Building upbow into the guitar neck

www.stewmac.com/
If you turn the truss rod and nothing happens, the trouble could be have been built into the neck at the factory. The time to avoid it is when you glue the fingerboard on. Dan Erlewine shows how to fix this problem before it happens.
If you have questions, please contact us through our webpage www.stewmac.com... or visit our Facebook page / stewmac
For more information on tools and parts:
Behlen Ground Hide Glue
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Precision Straightedge
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Hot Rod Truss Rod
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Guitar Player Repair Guide
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Neck Relief Gauge
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Scissor Jack
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[@murrmac]

One of the best videos Dan has ever made IMO. This could seriously affect the sale of dual- action rods.

[@keithklassen5320]

Dual-actions are just a simple improvement with no downsides, no?

[@themodernguitarist]

@@keithklassen5320 I can't think of any issue except user error causing damage to the neck, truss rod, or both. I've seen some builders and repairmen hate on dual-action truss rods because of that lol

[@pizzaROX]

Protect this man at all costs

[@BeholdTheAshes]

Dan, you truly are a master of your craft.

[@ScienceofLoud]

This is simply fantastic info to have. I'll certainly be implementing this on future builds.

[@Voxboy876]

"isn't that cool?".....you sir are cool.

[@pivonroll]

I got a Hamer flying V with a bad neck bump from truss-rod being to tight. I could not loosen the rod because the nut was destroyed, worn off completely. So I had to remove the fretboard with an iron and spatula and remove old truss rod. The rod was so tight I am amazed it didn't break. It looked like a bow in full tension, no kidding. Now I am waiting for new truss rod to be delivered so that I can re-assemble the neck. This info was pretty valuable for me. Thank you Dan!

[@kjuhler]

I have prepared thousands of necks by hand and learned something new, thanks! We induced a up bow in a very stealthy way. When sanding the fretboard after mounting on the neck blank we noticed that the belt sander heated the ebony, it expanded and recoiled from the middle out. We then finished by hand sanding to the required radius using shaped blocks. The relief was "set" by the hot belt.

[@chopsddy3]

Wow! Great info. Not only is this video an excellent teaching tool, it's an equally relevant sales demo. I will aquire a relief gauge . Thanks.

[@thirtyeight4558]

Guys like you help even the pros beat the learning curve! Thanks Dan

[@RamblinAround]

A master at work...thanks Dan!

[@stevepethel6843]

Master of guitars in and out.PURE GENIUS

[@davidparr9353]

thank you Dan great advice on neck construction to prevent the backbow blues. parrs, guitars.

[@matthewdrake9699]

Cool... it’s amazing! This is one of the differences between handmade guitars and a lot of mass produced instruments i would say

[@stewmac]

You can really focus in on all the small details when building by hand to make the best guitar you can.

[@christianboddum8783]

I wish all necks were made this way.....so little effort, so much to gain.

[@Ibaneddie76]

This is great for single action truss rods I just don't see the point of using single action truss rods anymore, dual action save build time, make the neck more stable, and far more adjustable. I guess if you are building period correct guitars you would use single action although I've built a bunch of Gibson copies and always use dual action and a volute just behind the nut for neck strength.

[@5olas]

Beautiful work, thank you,for sharing.

[@kerrykrishna]

You never fail to amaze me Dan. What a great idea.

[@stevepethel6843]

Agree...thank God for Dan

[@lars667]

It was a super informal video, but I tried this on my second build, ie first set-neck build (korina flying v), and it turned out not so great. I should've gone the dual action truss rod route. I got the upbow alright, but it's almost impossible to get a straight neck or a slight backbow now. It moves mostly to the side(!). Probably did something else, wrong, but tried to fallow every sound advice, including creating a bow in the tr channel and inlay a corresponding bow in the "fillet". Next build will certainly be dual action.

[@nanaandbump.]

Would you recommend still doing this even if you have a dual action rod? Obviously the dual action rod can manipulate the neck both ways, just curious if there is some extra theory behind the concept that may make it a good idea still. Thanks again for sharing your expertise, Dan!

[@ParaBellum2024]

I have a single piece maple Strat neck that doesn't have enough up-bow for the truss rod to do its job. It's been on a stand in a centrally heated house, so I'm going to try rehumidifying it first, to see if that helps.

[@bronsonguidry1744]

Thanks for this video! I now know what's going on at least. I have a vintage Kramer that has a slight backbow when the truss rod is all the way loose, so, can't force an up bow with a single action rod. Any suggestions on how to fix this issue??? Thank you.

[@Matan2222222]

Thank you for this useful video! I have a 1974 Strat with about 0.010” relief at the 8th fret. I would like to get more relief but the truss rod just spins and nothing changes. I can only tighten the truss rod. Can I go up to 11-48 string gauge for a few months so the neck will have more natural bow and then go back to 10-46 gauge?

[@joshjenkinson1929]

Amazing! How would you build upbow into a one piece maple neck without the option of the fretboard being glued on under tension?

[@biochemistamr]

super great tip Is that a walnut neck?

[@jeffreymuckey2205]

Neat trick Dan!!! Love it!!!

[@tonyduncan9852]

That's a really useful tip. Thanks.

[@RLamarDuffy]

Neat tip, but then I got to thinking: This is easy to do if you're using a dual-action truss rod, but it also seems like it is probably largely unnecessary if you're using a dual-action truss rod. From your story, it sounds like it would be of most value to have this built-in upbow if you were using a single-action truss rod--but then you'd have no way to create the upbow in the first place before gluing on the fretboard. What am I missing?

[@robbourassaguitarist]

Great stuff.

[@johne7100]

Bicycle inner tubes work well if you can't find big rubber bands.

[@melexdy]

Im glad this is 3:36 long. why ? Because I can watch it without getting into details i cant understand :)

[@danielirvine7468]

Very good sir

[@ch0g0nda1]

Invaluable. Thank you.

[@zelejazz]

Congrats!

[@bassjeff2005]

So cool

[@TheGuitarShawn]

Making stealth use of that sliding camera rig!

[@CMCustom112]

Dan E and Janet J know all about CONTROL.

[@mareDBS]

Truss rod have to be in straight position when I use this technique?

[@nicoxstyle]

this is awesome! i learn a lot with your videos :D

[@wiggsan]

Awesome info!!

[@redrock1963]

Yes Dan, it sure is.

[@zal987]

Amazing!

[@li2ljay]

Great info , but what does one do for a guitar neck with a sraight neck when the truss rod is nutral ? With string tension I might add . How can one get relief in this situation ? Besides getting hefty strings that are hard to play . Thanks for any input from anyone ! Cheers

[@pffbh]

I had the same problem with a squier tele with a maple neck. I left the truss rod completely loose and kept the strings at playing tension , it took about a month as the action slowly but surely got higher. First I lowered the saddles by a 1/2 turn. After another week I noticed the action had raised a little more. At that point I was able to get a 1/2 turn tighten on the truss rod. Its stable and plays good now.

[@joshuaallen3984]

This is a really great idea. Where do you find the rubber bands like that? Anyone have suggestions?

[@dobrodave123]

You can use regular bands tied into each other for the same effect. Staples. Link up a bunch and go to town !

[@joshuaallen3984]

Good idea!

[@Keala10]

Joshua Allen another thing to do is get inner tubes from trucks and slice them into bands.

[@Keala10]

RDE Lutherie if you slice the tubes thinly, you can control how strong they are. Sometimes it's convenient to have longer loops, which you'll get from a truck tire.

[@12south31]

From Stew Mac

[@davefalk7093]

.023" good points to neck design,

[@PrinceWesterburg]

If I won the lottery adn just ordered one of everythign from StewMac, how big would the delivery truck be?

[@12south31]

Depends, will you also buy the new Stew Mac delivery truck?

[@wolandsmachine]

i have a bass and its neck is bent to the side therefor the highest string is somewhere between air and fretboard, how can i fix that?

[@brentbreault7606]

Volandark Side Throw it in the trast

[@12south31]

Take the fretboard off and re radius the neck so its flat again. Put the fretboard back on and clamp them in a perfectly flat jig for a few days. Good as new.

[@thebutton7932]

second set of reference holes are securing a bent neck to a straight fingerboard and will result in even further upbow . . the peghead push and glue alone should be enough . . this is not likeyou guys at all

[@bluedot6933]

seems easier just to use a duel truss rod.

[@eddieness03]

Can you use tight bond brand wood glue to attach fret board

[@onpsxmember]

You should add your website and f-book page in your YT-profile. If i go through your repair-jobs (which are really fun to look at) switching to the next page doesn't get me to the top of the next bit. Nice work on that 1927 nightmare. No work needed on the bracing?

[@onpsxmember]

Ha, I'm still on your site. I share your views on f-book. Only on there to stay in contact with some friends who don't use anything else (can count them off on one hand). I was just over your rescue from that "luthier"...holy shit. I'm into building guitars and for the past two years i just gather information and try to learn on cheap crap guitars to get some skills. It will take me years with prototypes and research to get there. You can put all the info you want on YT in the description of your channel including a picture for a background.

[@onpsxmember]

Still discovering your page. The bridge for that alvarez is just beautiful! It would take me more than a day to make one of those and it wouldn't be that good. Gonna try that material and the recess notch whenI do another one. I made one for a classical guitar. (Riccardo Montez...fake spanish name, produced for a french company in asia. It had this huge armrest-angle cut in the top that makes it so comfortable to play and I love the sound so GAS kicked in) The slot only allowed a straight saddle so I made one from bone to throw out the plastic one. The action was way high on the lower frets and i wanted to use the whole fretboard. Took me hours to sand it for a snug fit in width and the angle to lower the Strings. I had another saddle (that was 0,005 mm to thin...a few strokes too much on the sandpaper and not enough tries on the slot) which was helpful by lowering it until i knew exactly when the action would be too low for some strumming. I just added a bit of security to the second one. I want to make some nuts in the future. I'd really like to know your take on nutslot shape and how you measure to have the right height on the first frets (split pencil?) What tools do you use for the nutslots? The brass one with the veneer on the back fits so well. Just to be clear, I won't stalk you muhaha...I'm just glad i found your site and would like to pick your brain.

[@onpsxmember]

Could you unveil just what kind of oil you're using on a ll the cavities you seal? The same for all woods? Which one for maple and swampash? Since you've seen and done all sorts of repairs...have you ever taken apart 80's sealed gotoh tuners? I got some on a peavey T60 from 79 that seem to leak. cleaned them for hours but I'm afraid caps won't fit again if i have to force them out. One of the tuning knobs won't come off too. I don't want to use force and naphta, wd--40, ptfe-grease make no difference. I wouldn't ask you if I'd find any good information on the web for it. Nowadays everyone is just throwing the tuners away-.-

[@onpsxmember]

Thx for putting up with me and for the long, detailed answer. I'm gonna stay tuned on agnes. Violet and Gold always looks great. Gonna buy some tru-oil or give that stuff from Ben of Crimson Guitars a try. (Maybe it's crap...maybe worth a try. He's not in the BS-business like those tone-polish dirtbags. Maybe you'll like it too) Maybe I'll try to nag you once or twice a year if you're in the mood. Work on your website if you can find the time or delegate it. Your knowledge and work needs a better display. Thank you.

[@alext9067]

This is all very interesting to me. When i played guitar i must have been blind.

[@Eng202]

control!

[@moonloop6]

If you have a backbow with the truss rod completely loose, like you mentioned, is there anything else you can other than leveling the frets with a back bow on the neck? I have old Jackson SL1 with that kind of a problme and would like to get it sorted out one way or another.

[@dimitheodoro]

you sat that is more natural to see a backbow rather than a upbow after years in a guitar??how can this happen??the tension of the strings helps upbow...why adding more upbow???

[@Turdsplosion]

Guitars have tension in the neck to act against the string tension, so the neck naturally wants to move into a backbow. Creating the neck with an upbow before setting the tension to act against the strings makes sure after the neck naturally bends into a backbow, you have more wiggle room to adjust forward.

[@Kurecify]

upbow is not backbow. you are confused

[@pfbrodriguez]

Stew mac has no wood for 25 1/2 scale...

[@Anson120]

Gibson should watch this! They make horrible necks! I own two and they are cut different. The truss rod nut is made of brass for the soft metal,but every time it is adjusted the nut scars and deforms. The truss rod nut on my SG looked 100yrs old too! Boo gibson

[@apinakapinastorba]

Or, just use a modern rod.

[@murrmac]

Or, maybe *not* use a "modern" rod, by which I assume you mean a dual-action rod. These dual-action rods are way heavier, and they sit doing nothing if and when the neutral axis is reached. The single action compression rod is a far superior method (when properly installed), The tension of the rod is equally matched by the tension of the strings, making for a balanced neck.

[@apinakapinastorba]

murrmac How much heavier is the double action truss rod?