Jackson USA Truss rod issue

[Hazard29]

Hey Guys,

Hoping some of you might have some ideas on how to help me out. I have a Jackson USA made guitar, neck thru and I have been using 10's on the guitar for about 10 years now.

The action is very low and the neck is almost dead straight. I wanted to add a little more relief to the neck when I noticed that the truss rod was all the way loose and no more relief can be added through the truss rod.

Someone suggested that I put on a set of 12's, tune it very sharp and leave it like that for awhile to see if the neck starts to move a little, adding more relief.

Any other ideas or things I can try myself? Anyone else had this issue before?

Thanks for any help!

[Chad]

Sorry to hear that. Interesting that this is happening after 10 years. But if it's gonna happen, then summer time (now) is when it will be most noticeable. In the summer, humidity generally goes up and this can cause a neck to straighten and a side effect of that is lower action. When humidity levels go down, I bet the guitar will gain some truss rod adjustment range.

Anyway, to the solution: I went through this same problem with my SL1T. I ended up having a luthier (Jake at Willoughby Music...a sponsor here) work on it. He applied heat to the neck and bent in some relief. He did a great job and the guitar turned out fine.

If you don't apply some sort of heat, I don't think putting on heavy gauge strings will accomplish anything. They would indeed pull more relief into the neck while installed, but the neck will likely go right back where it was after re-installing lighter gauge strings.

[plon]

I had one like that. Had to pull the frets, dial in a slight back bow and re-level the fretboard and re-fret. That way, when the truss rod is loosened, you can get the relief you need and more. I know this is extreme, but it's what I opted to do to crush the problem.

[RobRR]

I had one like that. Had to pull the frets, dial in a slight back bow and re-level the fretboard and re-fret. That way, when the truss rod is loosened, you can get the relief you need and more. I know this is extreme, but it's what I opted to do to crush the problem.

Did any of the slots close up a few thousandths doing this?

[ginsambo]

Pity it's a two way truss rod on neckthroughs? Pretty mad really.

Even on my cheap BCRich, the two way truss rod goes rattle loose for half a turn and then starts bowing the necks forwards.

[plon]

Did any of the slots close up a few thousandths doing this?

No issue with them closing up, at least that I could notice. You do have to check the depth in the middle though. The slots were cut extra deep to begin with and I checked the depth before pressing the new ones.

[j2379]

Big strings will pull the neck forward if you leave them on long enough it will work. I straightened a neck like that putting a slide between the strings and fret board will also help put a bow into the neck. I put 12s tuned to pitch and left it to sit for a month or so. It's been years now and the neck is still fine.

[Hazard29]

Big strings will pull the neck forward if you leave them on long enough it will work. I straightened a neck like that putting a slide between the strings and fret board will also help put a bow into the neck. I put 12s tuned to pitch and left it to sit for a month or so. It's been years now and the neck is still fine.

I put 12 gauge strings on it today so we'll see how that goes. Never thought about putting a slide in there to help with the bowing. Maybe I'll give that a try too.

[larryguitar]

I put 12 gauge strings on it today so we'll see how that goes. Never thought about putting a slide in there to help with the bowing. Maybe I'll give that a try too.

Might want to apply some REASONABLE heat while it sits, like a naked bulb or something, to help ease it along. I wouldn't start with an iron or heat gun unless you know what you're doing.

Larry

[cullenszoo]

I had a guitar with a little back bow. I set the guitar up outside on my deck in the heat. I sat the body on a table and rested the head on a chair. I then placed a stack of my wife's Stephen King books in the middle of the neck. (Cause they are all thick hardbacks that are heavy.) Anyway after several hours the back bow had straightened out. a little over 24 hours later and there was enough bow that I had to tighten the truss a hair.