Summer..neck shift

[gtrbuyer]

well the necks on 2 of my Strat head Charvels are moving like there is no tomorrow...the seasons on the east coast are brutal on neck bow/relief, that is truss rod adjustments.

Within my collection though the pointies are real consistent. The Strat head necks are less consistent and two Strat heads in particular drive me ('er I should say our very own Chuck 'bloodplatter'..hes a good friend that does all the tweaking on my axes) crazy!!

Other people have same problem...I hate the change in seasons as it really screws the neck relief in a few of my guitars. Thank goodness for truss rod adjustments...

Do your guys guitars stay pretty consistent during the seasonal changes or is this a common problem?

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I don't have any Charvies at this time...but I definitely see/notice the shift in my Les Paul Custom...I've had to tweak it a little bit over the last couple weeks.

Here, in NC...I don't really think it is the heat so much as the humidity where I am fairly close to the ocean.

I noticed it a little bit in my Soloist also...though not as bad as the Paul.

[~K~]

Re: Summer..neck shift

Tracy,

Are those necks figured or quartersawn?

[gtrbuyer]

Re: Summer..neck shift

not sure kev I need to ask Chuck (the necks are not figured though and I assume they are quatersawn). The main villian is the neck on the Rising sun parts guitar w/later 22 fret neck

http://usacharvels.com/charvel/charvelgallery/1993.htm

The neck on this one in particular kills me, each season it has to be majorily tweaked!!! By far the worse one in my entire collection.

I find the pointies never (hardly ever need tweaking).

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

Re: Summer..neck shift

That particular neck does move alot(!!),probably more than any other I've seen!! I think the need for adjustments because of weather/temperature changes have alot to do with whether or not guitars are kept in cases or displayed especially if you don't have air conditioning or live in an area like New England where we have very cold/dry Winters & extremely hot/humid Summers!!Thoughts/opinions?? [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Chucksplatter

[jgcable]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I live in Connecticut. All of my strathead unfinished and laquered maple necks move like crazy this time of year. It is a pain in the ass but luckily it only happens 1 time per year. The temp going from 30 at night to 75 daily really messes with them.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I rarely ever have to tweak my necks. However I keep them in cases.

[toejam]

Re: Summer..neck shift

Most of my guitars are kept in cases, except two. My import Jackson Dinky is kept down in the basement on a stand most of the time, but it's cooler down there, all year long, and I've never had a problem with that one. My USA Fender Double Fat is on a stand in my bedroom, I just had to loosen the truss rod a tiny bit last week due to some wicked buzzing that I guess was related to the seasonal change. A few months back, I had to tighten it.

[RR05xx]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I used to really go nuts when I was in an apartment. I could never get the temp or humidity right no matter what (there were a lot of seniors in the building and they cranked the central heat all the damn time). Also, I have no cross breeze because of where I was in the building.

I bought a house last winter and I have had alot more control over temp and humidity etc. and what a difference. I have not had the neck problems yet and i am hoping to ease the guitars into the change of seasons. So far, so good, but I had some horror shows in the past. Hopefully never again.

[Hossman]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I bought a birds eye maple neck guitar for a guy in Conn.. He told me the neck moved so much in the winter(even had a twist also)that it was unplayable for 3-4 months a year. He sold it to me cheap due to that. Well here in California I have never had an issue with it or any others? Hope it stays that way.

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I was very curious as to what others experiences were as I live about twenty minutes from Tracy & keep my guitars in cases(more out of necessity than anything,believe me I'd love to display them!!)& never have any major problems,just a truss-rod tweak here or there!!Seems to me that guitars that are displayed(especially ones that are hanging by the neck from a wall-hanger!!)are much,much more prone to needing adjustments,the price you pay for displaying guitars I guess!!If I ever do display my guitars,I'd like to get a glass case that would hold maybe six or seven,it wouldn't be a perfect solution but at least it would provide some protection from the temp/humidity changes!!Thanx bros,very interesting thread!! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Chucksplatter

[Joe_Steeler]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I just had to tweak the rod on one of my Strats. I've never subscribed to the birds-eye neck propensity to move, but guess what? It is my only birds-eye neck Strat in my collection.

I took it out of the case and left it on the stand for a couple of days until I could get back to it. When I picked it up it had the string buzz from hell. A half turn truss-rod took care of it.

Joe

[RR05xx]

Re: Summer..neck shift

For the record, especially when I was in the apartment, the only time one of my guitars is out of its case was to be played or when I had oiled the neck or something and I wanted it to dry better. Otherwise always cased and it did not mean sh!t, the northeast is just hell on guitars unless you can control temp/humidity (but at least no earthquakes [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] (yet))

[gtrbuyer]

Re: Summer..neck shift

I will check into that Yoga..I tell ya that neck on the Rising Sun moves with the wind. By far the worse in my collection, poor ol' Chuck (Bloodsplatter) has tweaked her about a dozen times already.

[Ricey]

Re: Summer..neck shift

This is a common problem with me. I live in Buffalo, so maybe it does have a lot do with the part of the world you live in. From my experience, if I find another guitar with a really stable neck that does not need truss rod adjustments as the seasons change, I will hold on to that baby! I have owned such guitars, but never realized what I had until it was too late. What is the issue I saw above with the quartersawn necks? I though they were supposed to be more stable? BTW, the guy who works on my guitars has commented that birdseye maple necks are "squirely", though I have never owned one. Either way, they sure are beautiful!is a winner!

Ricey