Where is truss rod on guitar

The photos below show a lengthwise cross-section of a Taylor guitar neck, revealing the truss rod inside. Action, which refers to the distance between the strings and the neck—informally, how difficult it is to press down the strings to play the instrument—is often the first thing a seasoned guitarist will test when playing a new guitar.

If, say, you attempt to use the truss rod to correct a low neck angle with the strings too high off the fretboard , you could overcompensate and end up with fret buzz.

There are a lot of myths and scary stories about adjusting the truss rod. Modern guitars have working, stable truss rods. The truss rod is in the neck so that the neck can be adjusted. Sight down the neck of your guitar from the headstock, checking for any bowing in the middle of the neck.

Turn it anti-clockwise and you will loosen the truss rod allowing the strings to pull the neck into a forward bow. Some forward bow is needed for sure. Use the 0. For this player who is using standard tuning and 0. Feed the feeler gauge in between the string and 7th fret. Make sure the feeler gauge can pass without lifting the string up. Doing it by eye is a handy technique for you, too, so you can quickly check pre-gig if your neck is out of whack.

Choosing the relief setting is in part down to personal preference based on your playing style. A hard hitter will need more gap maybe 0. Operation truss rod is complete! A large bow can be frustratingly uncomfortable to play, while a straight neck with slight relief can feel amazing. If you find that your guitar is harder to play in some areas of the fretboard than others, then you might want to check the relief of your neck.

Action is the height of the strings over the frets. The greater the distance, the higher the action. Every guitarist has a different preference when it comes to action. Some guitarists prefer the lowest action possible strings very close to the frets , while others are happy with higher action.

When you want to adjust the action on your guitar, you need to consider both your truss rod and your bridge. For example, if you want low action, you want to start by adjusting your truss rod to get it straight with slight relief. This slight relief prevents fret buzzing. Then you can make further adjustments to action with your bridge. The key point to remember with action is that too much action affects intonation explained next and too little action can create fret buzzing.

Find out more about action in this Ultimate Guide to Guitar Action. The guide explains how action affects playability, how to measure action and how to adjust it on acoustic or electric guitars. Intonation is how in-tune your guitar is across the fretboard. Intonation is mainly controlled from your bridge, but adjustments you make to your truss rod can affect intonation.

The red line and arrow show how far the string needs to be pushed to reach the fret. That extra distance creates extra tension in the string, which will push the note out-of-tune. This means the lower fretted notes and open strings will sound in tune, but as you move up the neck, the notes will gradually become out-of-tune. A slight relief in the neck creates low action in the higher frets while preventing fret buzz in the lower frets. Low action can create better intonation. The key point to remember with intonation is that any adjustments you make to your truss rod can affect intonation.

So if you do adjust your truss rod, check your intonation and make further adjustments from your bridge if you need to. Find out more about intonation in this guide. The guide includes step-by-step diagrams and tips on how to properly adjust intonation. For all other types of guitars steel-string acoustic, electric, bass , you should expect it to have a truss rod. You can tell if a guitar has a truss rod by checking at either end of the neck for either a truss rod cover or direct access to the truss rod.

Some guitars provide access to a truss rod on the headstock, while others provide access on the guitar body. Some of the above guitars use a truss rod cover to hide the truss rod. If your guitar has a plastic cover on the headstock with a screw holding it in place, behind it will be the truss rod. Acoustic guitars typically provide access to the truss rod through the sound hole, but some provide access on the headstock, so check both areas on your guitar.

The above photo shows a wheel you insert a truss rod tool into to make adjustments. Now that you understand what a truss rod is, how it works, how it affects playability, and where to access yours, we can look at how to adjust it.