Fixing Badly Bows Necks
Source: Guitar Neck Repairs
Fixing Badly Bowed Necks:
Even though the guitar truss rod solves many neck adjustment issues, it carries its own baggage of problems in an of itself. Usually these problems are not the fault of the original installation or the truss rod itself, but of a poor repair job where an uninformed individual over-cranked on the truss rod, or used an improper sized tool to make the adjustment.
Badly Bowed Neck:
In a few instances you will encounter guitars with neck with and extreme amount of bow (almost all of the time this will be a concave bow because of the string tension). While it is possible to adjust some of this backward bow out of the neck with the nut allow, it is very possible to either break the rod or strip the adjustment nut.
Neck Bow Helper Jig
Source: Guitar Neck Repair
Use The Neck Bow Helper Jig:
In cases like this, I have found it useful to “help the rod out” by placing a jig on the fretboard, with the strings in tune. Have this jig notched to fit over the strings and have 2 contact points.
One point is near the nut and one is near the body of the guitar. Have a 3/4″ piece of plywood span over the 2 contact points.
Next you should position a neck-shape caul on the bottom of the neck. Place a Wooden Cam Clamp directly in the center of the jig and with the caul in place tighten the Cam Clamp sufficiently to take the bow out of the neck and hopefully you can create a slightly convex bow condition with the clamp.
With the clamp in position, tighten the rod – pretty tightly that is and releave the pressure of the clamp. Check the relief. Repeat as necessary.
Tags: adjusting neck relief, guitar neck, guitar neck repair, how to adjust a truss rod, truss rod adjustment
