The truss rod is usually accessed on the
headstock (where it is often covered by
a small plastic plate), or at the base of
the neck where it meets the body. The
latter scenario is, frankly, a huge pain in
the ass, and requires that the neck be
removed from the guitar. You have my
sympathies if your guitar is laid out in
this fashion. Either way, the adjustment
itself is fairly straightforward; rightytighty, lefty-loosey. For more relief, go
counterclockwise. For less relief, turn
the rod clockwise. Most guitars come
with the appropriate wrench to adjust
the truss rod. Adjustments should be
made in very small increments, such
as a quarter-turn (or less) at a time,
because typically very few turns will be
needed to get it dialed in. After each
turn, carefully evaluate your progress
by eye, and by playing a little to help
ferret out trouble spots. Also, truss
rods can be broken if turned too far,
so take great care, and if at any point
the truss rod becomes stuck, just
stop what you're doing immediately
and take the guitar to a professional.
Otherwise, you risk serious damage
to the neck, which will likely not be
inexpensive to repair.
When doing truss rod adjustments on
my own guitar, I find that the previously
described method usually gets the job
done quickly and efficiently, but for
players with Type A tendencies, there
are much more rigorous and exacting
methods. I will not get into those
here, but if you're the kind that always
strives for perfection, and you love
taking very small measurements, then
there are plenty of other places on the
Internet that offer detailed directions
for these more precise guitar setup
operations.
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