Setting up a guitar

[ITL]

One of my Xmas prezzies from my family was a guitar - a cheap Aria Strat copy, to be precise - and for the first time, I've started adjusting the truss rod. I've been playing for a long time, but I've never adjusted a truss rod before - I basically didn't trust myself to not be a ham-fisted buffoon, so I left well alone. But no more!

The guitar maybe a cheapie, but it does play nice. Except for the horrendous fret buzz on the low E string, that is. I tried taking the action up, but the fret buzz remained as the action reached heights that a limbo dancer could get under...and as I can't afford a professional set up, I had to sort it out myself.

After a bit of Interwebs research, I found a useful hint: Fret the first and last frets and see if there is a gap (ideally a millimetre or so) nearer the middle point of the fretboard. I did this. There was no gap. Anywhere. The strings were lying flat to the frets all the way down the fretboard. Not good! So I bit the bullet and cautiously gave the truss rod a quarter turn to the left...

So anyway - a few adjustments later, and I've got that fretboard gap of a millimetre or so. The fret buzz is nearly gone, and I'm feeling a bit happier. I'm going to leave it to settle overnight before fine tuning the action and intonation.

So - any advice from you guitarists out there? Is my methodology sound? Or am I going to regret my hex-key shenanigans? How do you feel about tackling truss rod adjustment yourself?

Sorry for the long post. I just feel happy that I finally did something I never thought I would. Guitars are a serious business!

 

[ThankQ]

1st rule of fret buzz - straighten the neck.

 

[CaptainStoner]

It's been a while since I made similar adjustments, but it sounds like what you did was the right way to go. A little loosening of the rod increased the bow, allowing the low E string to ring without buzzing.
My acoustic guitar had the exact same problem as purchased, but since I use 11's rather than 10's, the increased string tension increased the bow itself.
So long as the other strings now aren't too high for your liking, you should be fine with it.

 

[M'Sharak]

So - any advice from you guitarists out there? Is my methodology sound? Or am I going to regret my hex-key shenanigans? How do you feel about tackling truss rod adjustment yourself?

I've never actually been in the position of needing to fuss with the truss rod, but it sounds to me like you took the right approach: adjust in small increments, testing as you go.

 

[Roshi]

Thanks for the reminder, ITL!!! It's been a while since the last time! But having two left arms (French idiom badly translated meaning being clumsy), even though I'm left handed, I think I'll take my baby to the "Guitarsmith"...

 

[ITL]

OK. Not happy now. Today I have fret buzz and a high action. That's not good. Shit.

EDIT:
Phew! Crisis averted. I tightened the truss rod a quarter turn to make the relief a tiny bit shallower. This, followed by action and intonation adjustment has given me a decent set up. The fret buzz is minimal, the action is a little too high for my taste (about 3mm at the 12th fret) and the intonation is spot on. It's nice to play and sounds good.

All in all, a damn sight better than before I got busy with the truss rod - the awful fret buzz is virtually gone. Nice!

 

[Pingfah]

Have you checked the action at the first fret? I've found most cheapie guitars have poor action at the first fret because the nut is too high or vice-versa.

Would require physically removing and shaving the nut down (or raising it depending), but once you've got it right it makes a huge amount of difference to how well you can play around the lower end of the fretboard.

If you press between the 2nd and 3rd fret and look at the first, there should be clearance at the first fret, but only just enough to slip a piece of paper in. If you tap the string you should feel it connect with the fret, if it doesn't (i.e it's already touching) the nut is too low.

 

[ITL]

OK, just tried that - the first fret passes the paper test as there is a slight clearance. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Geckothan]

Be careful adjusting that truss rod, you don't want to warp the neck. My rule when adjusting the relief is to get a standard playing card, hold down the 1st and 12th frets and measure the relief at the 7th fret, if the playing card stays put by itself when placed between the 7th fret and the strings, the action is pretty uniform down the neck (so the action isn't massively high at the 22nd fret and buzzing at the 5th fret, for example), and there's no serious fret buzz (some fret buzz is acceptable, as long as it's not bad enough to be detected by the pickups), then the relief is perfect.

Also when adjusting the truss rod, keep in mind that changes take a while to settle down, and environmental changes will have a huge effect on the playability of the guitar (wood expands/contracts quite a lot in different temperatures/humidities).

 

[ITL]

^ When I first adjusted the truss rod yesterday, I overdid it a little and went from no relief whatsoever to a bit too much (I was getting fret buzz above the 12th fret with a high action), so I took it back a bit this morning. It seems to have done the trick. Basically, I'm going for a really small relief - but as long as there's some clearance, I know I can't over tighten the neck. And as the damn thing had no relief whatsoever as default, I'm glad I did it.