Charvel USA Production - Why is truss rod nut at the heel?

[HiOctane]

"1. When using Quartersawn wood there is a significant reduction in neck movement.
2. The one piece necks require the neck adjustment to be at the heal... if it's a two piece we can do it at the headstock...
3. The vibe is cleaner with the adjustment at the heal... It's a traditional Charvel specification...

The option to have a notch at the heal will be added to the Custom Shop menu as soon as we are finished testing the processes. This is a mod we do for Artists... in fact we showed some models with the notch at NAMM. "

_____________________

Great clarification, makes good sense. Other companies are the same way- they will do truss rodd access at the headstock if it is a two-piece neck. Otherwise, you have to deal with the heel adjustment.

However, adding the notch as a CS option is great, and I think it will be very popular when it is available. Some purists don't care, but I think that most players would much rather not have to deal with removing the neck to adjust it. They say there are some tonal and stability advantages to a one-piece neck, but I think they are relatively minimal. I would much rather have the convenience of quick adjustment.

[Grandturk]

The truss nut at the heal was a Fender thing. But it didnt start until the 60's (ie 62) but ended by mid to late 60's So it was short lived even by Fender. So the "vintage vibe" doesnt really follow suit.

Umm... the truss rod adjust at the heel goes all the way back - not just to during the 60's. This was standard on acoustics, and certainly appeared on tele's and strats from their introduction until the 70's when the bullet was introduced.

[ADR]

Correction: The 50's Strats had the TR adjustment at heel, I can post a pix of my 56 CS Relic.The headstock has the plug and adjustment screw at heel.

The necks do not have to be taken off completely, you can loosen the screws in a manner that you can tilt the neck up enough to adjust, even leaving the strings attached. I've done that way as far back as I can remember.
I personally hate the bullit truss rod sticking out ( new YJM strats have this) and would hate to see a Strathead with a TR cover.

As FMIC/Charvel does it, looks much better than say: the EBMM EVH with the ugly wheel looking thing down there. . .what a mess.

[Ben...]

I have 2 Fenders and they both have one piece maple necks with skunk stripes. One has the adjustment contraption at the heel and the other at the headstock. The one with the rod adjustment at the heel is a 50's replica P-Bass and the other is a Straight Six Strat (It's still surprising how nice it is to play 2 month later.). Anywho, on further study, what ADR says about not having to take off completely looks quite possible with my P-Bass. I can see half of the TR screw and it almost looks like I could adjust it without removing it. I could be wrong though. I've only ever adjusted headstock TRs.

Edit: I'm gonna double check and see if my Straight Six is in fact a one piece it could have a maple fretboard glued on the neck. My P-Bass definitely is though.

[Eddie_van_trailerpark]

"1. When using Quartersawn wood there is a significant reduction in neck movement.
2. The one piece necks require the neck adjustment to be at the heal... if it's a two piece we can do it at the headstock...
3. The vibe is cleaner with the adjustment at the heal... It's a traditional Charvel specification...

The option to have a notch at the heal will be added to the Custom Shop menu as soon as we are finished testing the processes. This is a mod we do for Artists... in fact we showed some models with the notch at NAMM. "

_____________________

Great clarification, makes good sense. Other companies are the same way- they will do truss rodd access at the headstock if it is a two-piece neck. Otherwise, you have to deal with the heel adjustment.

However, adding the notch as a CS option is great, and I think it will be very popular when it is available. Some purists don't care, but I think that most players would much rather not have to deal with removing the neck to adjust it. They say there are some tonal and stability advantages to a one-piece neck, but I think they are relatively minimal. I would much rather have the convenience of quick adjustment.

So yer saying the the body would be notched to allow access to the truss nut? If that's the case....I say " it's about time"

[Newc]

Actually I think he's talking about the notch at the end of the fretboard like the Wolfgangs are/were.

The neck pickup is too close to notch the body.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Yep... sorry... Spell Check has made it too easy...

Except spell check tells me i spell my name wrong. so to spell check. plus i have an excuse im dislexic.
Gil
Ok so it used to tell me i spelled my name wrong it must've gotten smarter. but it doesnt seem to like must've either which is correct. So my rant still stands..

[85 San Dimas]

Where I live there is an up to 80 degree (celcius) temperature difference

Dude, that's like 165 degrees fahrenheidt temp swing , where do you live? the Moon?:think:

BTW, Just having some fun with you....

[Guinny]

I have got used to Truss Rods in the Heel after owning a few Teles and Strat's and yes it is a pain.
I think waht makes in worse is having a locking trem because of needing to block of when removing the neck. Also the fact the neck lip is so close to the neck pup makes life very difficult.

The answer is to change strings regulary and give it a tweak then!

I don't like to take the neck of too often though because the screw holes get loose though!

[alanhindle]

My '86 Yamaha SE350 has a removable piece of black plastic between the neck pickup and the end of the fretboard. You can just make it out in the photo below. When this is unscrewed and lifted out you can lower an allen wrench in to the space to access the truss rod. The only problem is that I don't have an allen wrench with a short enough post turn end to get in to adjust it. I ought to hunt one out and add some relief as I'm now playing with a lower action and have noticed more buzz in the lower frets in recent weeks.



By the way, here's a better pic of the same guitar all nice and polished: