Gibson Truss Rod Adjustment Direction

The truss rod adjustment on a gibson les paul is done using its brass nut at the headstock end of the neck located under the truss rod cover funnily enough.

Gibson truss rod adjustment direction.

Different manufacturers put them in different places but they re usually at the headstock under a cap just behind the nut or where the neck joins the body just under. It also shows you which direction you should turn your tru. A little truss rod adjustment goes a long way as you can see by measuring your string height before and after with a string action gauge. When making truss rod adjustments i first assess the instrument s action and playability along with the players aggressiveness and playing style.

Starting with a dead flat neck i increase neck relief slightly until the instrument plays without buzzing. You can adjust the truss rod with a nut located at one end. Whichever setup you prefer a straight neck is a good starting point. Got annoying fret buzz.

Loosening a truss rod turning counter clockwise adds relief to decreases tension on the neck which results in increased higher string action height. The neck of most guitars has what s known as a truss rod which is a one or two piece adjustable metal rod that goes down the inside of the center of the neck. This video shows you how to eliminate it by a simple truss rod adjustment. When adjusting a truss rod in either direction you are changing the force applied to the rod.

Your guitar must be tuned to pitch using your preferred gauge of strings when you do this and under tension or it simply won t be correct. Truss rod adjustment of a solid body electric guitar like a gibson les paul. If you don t the nut can be damaged when you try to turn the wrench. An old school truss rod bolt at the bottom of the neck image credit.

The types of forces that act on a truss rod are compression tension and torque. To reduce the amount of relief and make your guitar a little easier to play you ll want to tighten the truss rod or turn the truss rod nut clockwise. Push it all the way in. With a properly functioning truss rod you probably won t need more than 1 8 turn in either direction to get what you re after.

That is why truss rod adjustments are normally done in conjunction with a set up.