L-00 Straight neck or bow ( truss rod)

[Parafin]

Fellas help me out. I was tightening truss rod for desire to have a straight neck on my brand new L-00 standard. Im a little worried because as I was tightening the rod I could hear the squeaky sound. I was tightening in small increments and not forcing it, but I could feel resistance and squeaky sounds. The neck is now straight or has a little backbow. My question is it dangerous to do that kind of adjustment, I mean is the neck suppose to be straight or not??? Help me, will you.? Thanks.

[Dave F]

I had the same issue with a newer SJ and as I usually do, I had the strings loosened when I did it. While the strings were loose, I backed off the truss rod nut, put a few drops of 3-in-1 oil on the threaded rod, ran the nut back and forth a few times then redid the adjustment. Squeak went away. 
Good luck and enjoy the guitar!

[Parafin]

4 minutes ago, Dave F said:

I had the same issue with a newer SJ and as I usually do, I had the strings loosened when I did it. While the strings were loose, I backed off the truss rod nut, put a few drops of 3-in-1 oil on the threaded rod, ran the nut back and forth a few times then redid the adjustment. Squeak went away. 
Good luck and enjoy the guitar!

Is your neck straight or backbowed? 

[zombywoof]

While I assume if you have a very light touch you can go with a totally straight neck. I find though I need a bit of forward relief.

A question for you guys who have more experience with Bozeman-made Gibsons than I.  Do they make the adjusting nut out of brass or steel?  Only reason I ask is I prefer brass because they are less likely to strip the threads on the steel rod.  May save you facing problems down the road.  Also, I use white lithium grease as lubricant when I need it.  But that may be because that is what I have always used with my Lionel trains so there is usually a tube lying around.

Edited August 2, 2022 by zombywoof

[Sgt. Pepper]

The neck is supposed to have “relief” in it, not be back bowed. 

[gearbasher]

This is my preference for neck bow. With the guitar in tune and capo on the first fret, I hold the high E string down at the fret that meets the body (for my J 45 that's the 14th)and looking at the fret midway between those two (for my J45 it's the 6th) I like to see a little daylight between the high E and that fret. So, it's just a little bit of relief for me.

Of course you really don't need a capo. You could just hold the string down at those positions using both hands.

Edited August 2, 2022 by gearbasher

[Dave F]

I put a .005” bow (not back bow) on mine. 
the nuts are brass

[Parafin]

I was just afraid of breaking the truss rod and 2800 dollar guitar, I have put some relief to the neck just to he safe, but now I have buzz when playing barre chords, which i ****ib hate, but don't want to break anything.

[slimt]

Trying to get the neck back to its original adjustment might take a while.  

 

[Dave F]

Unless something is way out of wack, I usually don’t adjust new guitars until they’ve had a year or so to adjust to the new surroundings. 

[Parafin]

24 minutes ago, Dave F said:

Unless something is way out of wack, I usually don’t adjust new guitars until they’ve had a year or so to adjust to the new surroundings. 

I shaved the saddle because it was to high, but just a little. My main concern is breaking the truss rod. My main question is HOW FAR can I tighten the truss rod and not breaking anything???

[Dave F]

My advice is to lube the nut and threads and loosen the strings then try it. From my personal experience ( I have broke one) the breakage happens when you try to advance the nut on the rod where there is no thread and twist the end of the rod off. This can happen on older guitars where the opposite end has dug into the wood and caused the rod to extend beyond its limits. Fighting too much string tension can also add stress. 

[jedzep]

Brand new!  WTF!  Take it to the Gibson dealer you bought from, unless it's an online sale, and start fresh with a proper setup.  Playing with the saddle height and neck angle is like starting in the middle.  Other specs will be thrown off and you'll be chasing comfortable action and string buzz endlessly. 

Maybe check out a YT tutorial on a setup from scratch to get a grasp of the geometry, then after it's adjusted correctly,  you'll be able to make subtle mods to suit your comfort zone.

Edited August 2, 2022 by jedzep

[zombywoof]

2 hours ago, Parafin said:

I was just afraid of breaking the truss rod and 2800 dollar guitar, I have put some relief to the neck just to he safe, but now I have buzz when playing barre chords, which i ****ib hate, but don't want to break anything.

 I broke a truss rod about two years ago.  It is a sound I never want to hear again.  Fortunately, once I figured out what I was doing the repair took only about 1/2 hour,  At this point though I would suggest it might be time to take the guitar to a repair shop and have the Pros from Dover deal with it.

[gearbasher]

2 hours ago, Parafin said:

I was just afraid of breaking the truss rod and 2800 dollar guitar, I have put some relief to the neck just to he safe, but now I have buzz when playing barre chords, which i ****ib hate, but don't want to break anything.

I think you will get more buzzing with a "flatter" neck. You should have some relief.

[slimt]

2 hours ago, Parafin said:

I shaved the saddle because it was to high, but just a little. My main concern is breaking the truss rod. My main question is HOW FAR can I tighten the truss rod and not breaking anything???

I think to replace a trussrod is about 600     

[jedzep]

Am I missing something?  Aren't we talking about a new L00? 

Imagine you bought a new car and it ran a little funky.  Would you whip out your tools and start adjusting things?  ( I know there's nothing to adjust on a modern car. )  No, you'd walk it on over to the dealer and have it set to run right.  Starting the process of correcting fret buzz by trying to adjust the neck angle is like decreasing a new car's idle speed to fix a braking problem.

Sometimes a nut slot is cut too low, or a fret isn't tucked in right, so a good luthier will run a process that will reveal the glitch in the process of setting it all back to flatline specs.  The seller owes you that.

[fortyearspickn]

I’d always heard , and adhered to, the old wives tale that you should only turn the nut a small amount and give the neck time to respond.  I never turn more than one half a revolution. And check the relief the next day.  

[egoidealmusic]

I'd echo what some others have said here in that unless it's wildly off give it a little time to settle into it's new environment.  It's amazing what even a week will do to a neck in a new setting (new heat, new humidity, etc.).  If it's still way off in a week, take it back to where you got it and either have them adjust it or return it.  You could have gotten a clunker, or it may just need to settle into its new home.

[zombywoof]

As has been said, it takes a guitar a bit of time to learn it is no longer a tree,

[Parafin]

Hahah yeah I get it. I guess the only thing I can do myself is to adjust it using the method of capoing 1st fret and 14th and on the 7th leave a thickness of a business card between fret and string on low E. That's the only measurement I could find to be specific.

[Leonard McCoy]

This might help:

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I have no idea what your level of guitar tech-dom is but there are people out there that are good at it. One thing is you don’t just get any guitar and start cranking on the truss rod to solve a problem.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[Jinder]

Okay-speaking as former guitar tech I’ll offer up a few bits of friendly advice:

1) You don’t want back-bow. Whoever told you that needs a swift slap in the marital potatoes. 
 

2) I’d imagine that the same person told you to check neck relief with a business card. Dude just earned himself a second wallop in the lovespuds. Please don’t do this. Business cards come in all shapes and sizes. Buy yourself some feeler gauges. Do not use anything other than feeler gauges. For an acoustic you want between .008” (eight thousandths of an inch) and .010” (ten thousandths of an inch) of relief, measured at the 7th fret on the low E string with a capo on the first and twelfth frets.

3) If your truss rod (or neck!) is creaking, stop cranking the nut. You’re going at it too hard and/or making too drastic an adjustment. Truss rods are tools for very delicate incremental adjustments which must be done very gradually. A quarter of a turn at a time is enough, and a neck can still be settling after an adjustment that small a day later. If you’re making big adjustments, you’ll forever be going back and forth trying to find the sweet spot, which is not good at all for your neck or the bond between your fretboard and neck. I’ve seen (and repaired) two guitars which have had fretboard separation due to aggressive truss rod adjustments. Just go gently and take your time. A quarter turn and give it a day to bed in. 
 

4) Don’t adjust your truss rod with the strings under tension. This is fairly obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people wail away on it with the strings on, stripping the nut threads or rounding off the nut flats in the process. Everything works better with the strings detuned or removed. 
 

5) if you are in ANY doubt whatsoever about what you are doing, take your guitar to a tech and have it professionally sorted out. Ultimately it’s far cheaper to pay for a setup than a setup and a new truss rod plus other repairs.
 

I hope this helps. If you’re still getting buzz with 8-10 thou of relief, your saddle is too low. 

[BluesKing777]

51 minutes ago, Jinder said:

Okay-speaking as former guitar tech I’ll offer up a few bits of friendly advice:

1) You don’t want back-bow. Whoever told you that needs a swift slap in the marital potatoes. 
 

2) I’d imagine that the same person told you to check neck relief with a business card. Dude just earned himself a second wallop in the lovespuds. Please don’t do this. Business cards come in all shapes and sizes. Buy yourself some feeler gauges. Do not use anything other than feeler gauges. For an acoustic you want between .008” (eight thousandths of an inch) and .010” (ten thousandths of an inch) of relief, measured at the 7th fret on the low E string with a capo on the first and twelfth frets.

3) If your truss rod (or neck!) is creaking, stop cranking the nut. You’re going at it too hard and/or making too drastic an adjustment. Truss rods are tools for very delicate incremental adjustments which must be done very gradually. A quarter of a turn at a time is enough, and a neck can still be settling after an adjustment that small a day later. If you’re making big adjustments, you’ll forever be going back and forth trying to find the sweet spot, which is not good at all for your neck or the bond between your fretboard and neck. I’ve seen (and repaired) two guitars which have had fretboard separation due to aggressive truss rod adjustments. Just go gently and take your time. A quarter turn and give it a day to bed in. 
 

4) Don’t adjust your truss rod with the strings under tension. This is fairly obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people wail away on it with the strings on, stripping the nut threads or rounding off the nut flats in the process. Everything works better with the strings detuned or removed. 
 

5) if you are in ANY doubt whatsoever about what you are doing, take your guitar to a tech and have it professionally sorted out. Ultimately it’s far cheaper to pay for a setup than a setup and a new truss rod plus other repairs.
 

I hope this helps. If you’re still getting buzz with 8-10 thou of relief, your saddle is too low. 

 

Hee heee, having trouble getting past your ‘love spuds and marital potatoes’.....😳

I am guessing the guitar was an online purchase, so too far to take it to the seller to adjust?

BluesKing777.