In this episode I repair a neck that had little to no relief AFTER loosening the truss 100%. It takes patience and time but it can be done and the results are permanent.
Update: I used your method and it corrected the back bow. I heated the neck for 10 hours straight. As the neck heated up I constantly tightened the strings when they started to lose tension. I also gently applied pressure on the neck by hand every hour or so. The results were stunning. Thanks a bunch for this video. It saved my guitar from the trash heap. I can string the guitar with 9's now and have relief to spare.
Great instruction! If it hasn't been said, I thought about putting a metal riser nut (like for Hawaiian/Raised string slide style conversion) over the existing nut. This would keep the larger wound strings from cutting into smaller string slots. The additional temporary nut height may help with the pulling tension as well. Have you had success with one piece maple Fender necks, with the walnut filler strip in the backside?
I like this method, i have seen many people using irons & clamps and weights and all manner of methods, this seems nice and gradual giving alot of chance to measure progress and bring things into alignment under string pressure.. Thanks
I kept seeing heart pads used but your the first to tell me one in particular that will work for this, was worth a subscription, thank you, dealing with this issue now lol
THANK YOU! I've spent my entire practice time for the last 2 days trying to increase the relief on my Epiphone LP Custom Adam Jones Signature (Veil of Bees if anyone is wondering which one). I thought I was going to have to take it in to the shop to get it fixed or return it if I couldn't get it fixed. I reached the point where it felt like it was about to be so loose the screw/bolt or whatever the heck is in there was going to come out completely so I was scared that was going to be a serious problem. I have searched google, RU-vid, Epiphone website, etc. and your video is the first one I've seen that mentioned it might be a dual action rod and to keep loosening cause it'll grab tension again. I'm so relieved but honestly a little embarrassed and mad at myself for wasting all my practice time! So, again, thank you very much!
I just want to say 'Thank you!' Using your method, and getting tips from the comments, I was able to straighten out a backbow on a '62 Jazzmaster that had bugged me for years.
Great idea. I had severe backbow in a ibanez replacement neck with the truss rod completely loosened until it stopped. I found when I applied some pressure to add some relief I was able to loosen it some more and gain some relief. Not sure if it had a double truss rod, it was a MIC jem neck.
Thanks for the video. I have a 40 year old Flying V, my first guitar, with this issue. I followed your steps over 3 days and it put some relief in the neck. We will see what happens now that I put normal strings on it. Worst case I will do this again but leave it for a week.
String tension will add the relief needed; that is how single-action truss rods work. String tension will add too much relief. I have worked on and built guitars for decades, and the goal, without strings, is a neck as flat as Florida (the most flat state in the union). When leveling the frets, a straight neck is correct; use a notched straight edge.
Dan Erlewine has another fix that can be used but it will not work on a hollow body so essentially if you have a les Paul or set neck type guitar you will get a rectangular piece of carbon fiber 1/4-inch-thick route the back of the neck out similar to how a fender neck has the rosewood strip then you need a jig to set the straightness of the neck flatten the fretboard out and use a radius block make sure it's perfect refret with stainless frets because you won't ever be able to refret the guitar again because once all the steps are done it will have a permanent neck profile after gluing in the strip of carbon fiber thank god in this case it worked for you
Was about to try and steam and clamp my bass guitar neck because I didn't realize I had a "two way truss rod". This video literally just saved me a ton of money. Subscribed good sir! Thanks
@Syd McCreath It took me 6 attempts to come up with some sort of reply, simply because of your irrational use of caps lock and misunderstanding of literally a single word, is leaving me extremely confused. Have a good day, random internet stranger.
Actually, if you bring all the bridge sadles to the same position, you should be able to use identical gage strings and tune them to have uniform tension all across.
yeah, thats cool! i have a 66 musicmaster neck, refretted, it's totally straight and impossibile to get some upbow that it needs... maybe the frets are to big in the slots! unsure if i do this or refret it...
I once had a guitar with too much relief. What I did to it was I just left all the strings loose and placed the guitar in case with silica gel for 1-2 weeks. You can use a guitar dehumidifier as an alternative to silica gel. I don't know if this method works all the time but it surely did for me.
I have one like that. Loose rod but still not enough relief. I'd like to dress the frets, trouble is, I'm scared to straighten the neck in case it doesn't slacken off again! 😂
Might sound like a stupid question... but why would you want to try and guess the tension?... Can't you just tune them all up to an A 440 (or lower) for example ? Ha ok lol, i've just realized why while I was typing this question, this is in the case where you don't know the string gauge of each string i'm guessing ? But I guess if you use all 42 for example you just tune them to the same pitch... Anyways good idea the heat belt, coz you can't find those specialized fretboard heaters anymore (well not in my country anyways). I've had an SMO fat that doesn't have enough relief (I think it's because the maple is so hard) and I was trying to find a heat solution, this sounds good and not expensive.
I have a Tele reissue that has the treble side closet to the headstock a bit higher than the bass side. Can I essentially put thicker strings on the bass side ie:48- - - - 42 before putting the heat wrap on too twist the neck back giving me more clearance on the treble side again?
Aren't strings guaged to hold equal tension across the board? Why do you think smaller strings hold less tension? It's the player who sets the tension, not the string guage.
The amount of tension required to bend the neck snaps the thinner strings. You are probably cranking them 3 notes higher depending on how much relief you need to add.
I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for posting it. I found a Sunbeam heating pad, but can't get my strings to stay in the nut slots (wound E won't fit in high E slot and keeps sliding off). Do I just need to use smaller strings at each side? I would love to try this. Thank you.
The strings don’t have to stay in the slots at all for this part. They only need to supply the tension for this fix not playability. Hope this helps. Let me know if it worked for you. Thanks for watching.
Great video! Question: would this method work with a slightly warped neck (bit more relief on the unwound strings)? As you put equal tension on the neck using 6 identical strings?
How many times a day were you running it? I know you said 2 hour intervals. Does that mean you're leaving it on for 2 hours, leaving it off for 2 hours, then turning it back on, and doing this like 3 or 4 times until you go to bed?
Also what gauge string should I use? I have 11s on a Tele now, but I might get 2 sets of 10s for this experiment. P.P.S. When you say to let let cool under string tension, do you mean the strings we put on to do this, or the strings that would normally go on it?
I bought a brand new bass guitar for 1200 dollars, I don’t really know much about guitars. I bought it for studio use. I find out after the return period was over that my friend told me the neck was so severely back bowed that it would have to be removed to be straightened. I really want to do your method, but I’ve never even changed strings before. Could this work on a bass, and if so what other resources should I check for any other knowledge I need for doing this?
how longer sunbeam flex fit did you use. just that there's a couple of sizes 36" & 42" ((edit)) I just spotted you used the 42". Woul It be possible to use the 32" or would you suggest the longer wrap?
Hi, great video. I've a similar problem but with the bend being the other way. How would you deal with a guitar with too much relief - more than I can remove with the truss rod?
i am more surprised to hear you guys throw your guitar like i have got a guitar which is like the string is way up towards the sky and he neck is like way down on the earth its like heaven and earth but still it works so no being choosey
Will that work on the other relief bow my old gretsch country classic is a 30 year old guitar and the neck is warped it frets out on fret number 8 or 4th dot on neck. sub to your channel.
It will work in any situation without damaging any guitar. This process only applies to a "back bow" where you are not getting enough relief on the neck. If you have a neck with too much relief then you would have to make a clamp to pull it back the other way. This guy is one of the BEST builders on RU-vid and he has an excellent video addressing this method (Freddy Gabrsek) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1v5i8sEJ2LQ.html Hope this helps and thanks for the sub!
Hello, thanks for sharing. This looks great. Question, it's been a while since you posted the video, do you know if the guitar kept the setup? if it was a lifetime solution, it is amazing! Well done!
@@s.h.guitarworks3309 Thanks for your follow up. I did it in my Les Paul, a very nice guitar, so I was a bit concerned. I bought the same warm pad that you used, and left it on the bench for four days, it worked great and 3 months later is still holding the setup. Thank you man!! PS: As you stated, very important to have the same tension in all the strings. Thanks again.
hey mate! such a nice video it helped my guitar a lot!!! great job thank you for it! :) but may I have a question? after this, I feel like my guitar strings are tight, or "stiff" in the same tuning what I used before. with the same gauge ofstrings. I tried new strings, with straight neck and nice action. I tried everything, but my strings just feels "stiff". I dont know what to do. . where can be the problem? thank you for every help
I have never encountered this issue on the same instrument. I have felt the difference when changing guitar scale lengths (Fender to PRS or Gibson etc) I guess if you fixed the severe backbow with this method your guitar could feel like a whole new instrument now that it is decent spec.
Yes, it is the same, just make sure you don't put too much pressure on the neck joint. If you see any lift or cracking, you may have to go a different route.
I left the heat on in 2 hour intervals for 3 days. May have been overkill, but since I couldn’t keep it running constantly I felt the more the better. How much relief are you looking to gain?
@@s.h.guitarworks3309 it's a similar situation as your video. With the truss rod completely loose and strung with 11's it's barely enough relief. I would like to use 10's and be able to engage the truss rod so it won't rattle.
You probably have a couple of high frets past the 12th. You will need a fret rocker to check each one and you’ll have to file and re-crown the offending article.
Why? Is there a significant danger of delamination? I'm finishing building a Firebird-style neck-through with a 9-ply laminate, and have to correct the backbow before I can level the frets. This seems a reasonable approach.
Has it been 9 minutes and 37 seconds already? Cause it felt like about a fucking hour. I could have went, had the neck adjusted, picked up lunch, came home And this video would still be going
@@s.h.guitarworks3309 I'll take even more time to leave a comment on your comment! I'll keep this going for the next 40 years. Also, I got the neck fixed.
