Truss Rod Adjustment - Can't tighten it anymore

barnsleyboy

Help! strings are off, so no tension on the neck, just flattening the neck out to level the frets but there's still a slight amount of relief which I can't get rid of. I don't want to force it - any suggestions?

SteveRobinson

What make/model guitar is it?

The usual fix is to put some packing washers behind the truss rod nut.

You could also try introducing some backbow to the neck using cauls and clamps to see if that gives you any more travel of the nut.

barnsleyboy

It's only a cheap Harley Benton TE-20 HH that I picked up for £50. I'll have a go at removing the truss rod nut, but as it is such a cheap guitar, I'm not holding out much hope!

That said, for the money (£85 new) they are a phenomenal buy!

SteveRobinson

The spec says it has a double action truss rod in which case the nut won't be removable.

barnsleyboy

SteveRobinson said:

The spec says it has a double action truss rod in which case the nut won't be removable.

So it looks like I may be stuffed then!

barnsleyboy

You could also try introducing some backbow to the neck using cauls and clamps to see if that gives you any more travel of the nut.

@SteveRobinson ;I'm assuming that this would be best done with the neck still attached to the body? If I clamp the body down to a bench with say a piece of ply underneath, then I can apply a bit of downward pressure with a ratchet clamp at say the 1st fret to put enough back bow in the neck to release the pressure on the truss rod nut and allow me to tighten it up a bit more?

BillDL

That might work.  If you definitely can't get any more turns on the nut to straighten the neck you could try and turn it fully anticlockwise through the slack stage until you just feel it biting, and take it another eighth of a turn or less to see what that does to the neck. I would only suggest you do this as a last resort though.

SteveRobinson

I'd remove the neck, lay it upside down with a block under the first fret and one at the heel then clamp in the middle of the neck, using a shaped caul so as not to mark it.

It won't do any good though if as I suspect is the case, the truss rod is adjusted to its full extent.

barnsleyboy

Cheers Steve, it's worth a go, even if I can flatten it out enough to level the frets that would be something I guess.

Also found a Stewmac vid where Dan talks me through the process. I love this guy - wish he was my Grandad!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL6kJ6iAGpg&ab_channel=StewMac 

WezV

Did the rod work at all, does it turn the other way?  

barnsleyboy

Yep - turns the other way, and puts relief into the neck. I've just loosened it so it feels like it's not putting anything into the neck, then used the clamp and caul method. I've applied pressure on the central clamp progressively as I have tightened the truss rod so as not to strip the thread. I've got quite a bit of back bow in it now, and the truss rod won't tighten any more. Is it worth leaving like this clamped up for a couple of hours/ overnight to see if it settles down? or doesn't it make any difference? I'm guessing that if the truss rod has failed or is not working in one direction, it will just spring back to its default position.

If I can't get it to stay straight naturally using the truss rod I'll probably have to clamp it flat, do my fret levelling then just live with the fact that the neck relief will be what it is when it's strung up. It's a shame, cos it really is a cracking guitar. I just don't understand how they churn them out for the money (ok this one may be a dud, but even if I bought a new cheap neck for it, it's still a killer!)

TheMadMick

It may sound silly, but are you sure you are turning the truss rod nut in the right direction to pull the neck back? Double action truss rods are a pain in my limited experience and it's not always obvious.

crunchman

If you watch Ted Woodford's YouTube channel, he made a jig to use heat to fix necks like this.  There was a recent one with a Martin without an adjustable truss rod that had too much relief.  Might be more effort than it's worth on a Harley Benton though.

barnsleyboy

TheMadMick said:

It may sound silly, but are you sure you are turning the truss rod nut in the right direction to pull the neck back? Double action truss rods are a pain in my limited experience and it's not always obvious.

righty tighty!! Yep, loosening definitely puts more relief in the neck - I'd had that thought myself lol

barnsleyboy

crunchman said:

If you watch Ted Woodford's YouTube channel, he made a jig to use heat to fix necks like this.  There was a recent one with a Martin without an adjustable truss rod that had too much relief.  Might be more effort than it's worth on a Harley Benton though.

It's looking like it's going to be a roasting hot day here, I'm wondering whether leaving the clamped up neck out in the sun for a couple of hours might do the same thing. Worth a try a guess?

LastMantra

Are you sure it's not just really stiff?

barnsleyboy

I've given it some welly to tighten it, and applied quite a bit of clamping pressure to get the neck to back bow, I might be able to get a bit more if I put a sleeve over the allen key to get a bit more leverage, or maybe tap the allen key with a hammer. My worry would be that I round out the hex hole, then the neck really would be toast. It might be a dumb question, but if I slacken off the screw and squirt a bit of WD40 in the hole then work the screw from left to right could that give me a bit more?