Bzzzzzzzzzzz...........

[DalyTek]

I restrung it with some 10s today too, but the extra tension didn't help....

[DalyTek]

Put on some 13s and tune it to A=440, then run a hot shower and put the guitar on a stand in the bathroom. Maybe the steam/heat along with the hellish tension will get the wood going forward

Do you think something like this will work? It's strange that the truss rod seems to work fine even though it is not anchored inside the guitar, yet no matter how loose I make it (even removing the truss rod entirely) I can't get enough forward bow (is forward bow referred to as "relief"?) I think if I can just get the proper concave to the neck with the truss rod loosened, then I can use the truss rod to properly counter the strings' pull like it's supposed to be.

As of right now, if I capo the 1st fret and press the 14th (this is a Gibson-scale set neck, so that's where I am reading I should press) and check the gap at the 6th fret wire, I am getting a reading of 0.008" (or 0.203MM) from my feeler gauge. Again, this is with the truss rod completely loosened (so loose that it vibrates at certain frequencies) and 10-46 gauge strings.

Anyone got any advice? I actually like this guitar, the hunk of junk that it is, and would really like to get 'er up and playing good!

[Hellbat]

Sounds like it's only a single action truss rod...

http://www.guitarrepairbench.com/guitar_info/dual_vs_single_trussrod.html

[DalyTek]

It is definitely a single-action truss rod. (Remember, I had it in my hands, out of the guitar!)
However, I have never owned a guitar with a dual-action truss rod before and never had this issue before.
Could I buy a dual-action truss rod and shove it in there and have it be all good?

Where's the help from my guitar builder JCF buddies???

[Newc]

From what I've seen in pics online of the different truss rods (single and double), I think there's a different route for double-acting rods.

As for what it's anchored to, also according to the pics I've seen of various trussrods, there's a flat part at the end with a hole in it, which as I said before, there's supposed to be a dowel pin that goes through that hole. I'm assuming they could have made an incision for the end of that tab/plate to slide into instead of using a dowel pin.

Is it a bolt-on neck? Set-neck? Neckthrough? (Sorry if I missed it earlier).

I don't know if the steam/heat will bend it forward. I do know that you need to steam certain types of wood to bend it (those bentwood rocking chairs and such, and wooden barrels, for example). However the key factor in that method for a guitar neck would be keeping equal tension on it to keep it from warping. If the wound strings pull harder than the plain strings, then it'll probably warp/twist on that side. Stringing both halves with wound strings and tuning them up to match (E,A,D,D,A,E) would/should keep the tension even.

[DalyTek]

Crap. It's a set neck, I think. It actually LOOKS like a neck through, but I think I saw a long tenon in the neck pickup cavity.
There are no holes in the truss rod at all for a dowel to have gone through.

I do not want to warp/twist the neck. I only need it to bow forward just a very small amount further.
This is probably a stupid idea, but what would happen if I put the truss rod in upside-down (ie: the flat side down) and then tightened it?
That would essentially be similar to the reverse bow in a dual-action truss rod, no? Or would that just pop the fretboard off the neck or something equally disastrous?

[Newc]

Not really sure it would pop off the board, but then I"m not really sure if the rod would even work backwards. It might simply spin in the cavity if it does in fact require that the tab on the other end sits in a slot and not on a peg.

At this point you could try it, since otherwise the guitar will be useless with a back-bowed neck.

[DalyTek]

Just out of curiosity, I took the truss out and pulled it against my knee to give it some forward curve to see if that will help at all. Will let you know what happens.

[DalyTek]

So far so good. That small curve of the truss rod was just enough to help push the headstock end forward just a hair which helped A LOT with the buzz. Was able to get my action lowered to a playable level without too much buzzing...at least not that I can hear through the amp.

I just hope that it will stay that way. If truss rod straightens back out, the neck will be pulled back again and I will be out of ideas....

[Newc]

Nice.

[Hellbat]

Well, it sucks but it did sound like a neck relief issue to me so I'm glad my limited knowledge panned out hehe.