Neck woes on my new Jackson

[callistoashus]

So I finally got my HX. The thing is in impeccable condition for being 11 years old, aside from how neglected it seems. The rosewood fretboard's pores are filled with what seems to be some sort of WAX. It's awful, and it makes me quite sad. And also, the neck has a reasonable bow to it, and shows about a millimeter of relief at the middle frets. So my questions...

1. How do I rid the neck of that awful wax abombination? It looks terrible too.

2. Anything special I should know about adjusting the truss rod?

Thanks : )

[Chuckracer]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Well, first off, I would have posted this in the Tech Q&A section.

As far as the truss rod adjustment, don't fear it. Make sure you have the string guages you will use on the guitar and tuned to where you are gonna play them, then...lefty loosy, righty tighty. Go in small steps...SMALL, got that? Say it with me...S M A L L S T E P S. Very good! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I would remove the strings and go at the fingerboard with Lemon Oil and a stiff brush.

[callistoashus]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Yargh, sorry, I jumped the gun and Tech QA totally slipped my mind. Mods feel free to move this.

Thanks for your help... I'll try the lemon oil and toothbrush thing some more

[pott]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Small step = quarter or 8th of a turn. I do 8ths myself but I often had to do 2 8ths then. Better safe than sorry.
Try to slide a business card between the 7th fret when holding down on the 1st and whichever fret it is where the neck joins the body. Once you can slide the business card just under, you'll have what is considered a 'normal' amount of relief. It's all subjective of course and there are no proper rules. Hell I've played yesterday a backbowed neck without any buzz!
Anyhoo in your cause, I suggest a quarter of a turn to the bass side. when it's done, tune the guitar the normal way (until it stays in tune) and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. I usually let it rest more than that, like a full night, before playing as, depending on many things, the effects can take some time to show.

[Thoraby]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

I've used brute manly force on alot of truss rod screws which were hard to turn. They turned, the neck was adjusted, and the truss still works. In my experience truss rods aren't as fragile as everybody makes them out to be.

Anybody actually broken a truss rod? Stripping the adjusting screw doesn't count [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

[ QUOTE ]
I've used brute manly force on alot of truss rod screws which were hard to turn. They turned, the neck was adjusted, and the truss still works. In my experience truss rods aren't as fragile as everybody makes them out to be.

Anybody actually broken a truss rod? Stripping the adjusting screw doesn't count [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="yellow">You go boy [img]/images/graemlins/what.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/brow.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/eyes.gif[/img]

That is NOT how to adjust a truss rod bro [img]/images/graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

Yes, they can break and strip out easily...think about it, the diameter of the actual rod is very small, and the threads aren't that strong. If you do break/strip a truss rod, expect to trash the neck or to spend a lot of $$ getting it fixed by a competent luthier.

You don't want to go Gorilla on your truss rod [img]/images/graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

If you have the least bit of apprehension or doubt of what you're doing, either practice on a yardsale special or pay somebody to do it for you. </font>

[sully]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

fastest way to get the gunk outta the pores of the fretboard is with naptha. you can put some on the fretboard and scrub the wax out with an old toothbrush. then condition the board when you're done.

[toejam]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

[ QUOTE ]
fastest way to get the gunk outta the pores of the fretboard is with naptha. you can put some on the fretboard and scrub the wax out with an old toothbrush. then condition the board when you're done.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yep. I had some waxy, white buildup in my Dinky fretboard for awhile... it was because I used furniture polish and shot it straight onto the board. I just used lemon oil and a toothbrush and it eventually went away, but naptha would work much quicker.

[DonP]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Ditto on the naptha. Just go to WalMart and pick up lighter fluid. Don't be a dumbass like me - I didn't know and got F'd ordering from stew-mac. The shipping cost more than the naptha because it's a flammable material.

[callistoashus]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Thanks a lot for your help, guys. I'll try and grab some Naptha, the evil Walmart is practically down the street from me : P

I adjusted the truss rod and let it sit over a night. Relief's still a little more than I'd like, but clearly better than it was. However I think the truss might be as tight as it'll go.... it's considerably hard to turn compared to what I was doing. Do they just get this way, or am I stuck with finding another solution to straighten the neck, like planing perhaps?

[DonP]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Dan Erlewine's book covers issues with truss rods in great detail.

[callistoashus]

Re: Neck woes on my new Jackson

Thanks for the suggestion. I promptly bought a copy off ebay, haha.