How to Measure Neck Relief and Adjust your Truss Rod 

I am a retired teacher and understand how hard it is for some to get their point across to students - that is the difference - u sir have that elusive quality of getting ur point across and making it easy to apply - thanx❤

I rarely comment on youtube videos but I just have to say thank you! As someone with adhd this was honestly the straight up easiest video to understand that I've found, great structure and very clear instructions. You got my brain to fully focus for 18 minutes straight while taking notes, that's very impressive haha! Great work!

Been watching various videos the past day or two on adjusting truss rods, setting action, and intonation. I watched this one entirely through. Great job explaining it. Very thorough and you're a great teacher!

Thank you so much. I’ve been playing for 15 years and I didn’t realize how much a guitar’s set up manners until now. Drastic improvement.

Fantastic explanation! Way more clear than any other tutorial I’ve seen, plus no pushing of any products like half of these other guitar tutorial channels.

Nailed it. Thank you sympathetically explained. Exactly the video I was looking for.

I have been looking into a ton of videos on this topic! This however was easy to understand and you just have a pleasant way of explaining things. Thank you!

Amazing video Kev, amazing couple videos actually. Hands down the best break down on adjusting the neck that I’ve seen… and I’ve watched a bunch before I came across yours. Now I don’t have to search anymore, and can fix my guitar and get back to playing. Thanks so much, appreciate it!

You sequenced and timed your instructional steps masterfully.

Thanks for your advise. I never did uit before but I will do it now.

Great video. Clear information and instructions, plus the "why" in addition to the "how" will help me retain the information. Just the right amount of humor too. Thanks!

Great explanation! Thanks for the detailed information. Very interesting and useful, I’ll try it on my Tele soon!

Thank you for providing concise information is a short span of time. Back to the bench to set up all my guitars.

Excellent - so many videos on the subject of guitar setup - this was the best on setting neck relief.

the best truss rod video I found so far. amazing work

This was so easy to follow - thanks for the video

Best explanation I've seen regarding truss rod!!!

Excellent and clear explanation.Thank you.

Clearest video I've watched on this... Thanks.

I am so grateful to have come across your video. Very brave and clear. I am sure this also applies for any electric bass specs. All the Best!

What a great video! I always wanted to try doing this and these steps are really simple. thanks man.

I've watched both the Gibson and Stewmac videos on this subject. Yours is by far the best and most clear.

That was the best lesson on truss rod's for how to adjust in my opinion, Thanks from the UK....

literally the best vid on this subject, I was stressing a lot but u helped me remove all fret buzz from Ibanez 2405 custom shop which has had the buzz for years. Thanks.

Hey Kev , your clearly a true teacher as you kept me glued though the whole video. Thanks so much for sharing your experience & wisdom here I certainly enjoyed your style & have learnt some valuable lessons here

Love your style fella! Thanks for the vid.

Nicely done!

Great video! Many thanks!

You are a great teacher ! I shared with friends !

Thank you for providing this explanation along with the video on string action. I have always had this truss rod fear because of the so called experts that tell me to only leave truss rod adjustment to the luthier. The relief is now at 0.20 feeler gauge and action at 2.0mm. Plays really smoothly 👍☺️

Many thanks Kev, this was so helpful. And took the mystery, away about adjusting a truss rod. you explained measurements are so important I have now dug out , a set of "feeler gauges" Best wishes

I have watched multiple videos and didn't quite get it, especially in fear of ruining my instrument, but this video was very informative and well explained. Thank you so much for posting this video!

Very well explained video. Thank you.

Excellent teacher; excellent video.

One time i adjusted my neck on a squier. Days lafer it started cracking and then just cracked all over. Ive stayed away from it since. Lately i decided im going to learn how to do set ups properly. After all the research ive done for weeks i decided tonight to not bother and just pay someone to do it for me. Luckily i came across this video of you teaching this for idiots and now im back in the game and feel confident enough to do my fender. And now i know why my neck cracked on the squier. Because i was pushing it when it was tight! So thank you, you have an extra like and sub!

thanks. very informative and a nice quick reference for my general maintenance. too many guitars on hand to pay someone else

Awesome 😊 and this is how all instruction videos should be made.

I must admit I was suss seeing so many videos on utube on neck relief , but got a pleasant surprise seeing yours on the relief of guitar neck and it was very well presented and very informative , and detailed . I also like the fact you pointed out that there's a good preference number-- the magic number 0.20mm .I think waiting 30min after each turn , may be a good idea given the hoopla i read . I like to see yuo do a video on frets finding and ,fixing bad ones . A Very good video .

Thank you!

excellent

this is great. thanks!

Good video! Thank you!

Really great video. I was terrified to touch my guitars. Cost me a fortune with setups over the years. Watched a lot of videos on this topic but I think this is one of the best. Thank a lot!!

Ok first off, thanks for this video, I’ve only been playing a matter of days but I was aware the was something not quite right , after watching this I measured and altered the neck relief from .40 to your recommended .20 with great confidence and it’s playing a lot better. One a lot happier Strat owner😊

I enjoyed the heck out of that. I took my brand new Fender American Ultra Stratocaster to the luthier in my city for a setup. He has had it a week. I think I will go get it and set it up myself. Thanks

You’re awesome! Thank you sir!

What can i say? İ followed this guide , My guitar came alive. You the professor made my day, wish you have a nice sweet week!! Thanks a bunch!!!!

Thank you so much! This is so informative. I just bought a guitar and wanna do my own setup 🩵🩵🩵🩵

I just followed this to adjust my Gretsch, changed from 10-46 to 9-42 to try them out and was getting lots of string rattle which I did not have with the other strings, but to my surprise I had to tighten my neck as my gap with the new strings was about .4. I thought the neck would bow down with thinner strings like a U, but mine seemed to bow up like a n. Anyway, at .2 now and no rattle. Thanks for the video.

Thanks!

Thank you. I was always told to baby the truss rod.

This is such a good video, omg .

Hey Ralph Macchio is teaching us how to adjust the truss rod. The Karate Kid plays and fixes guitars! Daniel-Son.

Although there are several videos on truss rod adjusment on YT, this video is the one that really helped me, because other videos don't tell you the numbers (use a business card etc.). Your instructions and explanations are very clear and even a dummy can understand them. I have the measurement tool on order, can't wait to setup my guitars the right way! I cannot thank you enough, sir! Subscribed at once.

This video is very helpful with a good explanation. Is there a video on how to adjust the bridge for string action if the neck relief is ok?

I've seen your other neck relief videos, and even though I previously understood the concept, after watching those I felt like I REALLY understood. Like before I technically understood what I was doing but after your videos I understood WHY I was doing it and not just going through the motions or just simply setting it to a prescribed dimension. I've found on Gibson type guitars I like about 0.010" (0.25mm) relief regardless of my playing style (light or heavy) but I've never really tried less. I'm going to try 0.008" (0.2mm) on one and see how it feels. On Fender type guitars, I like about 0.20-0.25mm for guitars I play with a light touch (T-types) and 0.30-0.35 for ones I play with a heavier touch (S-types). With the S-types I've tried going back to 0.2mm but it never feels right to me and I end up putting it back to 0.30-0.35mm. Thanks for this information!

11:56 that true. I rembemr having an Ibanez many years ago, i bought it while still kinda new at Guitars and havent noticed that the Neck was literally bent like a Banana.. My unlce who play guitars said the nack is catastrophal and fixed the Neck with turning the truss road multiple times in one Go.. After the adjustement the Neck waas traight and my playing was much better.

Subscribed! Wow thank you for the detailed insight, I have some Harley Benton guitars that do not have specifications for them. Being that they are copies of say Tele and 335 their lengths and build are a bit customized so as to not directly copy the originals. This was confusing me. Thank you again!

Thanks, I have an acoustic martin guitar according to your instruction I have to give it a lot of neck relief because even 1.5 mm touches the string but do I really need to give neck relief when I am happy with the action and there is no buzzing fret? Is this a must-do process for set up?

Where can I buy the feeler gauges you used that go down to the .2 mm thicknesses and have the in between sizes ? thanks, HAL

Nice video. Do you find the string gauge impacts setup? I’ve played 10’s for awhile but feel 9’s are just so much more comfortable but I’m buzzing more. Feel like I need to raise the action even though it’s a thinner string.

Thank you very much for all these videos! Question: Do I need to loosen the strings if I need to tighten the truss rod?

Hi @DrKevGuitar I have a problem with my guitar,it sound good,but the 11 fret the E-D-G string buzz a lot,only on the 11 fret.I dont know if is the truss rod,but I guess so.I'm trying to adjust it,but I have to put lot of force to move it so I'm afraid to breack it and I had given up udjusting it.Please any advice? p.s.Sorry for my bad english :) Anyways Thanks for your video,Blessing!

Do you have the neck relief mesuarements for bass guitar neck?

Great video, run for your life, Its going to blow. You explained the truss rod very well, easy to understand and a few laughs along the way. Doing a set up on my 2004 Fender Players Strat. Have to go out and get some saddle screws because some are stripped over the years. I am going to do this myself. I almost had it but am not satisfied with the buzz i am getting. Ray, Oklahoma

Tell me an easier way to work with a wraparound bridge .

Thanks so much! I was so worried because before i started to educate myself I turned the truss rod tight and then too lose and I thought I screwed up the guitar. Then I learned a bit and moved it to what felt right and the action is good and the truss rod isn’t tight anymore. I do have a question. I did raise the height of the 6 th string by adjusting the individual saddle height thing Should I put it back lower and then test using your method ? Or doesn’t it matter as long as the guitar feels good to me ? Thanks

Great video Man, thanks. So neck relief is not influenced by the action? I mean if you adjust the action after setting n relief at 0.2mm will that stay at 0.2 even if you change action hight?

Question… if I have the manufacturer specs, could I just dial in to the measurement straight away? Great video! Just subscribed. Thank you

By far the best neck adjustment video on YT. I have a question. I bought a cheap import maple neck with maple fretboard and spoke wheel from eBay. I can’t get the neck to give any relief even under exaggerated tension. It’s dead flat when truss rod is at its loosest position. I’ve spent quite a few hours leveling and dressing the frets, adjusting the bridge and shimmed the heal in tiny increments numerous times. I even added threaded inserts to reduce screw hole damage from taking the neck off and on so many times. My relief can’t get anything under 4.0mm at the 7th fret as instructed. Should I cut my loss and consider this neck trash or is there a way to fix this?

Dumb question. But other than a feeler gauge is there anything else i could use to get a rough estimate of the relief. Awesome video btw!!

Why my guitar(ibanez gio rgr170dx) have buzzing issues even if the the relief is about 3..to 4 mm at the 12th fret ??? What should i do

Good vid, one point I would add, particularly easy with spoke adjusters, mark it with a Sharpie so you know where you started. Sometimes the neck will change a little over a few days, quite normal, so worth re-checking.

Where to find manufacturers recommendations?

Hi, should you measure when in tune?

Sometimes I simply forget to loosen the strings before I tighten the rod to reduce neck relief. Probably safer approach would be to slacken strings to reduce string tension before you attempt to tighten a truss rod.

Neck relief was dark magic for me until I saw this. Is there a chart of your guide measurements I can download for reference?

So you only have to check the big E string as far as neck relief is concerned?

Where can I find the thin feeler gauges you use that go down to .2 mm ? thanks Hal

Do you advice to retune the guitar after each adjustment and before measuring, so the string tension is exactly the one you will have when playing?

Which fret to measure gap on 24 fret guitar? Is body fret where neck joins body, or where neck is thickest?

Dr Kev…great stuff…we know we’re asking a lot of the trussrod to move the wood of a neck…so how can it work with these necks that have graphite reinforced rods ??…I don’t see how a trussrod could move those…just wondering!!!!!

it is nesseary to loosen the strings when adjusting the truss rod?

Hey Kev, is it important to retune your guitar after each truss rod turn?

How do I know if I have to shim my neck?

On an acoustic guitar, if a truss rod breaks through accidentally over tightening, can they be replaced? I guess that would mean sending it to luthier?

0.10 is a great point to start. I've had necks that only require 00.5 but they are the exception which also allows for the lowest "action" if that is what you are looking for. You can have it "pleck'd" by a pro but it really all depends on what you're starting with how good it can be without a complete and pro refret/workover, and that's still no guarantee. Playing the instrument is the best way to whittle it down how good it is in that respect imho. I had a 73 SG {for 40+yrs} that was just off the deck all the way up and down its neck without buzz and sang beautifully. I have never had one that good since. Close but no cigar. {I regret selling it but had to at the time}. Perfection in guitars is far and few between. Presently, I have an Ibanez and a PRS that come close. Also, a custom-made Tele that rocks. They all have required much work/attention to get to that point. Still not quite up to the 73 SG. Other SG's I've tried can't compete, and I've tried a lot. The way it is in Guitar world. Play them all is my best advice. You can almost always improve the set-up from there for your preference.

What is the spec on a shorter scale?

One of the best demostrations! Maybe you can get a closeup more often? I personally tend to like a gap of 0,5 mm recently (which is 2 1/2 of yours 😲 ), like for example Mayonnes recommends for their Neck Relief, and a higher String Action of about 2,5 mm Bass Side/2 mm Treble Side (even for example recommended by a company like Mayonnes). This definitely gives you a waaaaaayyyyy more dynamic and rich full sound once you get accustomed to those kind of settings 🤗 BTW, maybe because of breakangle, the tuning stability is better too 😉

Damn fine video sir. I am off to buy a feeler gauge tomorrow.

Next goal string action

isnt the target neck relief dependent on the radius of the neck (so its not always 0.008)?

once the neck relief is at 0.2mm does that mean i can start lowering the action ? will i need more relief with a lower action? thanks

What about Bass Guitars? Same measurements?

I would have loved to see the difference in actual measurements when it was 2 in the playing position what it actually would have measured laying flat with gravity! Surely it can’t be much of a difference.

Does adjusting the neck relief affect intonation ?

So if you are adjusting the truss rod from the nut, you turn counter clock give less relief?? you did not make that clear

Shouldn't the guitar be tuned when adjusting? When tightening the truss rod, the strings are going sharp and creating more tension, no? So now that you have your measurement, won't it change once you reduce tension on the strings to get them back into tune? I'm guessing more adjusting will be required???

great video, im still afraid lol

Well on my planet the same I would recon as yours gravity doesn't push down on things......(implying a force pushing something down) in your case the earth is accelerating to the guitar more rapidly giving the illusion the guitar is falling (because last time I checked the earth has a greater mass than that guitar so the earth will move faster to the guitar as suppose to vice versa ) - thus holding it in the playing position makes sense to measure the relief, nothing 'pushing' on that guitar.......or at lease in my universe.