How To Straighten Your Guitar Neck & Cost Guitar Neck Adjust for

Truss Rod

Cost-Guitar Neck Adjust is only $45 to get it perfect!

Straighten your guitar neck

How to straighten your guitar neck with an adjustable truss rod  at the head stock

Cost-Guitar Neck Adjust is not much. Your guitar neck should be kept fully adjusted.

The neck of your guitar is adjustable and we’ll do it for $45.  It has been made of selected hardwood, and it is kiln-dried to insure proper curing.  The adjustable rod both strengthens the neck and facilitates adjustment of a bowed neck.

Because all guitar necks are subject to great stress as a result of string tension and seasonal change, there are times when a neck could take on a slight bow (or warp) or neck hump.  This will rarely occur.  However, if it does, there is no cause for alarm if you follow the procedure below for proper correction. 

Angled Head stock typical of adjustable truss rod location to Straighten Your Guitar Neck  (above)

Loosen all strings (it is not necessary to remove strings from guitar). To  straighten your guitar neck pull loosened strings to one side so free access to neck adjuster can be gained.

Remove cover (if it has one) so neck adjuster is exposed.  Generally it’s an Allen screw or a hex nut.

Sight down the neck from the tuners (as sighting a down the barrel of a rifle) in order to see just how much of a bow or hump the neck has taken.  Hold the neck up at eye level and sight along the edge of the fingerboard on both treble and bass sides.  It best to place a straight edge on the neck during this process. There are special ones made with cut outs for the frets called a Notched Straightedge below.

Straighten your guitar neck

 If neck is bowed, tighten the adjustable nut  clockwise    

 If neck has hump, loosen the adjustable nut  counter-clockwise

Adjusting the guitar truss rod to straighten your guitar neck

Place Allen key or hex  wrench on guitar neck adjustment nut and turn very gently (small fractions of a turn at a time).  Keep checking the neck as you proceed with each nut turn.  Once the neck is straight give the adjustment nut a very slight added turn to compensate for the tension the loose stings will add once they are installed and tuned.  TIGHTEN  for ” BOW ” and LOOSEN  for HUMP. 

 Special Note: Be careful not to tighten the nut too much  ( i. e. when it becomes hard to turn ), because it could result in stripping the threads or perhaps even breaking the truss rod.

Below: see example of a end of the guitar neck Heel or Butt end type-truss rod adjustment 

Adjustments at the butt end of the neck

 Also, on certain models of Solid Body Guitars the adjustment of the truss rod is made at the lower end of the fingerboard called the Heel or Butt  End. The procedure of adjustment on those is same as above, follow the same pattern of correction as outlined.

Also, if there is string buzzing after you are certain the neck has been straightened, locate the fret at the playing position that causes the buzz. Lower the fret by gently tapping with hammer.  Finally, file fret down, level and re-crown it.