it's been a massive improvement on playability and sound.
After watching this video, I pulled my old Taylor guitar out of storage where it has sat for 20+ years due to a high action that made it uncomfortable to play. Within 20 minutes, I had the action right where I wanted it, and now I feel like I just got a new guitar for Christmas. Thank you!
I'm adjusting the truss now I'm not afraid of it just don't want to mess up the neck. Thank you for the information and God bless you for your help and support.
I gotta tell you this is probably the best how-to video I've ever seen. I wish they were all this easy to follow and to the point. Plus, it reminded me how much I love this instrument. Thank you.
Thank you grandpa dan! I was finally able to adjust to a low action! For a year of owning my guitar my fingers were tormented by the high action and I was really scared of the chance of breaking my trust rod, this vid gave me the courage to just go for it. God I'm so thankful!
Honestly an incredible explanation of truss rods. Don't know why it alluded me so much, but this helped me understand how to properly adjust my guitars. Thanks!
![Lethal Company Music Video 🎵 "Follow The Orders" [VERSION A]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QeooZB4Z7RA/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally! A video that not only shows WHAT a truss rod does, but HOW it does it. Thanks Dan!
Didn't even know a truss adjustment existed until today!
Now I just have to figure out WHEN a truss rod does it!
This video is the model for how a tutorial should be done - no infuriating intro, no hype, just really helpful, to the point information delivered by a friend. Thank you!
Dan is the grandpa every guitarist dreams of.
I’ve already adopted him as one of mine.
That’s for sure 👍
Actually I would like Eric Clapton as my grandpa now he is old enough :)
Literally came down to the comments to say this, he seems like the kind of patient, knowledgeable and loving grandpa any kid would want to have whether they play guitar or not
He is the dream grand pappy
This is the best truss rod video I’ve ever seen. Not only is it so simple and well explained, but I’ve learned so much in these 5 minutes that I’ve been searching for for a very long time. The visuals (both pictures and him showing us) were absolutely perfect. Thank you so much.
Damn, what videos have you been seeing? This isn't a bad video but there are plenty of better videos out there
@@andrepereira744 No I agree, it's completely cleared things up for me too. I guess I've just been watching the wrong videos but this is one of the first videos I've seen that describes what it does and HOW it does it. Plus the animations make it very clear. There are so many crap videos where people just say "now put your fingers here and here on the fretboard, and if the string bounces do this, else do this..."
This video is garbage and doesn’t help at all
Man, who ever is editing these videos together is doing a fantastic, top-level job. I need to watch these videos and whoever you are has made the educational task as pleasant as imaginable.
Dan’s knowledge is pure gold. Man, I’d be his apprentice for free.
I thought the same thing. 🍻🐐
Don’t you have to pay to be under someone’s teachings?
Return of the Native
I suppose being someone’s apprentice is sort of like an internship, then? You work for them to get experience and maybe earn a little cash?
*You should've say "I would pay to be his apprentice" dude, is not a privilege to have you under tutelage it is a privilege to have someone like him as teacher.*
My dad just removed the truss rod from my guitar so we don’t have to worry about it
I feel like I can really truss him.
Underrated comment.
that's exactly how i felt listening to him
Are you from an orphanage, jail or on drugs buddy?
Why are you humiliating the old man?
Just keep your mouth shut and give thumbs down, why the bad language?
Idk. I've been down that rod before and i've been let down.
Shashank Sherkar
Dude what are you talking about
I think a lot of people fear adjusting the truss rod because they don't know what it does and they worry they'll make a bad situation worse. This video finally clears it up in a way any noob should understand.
as a noob, I'm fully aware of what the truss rod does, I mean it takes only a tiny bit of common sense to guess a metal rod inside a wooden neck would be for. My issue was "how much should I turn it?" I've turned it hard enough to hear a crunching sound, and that was pretty scary. This video is great because it shows how to approach it. I've read about truss rods and seen diagrams, but in the end they aren't very helpful at all.
Years and years of books talking about warped necks and whatnot have scared many a guitarist.
Agreed, well said H.G.
Same and I’ve been playing for a while , but my homie from hs that plays guitar told me it’s essential af so I wouldn’t rely on a tech all the time
Dan is a living treasure to the guitar world! Beautifully explained!
Been playing for 51 years. VERY good and informative instructions for beginner guitar techs!
I feel like I wanna learn more because of how calm he looks and talks.
Dan Erlewine - a National Treasure
I’m a grandfather. I bought my grandson a Les Paul a year ago...guess what we’re doing when he comes over this weekend? THANK YOU SO MUCH! Maybe I’ll get my Fender Strat back...maybe ;) Comprehensive, crystal clear, communicative, concise, conscientious, compelling, and complete, and all of those c’s earn an A+. First RUclips channel to which I’ve ever subscribed.
Dan Erlewine is an institution! This man worked on some of the most legendary guitars in the world and his contributions are unmatched! Dan should be give an honorary induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
I feel that there should be a hall of fame for audio engineers, technicians, and luthiers, the men behind the famous musicians and supported them
@@TheChadPad Well, Grammys and other music shows recognize and award engineers and techs, but luthiers are often praised only by the artists who depend on them. But yes, there should be a way to honor all those who work hard in the shadows and make artists sound great.
I think Joe Meek, Jim Marshall & others have been recognised for their contributions to music etc..but l agree there's some talented ppl behind the scenes whove gone unnoticed.
I don't even own a guitar nor I play a guitar, yet I am here and watched the entire video and amazed listening to such a soothing instructions and I can feel his passion on guitar coming through. I wish he was my next door neighbor; I would go there everyday to just talk and help him on whatever he is upto. God bless
started following Dan in 1985-86. I retired from lutherie work 11 years ago and he is still going....super star
There’s a lot more to learn here, apart from the string’s action and rod adjustment.
Some of them are: genuineness, benevolence, teaching and communication skills, simplifying and briefing the subject, and many more!
Sir,...thanks a lot for your gracious, well prepared and absolutely professional video!
Salute
The truss rod has always been the final frontier for me with doing guitar maintenance. 5 and a half minutes later upon finding this video, I know feel I have a pretty good grasp on the idea. I think I'm ready to start doing setups.
It wasn't adjusting the action and intonation of a Floyd Rose?
@@773Spair Oddly enough, I threw together a surface mounted floyd rose guitar build, with a nice licensed bridge, to learn on, and despite having the worst frets ever that came on the well used neck, with no ability to switch it out at the moment for lack of money, that stuff came fairly easy. I did learn the hard way, though. The knife edge got slightly worn by my bad attempt to mess with the action (I didn't get too fairly far thank God). Also, for intonation, I stick something under the bridge to jack it up, do my adjustments, then put it back. I find that far easier than loosening everything, adjusting, putting it back, checking, and doing that over and over.
@@Aaron-zh4kj Thanks for letting me know. I'm happy to read they weren't too difficult for you.
Dear Dan, thank you for this, two years on I still come back here every time I adjust a truss rod.
Fantastic content. The way Dan delivers the tips ( simple , clear and concise) he makes novice people confident in making their own adjustments. I wish they had a shop near me so that I could give them my guitar for more in depth customization work.
I've been playing guitar / bass for 15 years now. I was always afraid to make adjustment to the truss rod, because I had a wrong idea on how it works apparently. Got a new bass yesterday which was not set up correctly and I was about to take it to a store to get it fixed. With this video I adjusted it myself in 5 minutes. Thank you!
I like the way he talks. It’s kinda relaxing 🙂👍🏻
ASMR Guitar
He likes the way you talk, mmmm hhhmmm.
I want to take this moment to thank you Dan for sharing your insights and wisdom regarding guitar care and maintenance.
Hats of to you Dan !! :))
You're a champ man...taking the time to impart your wisdom and confidence is the gesture of a "legend" !!!
THANK YOU. Out of the last ~100 vids on this, yours is the first to tell & show which bow direction tightness of the truss rod makes on the neck. Most just say right to tighten but never say witch bow direction that is. LOL. You rock in more ways than one! ❤️
Thanks a lot! Having had no guitar teacher ever, I love it when such kind people share their knowledge! 😃
When I took lessons back in the 80's and complained the action was too high.My instructor took my guitar to the tech who was in the shop. "He's gonna adjust your truss rod, he'll bring it right back and we'll get on with the lesson" I said I wanna see. "No, you mess with a truss rod you can break the neck of your axe man. ALWAYS bring it in for a truss adjusment." Now I wanna break his neck. I was always a hands on kinda guy, figured if I saw it being done, I could do it myself , no big deal.
This really helped a lot. I did some adjustments on my bass that I'd been afraid to adjust for years and it fixed the issues I wasn't even fully sure my bass had. Thank you for the simple and clear explanation of what to do and how it works.
I have done a lot of reading about adjusting guitar necks and still couldn't get it down. Thank you for this video I Now understand it totally. This was a Godsend. Thank you lots.
The best truss rod adjustment video on RUclips.
Simple explanation, graphical information with a bit words of encouragement.
The confidence level to set the truss rod is high right now. Thank you. 🙂
This is the greatest and most relaxed video ever. All that i want to know is here. I can`t say thank you enough .
Video is not too short and not too long, just perfect.
Thank you, god bless you.
Literally the best educational video about truss rod I’ve ever seen. Simple and precise.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. Thanks, Dan, for displaying all your great knowledge and experience on guitar repair for the rest of us to learn.
This is the clearest, most concise guide I've been able to find for this. Thank you so much, now I can fix my bass tonight!
Dan deserves top luthier of the 20th AND 21st century award. A fine gentleman for sharing his knowledge
Even though I know this already I just like watching Dan
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Totally. I've been setting up my own guitars for 20 years. But I see Dan in my feed it's an automatic click.
The strings on that SG are also from 1960!
No kidding, hahaha
Absolutely disgraceful.
I was scanning the comments for that statement!
I use a can of Tony Iommi Vintage Rust Spray on new strings and they sound great.
They are the original strings
Something I like to do is to first set the intonation at the 12th fret. Sometimes, I like also setting it at the 14th vs an open string. Then, if my 7th fret note is playing sharp compared to an open string, I'll know that the neck has too much bow. This helps me nail down the exact best setting for the rod.
One of the best video tutorials I've ever seen. Short, straight to the point, contains diagrams which make the matter extremely clear, and a clear, nice sounding voice.
Finally I have found that video that explains this so clearly. You have explained it clearly and concisely. Thank you, Stew.
I've been setting up my guitars for over 20 years now, and I've learned most of the trade secrets and specs for whatever guitar I'm playing. Saved myself a lot of money by doing it myself. I just purchased the correct tooling for setting up guitars, now all of mine are near perfect for me using manufacturer's specs. Thanks Dan for the info...
Paul V. Gentile do you do your own frets ?
@@theofficialdiamondlou2418 No, I don't. But I do everything else. I have a special friend that does frets, haven't needed him in years. I have a sort of light touch so not a lot of fret wear. Then again I don't hold on to them for long periods of time except for the ones I have now and they're keepers.
Paul V. Gentile cool , appreciate it.
✌️
@@theofficialdiamondlou2418 You're welcome, yeah I know , too much info at one time, sorry for the book.
>StewMac uploads video without Dan
>Tons of dislikes
>StewMac uploads video with Dan
>Zero dislikes
...Unless you buy one of the many books he has written over the last three or so decades
If the guitar has a sever up bow should the strings be down tuned or loosened before attempting to adjust the truss rod?
@@nicktravelstead515 that makes sense to me
Who are you quoting?
Thanks for sharing, that was really educational. I've had to make a few truss rod adjustments on my acoustic guitar that requires an allen key right by the sound hole.
i am looking at the exact same thing right now, but was afraid to mess with it until i've researched a bit
/Wowshet
This is by far the best and number one video I've seen for explaining the truss rod and how it works. The old boys do it the best.
this is one of the cleanest, clearest, most concise channels ive found for working on any kinda guitar stuff. sique
I know the following story does not go with this video but worth telling a luthier as you . I have a Martin D-35, 1970 year. It has been played a lot. A few years back I needed to have some work done that I did not know how to do. There were a couple of braces inside that were loose. The neck was bowed and I hate strings a mile from the frets. The tuners needed to be replaced. I took it to an authorized Martin Luthier in my town, Columbia, South Carolina. He kept my guitar for over 6 months. That did not bother me a lot but after awhile I began to question if he was even working on my guitar. I went by his shop unannounced and he was still not finished. He said he would finish it by the next two weeks. He called mw and told me to come by and pick it up. It looked pretty good. The bow was out of the neck, new tuners, a couple of new frets and of course new strings. I picked it up and played it for a moment. I was better but still a little high on the tenth fret. I told him that the strings still needed to be lowered. He took it back, and a few minutes come back and said that was about a low as they would go. It was ok but not like it was new. He charged me $1,300 for the work. I was a little shocked but being stupid as I was, did not question it. I got home and began playing it and the more I played the more pissed off I became. After a few days, I called his shop and he had moved out of town somewhere in North Carolina. I wrote a letter to Martin and of course, NO reply. After doing some research of my own and watching video's like yours, I figured out just what the problem was. The neck needed to be re-set to get the action back where is was supposed to be. The bridge bone was cut so low the strings could not be lowered without a neck re-set. I don't play the guitar anymore as it really makes me angry as to what happened to me and a great guitar. I hope one day that SOB gets what is coming to him.
Come on man! You can’t let this little lesson keep you from playing guitar! Everyone who can’t play is jealous, playing guitar is a source of joy! Nothing will help put this bad experience behind you like playing the guitar!
I hope you just mean that you don’t play THAT guitar anymore. That is a bad deal, I feel that you need a great luthier to perform a neck reset on a guitar like that. The amount he charged you is outrageous and should have included a neck reset at that price. Sorry to hear that.
@@braderrick I should have held his feet to the fire. Running out to town was not good either. Also, Martin could at lease responded to my letter.
@@alphagt62 At one time, I was a pretty good player. But losing interest has taken most of my talent from me. Maybe one day I will get back into it or at least have the guitar repair by someone that cares.
There are more bad ones than good ones. That comes from experience as well.
Sounds like an advice from my father. Love u, sir.
Thanks sir, can't thank you enough for this amazing lesson on guitar truss rods, been looking for a tutorial to really understand how trus rods work and the only one that really dig into the concept was yours, thanks a million
Lots of bad truss rod videos out there. This is one of the best ones. Concise and what you need to know with no rambling.
What a nice guy his voice is so peaceful and worry free
Great video!!! Saved me a whole Benjamin while increasing my guitar mechanics comprehension!
If you can use your guitar as a bow and arrow, you may need a truss rod adjustment.
Wait a minute. You mean that's not what dad's guitar is for?
If your guitar neck looks like yer hound dog's legs....you might need a truss rod adjustment.
Brilliant, thanks Dan. I just took a bit of relief out of my 2007 Tele neck. I used a 3/16" hex key and it worked really well. I eased the neck back a bit then tightened the rod (so as not to compress the wood too much) as mentioned it your "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great" book.
This is the 7 video on truss rods I have watched. He was the most informational and clear. Thank you
This gentleman is a legend, I had met him once in Texas when I had brought my Les Paul in to have my truss rod replaced.
This was the video I've needed to see for years. Thank you!
This video in 2 words: "Righty tighty". It works for me
The significance to that silly expression is that it sound wrong to say it backwards. Lefty tighty righty loosey or righty loosey lefty tighty just don’t sound ...right. It works pretty well for noobies until they run across some left handed threads for the first time. I always preferred clockwise talk but I’ve seen a lot of people stop for a second and repeat that little saying.
Nooz Zoo - Good point, but it can be a quick and helpful reminder since it's such a popular and easy phrase to remember. It works as long as you think of the direction of the rotation as starting from the top (12 o'clock) of the nut or bolt, with regard to your perspective of it. But yea, I think most people (at least I do) just intuitively imagine "righty" as being clockwise and "lefty" being counterclockwise, since that's the direction the clock hands move when at the starting position (12 o'clock, or 0 o'clock).
Nooz Zoo - yea, whatever helps you remember is what's best. 👍
The one thing I've noticed, over the years, is that Gibson truss rods are really sensitive. Even 1/16 of a turn can make a world of difference, hence the .012 feeler gauge used at around the 5th, 6th or 7th frets for proper neck relieve. I have one guitar that I got down to .010 on the neck relief and it plays fine with no buzz.
There is some ASMR quality to his voice to the point where I'm convinced he could hypnotize a room full of people.
I like the magic marker tip. Half turn to the left, fret buzz solved. Thank you so much Dan
This is an excellent video. Great explanation of the truss rod. Marking the nut with a sharpie is a great idea.
I felt that when he said "don't be afraid to adjust your own truss rod".
I didn’t know I’d need this, but I did. You got yourself a subscriber.
Truss rod access at the heel is the bane of my existence. You there's a problem when Dan says "that's not easy to get to".
A few years ago I went to my local library and took out every book I could find on electric guitar repair, in doing so, I learned how to do all my own adjustments and repairs, probably saved me hundreds on repairs over the years:-)
Great video!
One question: should I do this while the guitar is in tune, in tuning I play in, or should I loosen the strings first? Truss rod is accessible from the headstock in my case.
Thanks in advance!
Great video! I am going to share this with a lot of people. Most people I do work for are the same - afraid to try adjusting the truss rod or are simply confused about the way it works.
Also, those strings on that sg! Oof, my fingers feel gross just thinking about playing that 🤣
@stevecollins I was thinking the same thing! I picked up an Epi SG cheap with similar strings a while back and I was thinking whether I get my shots before or after removing them!
I'm Peter. Now you know me, so send me that tool this Christmas plz
The experience people like you have is priceless.
I've been tinkering on guitar for 20ish years and I've always been terrified to touch my truss rods but Dan made it easy to understand and my guitars are playing great now. Thank you!
That's awesome! So glad it was helpful.
I fear adjusting my truss rod for the same reason l fear changing a string...
I'm a drummer. 😬
GainesMediaInc 😂😂
GainesMediaInc. You can tell. 😆
I can help you with your rod ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
drummer here. can confirm. i take my guitars to a professional to have the truss rod adjusted and strings changed :P
Also, mixed company.
This should be the only authorized internet video on truss rods. All the others are just painful ramblings of confusing garbage.
How do you know if a neck has a single or double action rod?
I think if you search up the specifications of your guitar model, it'll tell you.
I've been scared to adjust my truss rod for ages. Knowledge banishes fear, and thanks to this tutorial I just gave it a try. 80% of my fret buzz is gone, and my strings feel around 5 times lighter. I will never play with bad action again. Thank you so much!
That's great news! We're glad we could help.
I really enjoyed your method of teaching. Relaxed, down to earth, and friendly. Bravo, and please keep it up!
I'd buy a guitar from this man. Back when he started playing, everything only cost a nickel.
Great video. Just what I was looking for. A++++
'Everybody i know gets one for Christmas' :D
Thanks Dan, Its amazing how many truss rod videos do NOT give clear visuals of direction to tighten, yours does!
My 72 Les Paul started backbowing and this got me up and running again!
Forget all other truss rod vids - this one's the best
Dan seems like a “truss” worthy guy!
😂
👏👏
He seems like a great grandpa, just have a nice chitchat with him with a cup of coffee....
"Come home to the impossible flavor of your own completion. Come home
to Simple Rick's."
I watch a lot of YT videos and Dan is absolutely one of the best teachers anywhere.
Such a great piece of instruction from this gently spoken man. I am fed up of watching videos with the "presenter" shouting "hey, what's up dudes" in a loud voice or something similar. this video gave me the confidence to check my guitars out in the morning, thank you.
Lol for real. These RUclipsrs are like obnoxious car salesman sometimes.
Just one warning - with the old (60's) Framus it is easy to break/strip the rod. Guess how I know.
damn lol
That's probably because the truss rod nut was frozen. it happens to Fender guitars quite often because they don't have a truss rod cover. and the truss rod nut is exposed to the elements. especially guitars that sit in a guitar stand for long periods of time. because dust, dirt, lint, and moisture that are in the air. can settle down into the hole that the truss rod nut resides in. causing the nut to basically rust stuck on the truss rod. being as I build and repair guitars I have to warn customers. that there's a chance this could happen whenever a truss rod adjustment is required. and something I've been doing for some time is cutting a piece of foam rubber so it fits nicely into the adjusting hole. it's been a huge gripe I've have had with Fender for a long time. but finally after all these year's Fender has done something about this issue. now they make a plastic plug that fits in the truss rod hole. this issue happens to other guitars also but not near as much. it mostly depends on their environment the exposure they have and their age.
See I had a guitar teacher that when he taught me how to set up my guitar he told me not fear the truss rod
I tend to check intonation and neck bow anytime I change the kind of strings I'm using. Recently took off the D'Addario Lights on my new acoustic and went to extra lights, hoping to get lower playing effort and lower action for more accurate playing.
Since XL's are thinner than Lights, I knew they would exert less force...that is, less upward pull, on the neck. Lighter strings helped lower my action a little, but it was still too high for my preference. So I did exactly what Dan said....I used one of the strings to check the amount of bow on my neck. I put on a capo at fret #1, and fretted the fat E string at the base of the neck, where it joins the body of the guitar. This gives you a straight line from the 1st fret to about the 14th fret (depending on the guitar).
If you then check the middle of that string, you'll see some distance between mid-string and the frets. This shows how much up-bow you have to work with. I had probably 1/16th". That was good, since I knew I could then adjust the truss rod a bit.
In my case I wanted the neck to have lower action and less upbow. So I tightened my truss rod a bump or two at a time. This takes up-bow out of the neck, because the truss rod counteracts string pull. My action got way better. Nice and low. There's still a little bow, but VERY little.
But how do you know if you have tightened the truss rod too much? When it's too tight, the bow goes out of the neck, and the strings eventually will rattle on the mid-neck frets. That's when you've gone too low. So back off some of the truss rod tension at that point until the rattle just goes away. That's as low as your action can get unless you want to do some lowering adjustments to your saddles or sand the bottom of your saddle bone.
Okay, this has me doubting the sanity of human kind: why on earth would one give that video a thumb down?????
We have an experienced guitar-technician giving solid advice about an hugely important issue for guitarplayers. With patience and not a yota of patronising attitude.
Even if you're not into his laidback american attititude or the fingerpicking-folk-guitar-background-music and prefer hectic cuts and sound effects - does that really make this a thumb down video?
Obviously there are 43 keyboard-warriors with no life at all......
It's just that they're sooo cool wallowing in their disenchanted stated of suffering for their art, they aren't allowed to like anything. They have to "keep it real" man.........
Its the internet. Some videos seem like they are perfect with no possible reason to dislike, but somehow they still get dislikes.
Haha... I was asking myself the exact same question. Then I came across yours. (spooky) 😮
It’s the other guitar RUclips creators who will never have Dans charm and know it
Just some people with truss' issues, you know...
Wow! Very cool 😎!
I have work to do on a guitar neck. Finally, I can straighten her out!
Thank you, Sir!
I'm new to the channel. Congratulations on the highly informative content; straight to the point, no long introductions and no frills.
For a long time I was wondering why my Taylor was so difficult to play. I just adjusted the rod and now my action is so smooth. Thank you!!
By far the most helpful and simple tutorial I have seen. I think I feel comfortable to finally fix my guitar and get rid of that string buzz.
Awesome, Aidan! Glad to hear it. 👍
Many thanks! I bought a darling little Ibanez short-scale bass. It didn't start having some razzle until three or four days after it arrived. Truth be told I was pretty nervous about attempting a truss rod adjustment on my own. But with the help and encouragement of your video I got the job done. I actually spent about 12 hours feeling depressed when the problem made itself known; buyer's remorse set in like a plague. This was an online purchase and I dreaded the process of returning the instrument via FedEx more than I feared destroying my new bass with the Allen wrench. (Most of the razzle came from fretting the D and G strings at the first two frets. A quarter turn at a time, retuning after each adjustment and it plays perfectly now.) Thank you again!
Thanks for the explanation, after watching this I've adjusted the truss rod on my Les Paul and it's been a massive improvement on playability and sound.
After watching this video, I pulled my old Taylor guitar out of storage where it has sat for 20+ years due to a high action that made it uncomfortable to play. Within 20 minutes, I had the action right where I wanted it, and now I feel like I just got a new guitar for Christmas. Thank you!
This man's energy is so soothing, would love to jam with him
I'm adjusting the truss now I'm not afraid of it just don't want to mess up the neck. Thank you for the information and God bless you for your help and support.
I gotta tell you this is probably the best how-to video I've ever seen. I wish they were all this easy to follow and to the point. Plus, it reminded me how much I love this instrument. Thank you.
This is by far the best YT channel for all guitar tech related issues. 🙌🏼
Thank you grandpa dan! I was finally able to adjust to a low action! For a year of owning my guitar my fingers were tormented by the high action and I was really scared of the chance of breaking my trust rod, this vid gave me the courage to just go for it. God I'm so thankful!
Honestly an incredible explanation of truss rods. Don't know why it alluded me so much, but this helped me understand how to properly adjust my guitars. Thanks!