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I'm always wondering though if a pro setup would make any noticeable difference.
do all truss rods tighten and loosen in the same direction?
To add relief, you loosen the rod so string tension is pulling the neck in an upward bow, creating more relief.
Or so I understand it...
I think most guitarists are capable of setting the string height at the bridge, and the neck relief, themselves. I doubt you would see any difference from a pro doing it. But a pro set up will for example get the height at the 1st fret exactly right, and level/polish the frets which could make a big difference. I reckon levelling the frets is the most difficult job for an amateur to do, and also the most likely issue with most new guitars, especially at the cheaper end.
I've tweaked truss rods regularly for decades - nothing to be scared of as long as you don't force anything and take a note of how many quarter turns you've made so you can get it back if needed. A quick tweak can make such a difference.
Agree that levelling frets is above most of our pay grades - and probably the biggest thing to improve playability.
I also prefer maybe slightly more relief than normal, which helps to make notes ring with absolutely no buzz, action is still fairly reasonable at around 2-3mm.
I gave up trying to get low action years ago, could not stand the buzzing that occurred, one of those things like trying to get intonation perfect, pretty much impossible.
The closer you get to perfect, the more the tiniest things stand out.
I like to have some things set up on the low side, just to give my hands a break, but I find the buzzing starts when the playing gets harder.
Very small adjustments can make dramatic differences, and I do sometimes think I need to get some quality nut files, I think the nut is far more influential than the amount of neck relief.
You're correct of course, but Gerz6558 did at least manage capital letters at the beginning of sentences!
I'm hesitant to raise the issue of the zero fret again... but the days when it was regarded as a cheap dodge are long gone, and I know at least one Luthier who argues positively in favour of them. I think I'm right in saying Mosrite have remained faithful to the zero fret to the present day and I think some Gretsch guitars have them too. In any case, if it's good enough for Martin Carthy...
I know a couple of guitar players have played Rory's old Strat and both said it was a bitch to play with a tough action - I would guess the same would be said of SRV's Strat and maybe that helps with the tone they acquire
Overall it is the sum of the parts or the sum of all the adjustments from tip to toe
Most guitars (in fact I'd say all) have needed their nuts adjusting, so a worth while investment.
I do play pretty hard, use heavy-ish strings and don't like fret buzz.
Plus my findings with neck relief over the years..
there are people that know way more than me on this forum,,
this is just my personal experiences..
The higher the humidity the more elastic the wood becomes..
So for the exact same amount of string tension from whatever regular string set you use,,
in Summer your neck is liable to concave bow more..
I had a real problem with humidity and lost guitars,,well old style Fender necks through it..
I ended up buying a dehumidifier,,I found that my remaining guitar necks stabilised..Phew..
I lost 3 Fender necks though...It only seems a problem with some houses / areas..
it's worth keeping an eye out for though..
So if your concave neck bow keeps growing a lot,,you have a humidity problem..
If you want to save your guitars,,buy a dehumidifier...
It is also handy to be able to keep a measurement of the relief / concave bow,
just to keep track of what is happening with your guitars..
Also it is handy to know around what relief you like as a starting adjustment with a new,or new to you guitar..
Even then,some guitars obviously feel / play better with more or less relief..
Also the straighter the board,,I find the further you can bend...
The steeper the board camber,,the more it limits bending distance,,still no idea how Gilmour can bend so far on a 7.25 radius..
He says he bends around the camber..I have no idea what he means,but it seems to work for him..
Bigger frets can make bending easier,,but make strings choke out earlier if the fingerboard camber remains the same..
You often see bigger frets accompanying flatter necks to counteract this....
There is a way to make the fret camber flatter than the board camber by lessening the amount of fret in the middle
of the board...ie Across the board,not along it..
Some guitars you can't do the 5 semitone "Gilmour bend" or have to raise the action to get it..
I try to be able to achieve this bend on guitars as part of my set up procedure..
If you keep on raising with no better result,chances are you have uneven frets..
Sorry the "Gilmour Bend" is
David Gilmour's 5 Semitone bend in the Another Brick in the wall solo..
13th Fret B string..C to F..
Along with the Above bend,,,
I do open string pull offs feeling too spongy can show up too much relief for me,
I do this on the A minor Pentatonic 5th to 7th fret,
Especially on the G and D strings..Check on B minor 7th to 9th fret for good luck too..
I tend to put a Capo on the first fret a fret by hand at the 17th fret,,then check the gap from there..
Usually the most gap is around the 7th or 8th fret..Your free hand can use a feeler gauge if needed..
100% agreed on your relief amount can only get lesser depending on how level and well crowned your frets are..
How good your fret job is is the final arbiter..
Sorry if anything sounds confused..
This is how I as a rookie deal with Neck relief..
My touch has lightened over the years too..
Maybe partially because I stopped having to fight the guitar too much when I tuned my set up,to my own physicality..
I hope my ramble at least helps some folk... lol
Wood even when seasoned or these days kiln dried is still hygroscopic..
The higher the humidity,,the more flexible the wood is,,hence for the same amount of string pull..
the neck will move into a convex bow more..
I have found the old style pre CBS Fender necks with Slab boards to be one of the more unstable necks out there..
In my case these were reissue style necks..One Mexican and one Japanese..
I found they ran out of truss rod faster..
The thought has even passed my mind that the old style truss rod set up is weaker in pull than the modern ones that adjust at the head stock,,I only have 90s onwards pre CBS reissue truss rods..
The originals may be different..
The actual truss rod nut can also crush the maple it is sitting against from the pull of the strings in the old style necks,
this means you can run out of truss rod too....
Humidity can destroy these older style necks..
I have actually experienced frets lifting around the middle of the board from too high humidity also..
Low Humidity can indeed cause fret ends to become more exposed..
The actual maple used can vary hugely,,if flat sawn,,some pieces can be prone to being more flexible than others..
The Rosewood board swells and becomes more flexible and flexes the Maple with it.....
Slab Boards may be even more prone to the problem than veneer boards..
The replacement necks I bought were all Quarter sawn Maple for stability,,
With headstock truss rod adjustment so I don't have to take the neck off either..
i tried to take the best precautions for longevity I could..
Fender don't seem to bother much with what wood they use as long as it is the correct species..
They don't seem to cut it for stability though..
Economics seems to rule above potential longevity..