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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:53 pm Post subject: Cold Affecting the Neck (and other neck warp questions)

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Last night, my guitar was in a softshell case in the trunk of a car for about 5 hours in temperatures varying from about -1 to -8 degrees (celsius) could this have affected my neck? It's probably just me but my action seems a bit higher (like my neck pulled forward) yet it is/ was in tune for the most part.

Now, onto the next part:
My neck needs a truss rod adjustment, the only delema I have is my imperial Allen Key set is in the boat (which is in storage) and all I have is my metric ones (which fit bridge saddles, but not the truss rod on my MIM). Now lat time I brought it in for a setup I remember the guy saying my truss rod was pretty tight as is, I want to lower my action a bit (my squier is really low and my MIM is high, and I want to bring it down to inbetween these two) but if I lower it, it buzzes and even chokes out at higher frets (I checked my releif and it needs an adjustment)...so my question is how do I know when it's too tight?
I also know if it is WAY too tight it can break your truss rod then your basically ****ed unless you want to spend a lot of money. BUT, is there a way that if I bring it to a luthier or something he can take off my neck and put it back on and adjust it and **** (so pretty much like quot;fixingquot; my truss rod) without costing TONS of money? I hope ya know what I mean! Andy replies are appreciated, thanks.

P.S. I have a Fender MIM strat.


Originally Posted by Kamanda~SDLast night, my guitar was in a softshell case in the trunk of a car for about 5 hours in temperatures varying from about -1 to -8 degrees (celsius) could this have affected my neck?

Absolutely. But unless you fear that permanent damage has been done (unlikely; it's excess humidity or dryness does the real damage) then don't worry about it, but try and avoid sudden temperature changes they won't do the guitar any good

Originally Posted by Kamanda~SDNow, onto the next part:
My neck needs a truss rod adjustment, the only delema I have is my imperial Allen Key set is in the boat (which is in storage) and all I have is my metric ones (which fit bridge saddles, but not the truss rod on my MIM). Now lat time I brought it in for a setup I remember the guy saying my truss rod was pretty tight as is, I want to lower my action a bit (my squier is really low and my MIM is high, and I want to bring it down to inbetween these two) but if I lower it, it buzzes and even chokes out at higher frets (I checked my releif and it needs an adjustment)...so my question is how do I know when it's too tight?

It's actually pretty hard to break a truss rod. When it happens it is usually because the neck is faulty; if the neck is OK you should never need to put the truss rod under enough tension to cause damage and it should plus and minus around the mean relief value without undue strain.

If the truss rod needs to be forced to get the relief down to the optimum value and you have to put an extension bar on it to get it to move then suspect a fault.

Luckily, most truss rods strip the thread on the nut when they are overtightened and this is easy to fix, usually, but as for knowing when it's been overtightened? No way that I know of.

You could try taking the truss rod nut out if that is possible and lubricating the thread with some Copperease. If it's a 2-way truss-rod you could try loosening it and squirting a few drops of baby oil into the hole with a syringe and letting it run down to the thread.

If it went down to -8 degrees celsius and you took it into room temperature and start playing right the way, chances are that you may have induced minute cracks in the finish unless you let it warm up to the room temperature before opening the gig bag.
I agree with Octavedoctor that it is hard to break a truss rod but you may strip the threads real easy if you are not careful. One way to guard against this is to use a small torque ranch to keep the nut from getting over tightened when you try to tighten it; but you must have the threads well lubed before you can do this and torque ranches are not cheap.

I've rounded the hex key slot on the truss rod adjustment nut before i ever stripped the threads.... But it can happen...

When it's real cold i mostly take my MIM stuff out to practices and jams..... i use and abuse them as i got them for cheap and they fill a gig's need on most nights.... I find it hard taking out expensive guitars in extreme weather and to bars.... half the time my last band was running late to set up and it was unload and plug in.... no time to let amps and guitars to warm up and or cool down after the show.... Tuning was a b*tch on nights like that...

Just bring it to a shop/store..they will monkey with the truss rod for prolly cheap 20? and the cold , humidity, heat all effect metal truss bars and wood and strings.

First off, thanks alot guys for all your help!
I didn't take the ugitar out right away but brought it inside and left it in the bag overnight (I didnt want my finish cracking or anything else).
What I'm going to do is get the right wrench (why the saddles are metric and the rod imperial is beyond me) and put some lube on the rod (sounds akward) and try an ajust it and see what happens.
And where is this quot;nutquot; you guys refer too? Down by the heal or by the headstock?

There isn't really a reason to get overly worried about your truss rod. I've been working on guitars for years and I've been playing over 30 years. I have seen a couple of stripped truss rods and a couple of rounded acorn nuts as well as a couple of broken truss rods but the truss rods were always a result of a malfuntion of the guitar and not from user abuse. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it's rarer than the rumors you hear about truss rods being fragile.

Use your 6th string as a straight edge and fret it at both the first and last frets. You will see a gap between the frets and the string in the middle of the neck (you state there is extra relief). Turning your truss rod clock-wise will remove the extra relief.

You really want the right size allen wrench for this. You'll do more damage by using the wrong tool than you will by over tightening your truss rod. If you don't have the right wrench then get one, no excuses.

First try backing off the truss rod by turning it counter clock-wise. Just a 1/4 turn will do just to make sure the truss rod is free. If it is free and moves relatively easy then you can start tightening the truss rod by 1/4 turns, checking the relief by fretting the 6th string at the first and last frets until you have maybe .001quot; relief at the 9th fret. Don't worry about measuring, you want the string just off of the frets.

If the truss rod is binding and it stiffens up before you get all the relief out, this is easy to fix. Support the body and push down on the face of the headstock. This will relieve the pressure on the truss rod and make it easier to move. The neck will relax over time and then proper adjustments will be easier.

Thanks Robert S. I am going to try that as soon as I get the right wrench, which should be soon. And thanks for the tip on releiving the pressure on the T.R. to help it turn better.

If I can't get the action on my bolt-on SG just right by using the truss rod or bridge height, I shim the neck. Just loosen up the neck bolts all the way, slide something very thin, like a dime or quarter or even guitar pick to the back of the neck pocket. That'll raise the neck up just a hair to give you a little lower action on higher frets.

That's a cool idea. That would be a last resort for me though, but it is dutely noted.