Hi, my les paul's neck is starting to bend because of the tension of the heavy gauge strings I put on it a long time ago (without setting it up first). What is this called: a bent neck? a warped neck? or a twisted neck? BTW, can this be fixed? is this a serious matter?
2007-12-16 10:28:36 · 4 answers · asked by jack b 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
You are going to want to adjust your truss rod if it's not playing well. This rod adjust how much "bend" the guitar neck has. Bend is NOT a bad thing. if there is no bend at all, the stings are too close to the frets and you can get buzzing sounds or worse, entire notes not being able to play. you will notice this in the winter months when the guitar shrinks because of lack of moisture in the air.
do a goggle search on truss rod adjustment. the bolt is located just inside the sound hole or on top of the head under a piece of protective plastic. Just takes a simple alan-wrench to make the adjustment.
be careful not to adjust it too much at a time. do a few turns (read up on which way to turn it) and let the guitar adjust to the new setting. you will probably have to re-tune it every time you do it. you can adjust it again in a few days.
BUT if your guitar is playing well and sounds good. let it go and keep strumming. go back to medium strings if you are worried. Elixir Nano - mediums are actually pretty heavy.
If all of this is confusing or seems scary. Take it to a quality guitar shop and have them do a truss rod adjustment for you. Your guitar will defiantly have better action, and will be easier to play.
Good luck and keep on pickin'
2007-12-17 04:47:26 · answer #1 · answered by sonny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most better guitars have a rod running the
length of the neck, whose tension can be
adjusted to compensate for such bending.
Do let a pro set this up for you.
It looks simple, and it is, but only if you know
what you're about.
2007-12-16 13:26:55 · answer #2 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really doesn't matter if your guitar neck is warped, bent, or twisted. It's screwed if it's any of those.
2007-12-16 10:31:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have no idea what it's called, but that's completely irrelevant. I would take your guitar to the closest guitar shop you live buy and ask them to look at it. They will probably just look at it for a second and reset the actions. They'll do this for free. You might want to buy some new strings, too.
2007-12-16 10:31:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋