Zen & The Art Of Guitar Maintenance #7 - "Learn how to adjust your vintage Fender style truss rod!"
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2024
- On this episode I’ll teach you how to adjust a vintage Fender style truss rod that requires the strings to be loosened and the neck lifted off its’ pocket.
This of all guitar set-up tasks is the one that a lot of people are for some reason scared to do. Rest assured, after watching this video, taking your time, following these instructions - you will learn how to do it - and if you were scared of doing it before, you won't be anymore!
This is the episode 7 in our series "Zen & The Art Of Guitar Maintenance", dedicated to teach you detailed techniques how to make the most out of your instrument. Remember - a well cared for guitar will inspire you to play more... and playing more equals at becoming a better player!
Despite the fact that I'm using on these videos instruments from a variety of brands for demonstration purposes, I'm not affiliated with any of them... ... except my own brand Ruokangas, of course.
Thank you Harri Koski / Mad Professor Amplification for borrowing this guitar to us!
ruokangas.com 
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This is the BEST video on the subject. Thank you for taking the time to systematically explain all the steps and address all the question marks.
Thank you! 🙏 Feel free to share to others who might find the video helpful! 🙂
I love how peaceful you are, it makes learning about my instrument less stressful! Thank you very much- ozzy
Excellent video. I admire your advice on being in the right state mind before attempting this kind of adjustment. As a younger man, I learnt the hard way that impatience is the enemy when it comes to any work on a guitar!
Thank you Sam! 🙏
Excellent video! I adjusted my truss rod using your technique and after getting it too tight the first time, I backed it off a bit and now it’s just about perfect. It’s easy to do once you have done it.
Thank you! Happy to hear the video was helpful!
I appreciate your style. I have a partscaster with a Warmoth neck that has the old style heel adjustment, that got kind of buzzy. Looking forward to making it better with your super chill instructions. Thanks!
Thank you, happy to hear the video was helpful!
Great video - thanks. Just adjusted my new Strat with your advice and it worked perfectly.
Thank you, happy to hear you got your new Strat adjusted to great shape!
Thank you for posting GREAT video and extremely helpful. Merci.
Thank you! 😊
Thanks for making this calm and to-the-point video, without bling and pop-ups and drama! I was just about to remove the pickguard on my Tele to see if I could access the rod when I stumbled across your video. Definitely going with your method instead. 🌸👍
Thank you Daniel! 🙏
Best video on the subject, thanks! I'm amazed Fender is still making guitars that way since it's just obtrusive and has no relationship with the sound.
Thank you! 👍
Thank you, this video helped me to adjust truss rod on my custom shop strat 💥
I like the Zen feel to this video!
Thank you! 🙏
Excellent video man! Thanks!
🙏
Thank you for putting this video up.
I have a vintage 62 reissue strat. This was very explanatory. Kind regards
🙏
Great video, thank you
Thank You for the advise and getting me mentally ready too.
nice video thanks for making it for us!
Excellent!
Well done.
Thanks for the great and clear explanation.!
🙏
Fantastic video.
🙏
Ok, you're the last truss rod adjustment video I'm going to watch before I give it a go on my 1986 '62 reissue Strat..wish me luck.
Thank you... and good luck for the job!!!
@@ruokangas Thanks..your video/tips were great...everything went smoothly and the guitar feels and plays a lot better now.
@@williamhalstead3488 Thank you!! Happy to hear! :)
Thanks much…excellent video
thank you~~~detail to let me learnt~~
Thanks for sharing
Fantastic work. Not sure if you planned it I would love to see a video on adjusting string height! Cheers from Brazil.
Thank you! I hope to be able to continue this series later this year - adjusting string height is among the next on my to-do list.
The suggestions here are great for sure. //If you want a little measuring trick I use (rather than going by feel, which is good as well no doubt), you may look into buying a quilting ruler. My girlfriend has one, as she knits. Her's is I believe 18" (I believer there are at least two lengths). This is the length of the Fender neck. Hold that where you like; I prefer between the low E and A strings. Then you can use a feeler gauge (or a business card) to measure the relief. This seemed more comfortable for me versus capo, fret the fret near the neck joint, and depth gauge. What works for some might not work for you. Take care and enjoy doing your setups, everyone.
Thank you! All tips are most welcome - haven't heard of using a quilting ruler before - have to try as my wife has those as well! :)
For the pick guards that don’t have pickups attached there is no need to remove the neck. For people who are sketchy about removing the neck. Remove the 5 small screws on the pick guard and it will slide under the loosened strings. There will be plenty of room for a tool. I have been doing it this way for 40+ years.
Thank you! Yes, this is of course possible whenever there's room for a tool after removing the pickguard. This doesn't work always (sometimes not enough room for a tool), but with many of them it does, indeed. :)
Great video. Very thorough. My Fender Road Worn strat has one of these necks. The last time I took the pick guard off with the pickups to adjust it. This should help a lot.
Sometimes there is indeed enough room to adjust by removing the pickguard, but often you'd still need to lift the neck up to expose the adjusting nut properly.
@@ruokangas I tried your method last night and it was a lot easier. I greatly appreciate your insight.
@@pellelindbergh7483 Thank you! Glad to hear!
Nice.
Thanx
5:00 Wow you sure that screwdriver is long enough..😂 A sure way to slide off the screw and ding the body.
Since many of the people watching this video are beginners, it seems that a simpler expression is needed. Wouldn't straight and bow be easier to understand than tight and loose(5:50)? Does Tight stretch the neck or bend it?
Thanks for the feedback! The terms can be confusing, indeed. The tighter (clockwise) you turn the adjusting nut, the more straight (or up-bowed if you tighter the nut way too much) the neck becomes. And in the same way, when loosening (counterclockwise) you adjust the nut, the more (back)bowed the neck will become. If you take the time to watch the video through completely, the visual demonstrations in combination with my explanations should make the process pretty clear. I hope, anyways! :D
@@ruokangas Thank you so much for your kind reply!!!
As much as I love these relic Custom shop Fenders, I really hate this process. And as you said, there’s no short cut to it 😖
Thank you Sinan. Yeah it's not the most fun thing to do, especially when you know how much easier it can be with basically any other type of adjustment. :) But, as said, that's the tradition, and have to live with it with a LOT of guitars brought into this world. :)))
excellent instructions...one thing please; this particular electric guitar - the Telecaster - has the output jack in a position that is not the best when resting the guitar on a surface as you do here to tune...this could inadvertently damage both the cable jack and/or the output jack...maybe better to use a strap when tuning, or simply sit the guitar on your knee...great video.
That will be perfect for my (vintage style truss rod) Ruokangas Mojo "The Riddler" 😄
Yup that’s right!
Absolutely great video. I have a question about a vintage Yamaha sg7, it’s very unusual looking and I need to adjust my truss rod, the action is quite high on the high frets.
I have no experience of this particular guitar. If the truss rod access is at the headstock end, maybe this video is helpful for you: ruclips.net/video/eKBwCP2t4PM/видео.html
The truss rod is accessed threw the the neck backk plate jusst like your tele, except I doont need to take the neck offf and there is 4 holes in the rod. Would I by chance Be able to email you? Thank you for the reply aswelll.
Best Anthony B
@@tonypeppers4987 You can email me. Include a photo. The email address can be found here ruclips.net/user/ruokangasabout
the truss rod on my 57 strat can only turn about half a turn then it gets too hard to turn and counterclockwise it gets totally easy to turn, any ideas? relief is about .75 mm
Thanks. Two scenarios that come to mind. Either the truss rod is jammed (could be due to rush, etc), or it's tightened "all the way" - no more threading left in the rod, in other words. In both scenarios, my recommendation would be that you take the guitar to an experienced professional.
I'm not worried about wrecking the truss rod or something since I've been doing it for a long time to some of my guitars.
I'm just worried about stripping the screw holes in the neck each time I have to do this setup.
The guitar in question is my Fernandes ZO-3 (known in the west as the Fernandes Nomad). A Great travel guitar but damn.
Very understandable concern!
What model and year is the telecaster you're working on in this video?
That is a 1966 Fender Telecaster.
Love my EOB Strat to death but the vintage truss rod stops it from being perfect. I don’t adjust it often as my guitar stays nearly the same through the whole year but when it’s time to adjust I dread it, not because it’s difficult or I’m anxious it just takes way too much time for such a simple thing.
Yup this is how so many of us feel about the vintage Fender style truss rod. And.. if the neck of the guitar doesn't move much - as in your case it sounds like - there's nothing wrong either to just live with the slight variation. I mean, not adjusting to perfect relief won't do any harm to the guitar. So, as long as the guitar inspires you, it's all good!
You went to the eleventh Fret for your reading on the last measurement, Why not the eight
11th or 12th (or 13th) with this rather primitive way of checking the relief gives approximately the same results. In my work I check the relief in multiple ways - for example, I always check so that I press the string down to the 1st and 12th fret and check the relief around 5-7th frets. In the same way I check between the 12th and last fret … and so on. This way I can learn if the truss rod is effective evenly across the fretboard or not - in other words, is the curve of the relief symmetrical or not. With problematic necks that have fret buzz even if the frets are in good condition and leveled, the reason is sometimes the truss rod not functioning optimally. Is there a fix in these cases? Sometimes the only solution is to adjust a bit differently to find the best compromise.
What is the Tele hanging, that looks like knotty Pine??
Thanks. It is this one: ruclips.net/video/1pOXRtjQmFA/видео.html
Beautiful, Thanks
What fret are you checking? The 8th or ninth?
8th or 9th work equally as well. :)
so when we tighten the truss rod from the bottom of the guitar on vintage style truss rod . to tighten we turn it left ?
Thanks. To tighten, turn the not clockwise, as mentioned in the video. Doesn't matter on which end of the neck the nut is located. Maybe a helpful metaphor: Opening (loosening) a cork of a bottle = counterclockwise. Closing (tightening) the cork = clockwise. Right? :) Counterclockwise loosens the truss rod, clockwise tightens it.
Righty tighty, lefty loosey.
you check at different locations Never find anybody who is consistent So frustrating
Hi. Yes I check at different locations even more so than what shows on these videos. Perhaps one day I’ll find time to make a dedicated video focusing on that. You can learn a lot about your guitar neck when checking the relief at multiple locations. Not all necks curve the same way.. As with so many things, the deeper you dig the more complex it gets.