ES 135 Neck

[guitarlos00]

Howdy,

 

Can a neck twist on a guitar? The low E A D strings seem to be higher and the other 3 strings. You can really see this when you look down the neck from the body of the guitar. It's blueburst with 57's pickups and a "stop" tail. I have had this since 2003 and this seems to be a new thing, or should I say "twist".

 

Thanks

[guitarlos00]

Can it be that the neck pick up slanted up higher on the low E A D strings?

 

Thank you.

[BigKahune]

.

Gibson specs call for the bass strings to be higher off the fretboard than the treble strings - a normal situation. If they are too high, you can adjust the bass side of the bridge lower with the thumb screw.

 

 

If the neck is twisted, you should be able to see the twist when you look down the neck, like this pic below - that would definitely be a problem -

 

[SamBooka]

Yep.. the pic above is a little extreme but it can happen.

 

My understanding is that if a neck is going to twist it is going to do it fairly soon after it is built. 7 years seems like quite a while.

 

A quick way to get an idea if this is the case: Set your truss rod so the neck is perfectly straight for the low E string and then check the high E and see if it is straigt as well.

[guitarlos00]

Yep.. the pic above is a little extreme but it can happen.

 

My understanding is that if a neck is going to twist it is going to do it fairly soon after it is built. 7 years seems like quite a while.

 

A quick way to get an idea if this is the case: Set your truss rod so the neck is perfectly straight for the low E string and then check the high E and see if it is straigt as well.

 

When I set the neck straight there is a bow on the high E string side of the neck and the low E string side is straight. However, I am not an expert by any means so I will do some measurements and get a better idea. This is the first trust rod that I have seen that does not use an Allen key to adjust.

 

Thank you guys for the advise!

[bobouz]

When I set the neck straight there is a bow on the high E string side of the neck and the low E string side is straight. However, I am not an expert by any means so I will do some measurements and get a better idea. This is the first trust rod that I have seen that does not use an Allen key to adjust.

 

Thank you guys for the advise!

 

In answer to your original question, yes, a neck can twist. It's possible your neck tension was set fairly loose from the factory, and over the years the neck may have settled into it's current position without you noticing any change until now. That said, for whatever reason I've seen a number of recent Gibsons from Memphis which exhibit this particular trait to a minor degree (slight bow on treble side, straight on bass side), and very few necks which appear to be absolutely dead on straight when viewed from the top of the headstock toward the back of the body. I would not consider your guitar's status as problematic unless it ends up effecting your ability to set up and intonate the guitar to your satisfaction. I sight the 3rd string at the 5th fret to set neck relief, while holding the string down at the 1st & 12th frets. Give the neck just a hair of relief (almost dead on straight) at the 3rd string, and if it's a bit more bowed on the high E side, it probably will be perfect in terms of avoiding fret buzz with super low action on the first & second strings. Now dial in your bridge height on the treble side. If the low E side is straight or has slight relief at this point, simply raise the bridge on that side till there's no buzz under normal playing conditions. Now tweak the intonation, and see what you've got. I suggest this as a starting point, because your particular playing style will need to be factored into the overall setup (most likely requiring further adjustments).

[guitarlos00]

In answer to your original question, yes, a neck can twist. It's possible your neck tension was set fairly loose from the factory, and over the years the neck may have settled into it's current position without you noticing any change until now. That said, for whatever reason I've seen a number of recent Gibsons from Memphis which exhibit this particular trait to a minor degree (slight bow on treble side, straight on bass side), and very few necks which appear to be absolutely dead on straight when viewed from the top of the headstock toward the back of the body. I would not consider your guitar's status as problematic unless it ends up effecting your ability to set up and intonate the guitar to your satisfaction. I sight the 3rd string at the 5th fret to set neck relief, while holding the string down at the 1st & 12th frets. Give the neck just a hair of relief (almost dead on straight) at the 3rd string, and if it's a bit more bowed on the high E side, it probably will be perfect in terms of avoiding fret buzz with super low action on the first & second strings. Now dial in your bridge height on the treble side. If the low E side is straight or has slight relief at this point, simply raise the bridge on that side till there's no buzz under normal playing conditions. Now tweak the intonation, and see what you've got. I suggest this as a starting point, because your particular playing style will need to be factored into the overall setup (most likely requiring further adjustments).

 

Thank you!