Luthier Tips du Jour - Truss Rods - O'Brien Guitars

[@pls916]

Awesome video, one of the best installs i have seen on y-tube. Thanks

[@OBrienGuitars]

@ejSignStrat Single way or one way truss rods are for counter-reacting the tension of the strings. Which means they only "tighten"the neck as you put it. Double action truss rods go both ways.

[@stucrawford8858]

Great video! Really helpful - thanks for your work.

[@davidclink2032]

This is exactly what I needed to learn. Made several bodies and CBG guitars but wanted to know how to make a neck with a truss rod.

[@donovanlucibello6420]

Stellar, Robbie, as always!

[@OBrienGuitars]

You can install with or without the shim, whether you access it from the body of peghead end of the guitar.

[@wdcustomguitars5336]

Amazing video

[@OBrienGuitars]

You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@IggyFunk]

Hi there, just a quick question...is the shim glued to the top of the truss rod and the sides of the channel? Cheers

[@fontanaguitarrist]

thanks your video is gold to me!

[@TheFacelessBrain]

For a double-action truss rod accessible at the peg head, do you have to have the filler strip of wood?

[@sickofit9247]

no

[@todrrez]

Amazing video. Thank you so much.

[@DerredmaxTRIAX]

very well done, thank you for the great tips

[@agnellone]

Great video! Thank you very much sir, greetings from Italy

[@edippoliti4531]

Hi ,thank you for the great video ,what type of caulking do you recommend for a slightly loose fitting truss rod? Thank you

[@biggestclaptonfan]

Hi there i was wondering if you could answer a quick question, i planned to install my truss so it is is accesable from the headstock but i have allready glued on my headstock veneers. Is it too late to route the channel for the truss rod to be accesed at the headstock end? or could it pehaps be covered by a truss rod cover? Thanks Paul

[@AntonioFardella]

Great tips. Just a question. Why do you bend the wood shim above the truss rod and not shape it (bowed on one side, straight on the other) and mount the shim with the bow on the side of the truss rod? Doesn't the shim accumulate tension if you glue it while it is "unnaturally" bent? (thumb's up!!)

[@OBrienGuitars]

Not sure I quite understand the question. All I am doing is pressing the shim down into the slot. It naturally bends more in the middle than on the ends.

[@AntonioFardella]

Exactly. The shim bends, and it is kept bent while epoxy cures. Lemme try to explain with different words. If you shape the shim, straight one side, arch the other side, the center arc of the shim presses the center part of the truss rod, but the shim itself is not bent, hence the wood fibers of the shim are not under tension. This should reduce the possibility for the shim to pop-up and press against fret board. ...... uff.... did I explain well what i mean? It's like you want bend a sheet of wood, instead to use a bowl (already shaped) you use another sheet and apply pressure in the middle...

[@VaughanGuitars]

Antonio While you could curve the shim..... getting an exact bend would be very difficult. There are no issues pressing the flat shim into a curve which will bend to a perfect profile with the pressure clamps.

[@AgusAversano]

what happens if glue sweeps into the trussrod channel? the way the trussrod goes is the same at 1:39, the thinest part goes up? i know it is a silly question thank great video

[@ejSignStrat]

Great video, just a quick question. Does the single action truss rod tighten the neck or does it loosen it? I'm talking about a strat that has its bolt at the heel of the neck. Thank you!

[@snidermike]

Man, that guy who installs the rod with the spline on top really looks like he knows what he's doing!

[@sapelesteve]

Great video! Question: How do you install a truss rod in a neck that will attach to the body with a dovetail joint and you want the adjustment part of the rod to be accessible via the soundhole? Or, does a dovetail joint at the body/neck always mean that the adjustment end of the rod has to be located at the upper part of the neck? Do you have a video showing how this is done?Thanks, Steve

[@OBrienGuitars]

You can install a truss rod that is accessible from the soundhole. Lesson 17 of Chapter 6 in my acoustic guitar construction online course shows how to do this. www.obrienguitars.com/courses

[@behradgorgani]

Hi Robbert, Thank you for making these series of videos they are great along with your online courses. I have a question about fretting a steel string guitar. I've build 2-3 classicals and I'm getting ready to make my first steel string. so after gluing the fingerboard to the neck and making sure that its completely flat length wise does it make sense to adjust the truss rod to build a slight relief before hammering the frets in? thanks in advance.

[@pigeondargile]

I'm looking into building a tele style neck but as a one piece and routing from the back and putting in the skunk stripe, with adjustment at the neck end - have you done a video on that or do you know of a video? This would be my first attempted neck build. Thanks

[@OBrienGuitars]

+pigeondargile Unfortunately I do not have a video on this subject, sorry.

[@shanezwack187]

That was incredible! Thanks. Question: so, when clamping down the shim near the center, it means the underside of the shim will be curved since its thicker there? Im picturing this being useful when the rod will be most likely called upon to reverse a foreward bow - having a hump in the middle would certainly help it.

[@OBrienGuitars]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching.

[@donzr33]

Beautiful. Thanks

[@l3wisgtr]

Hi! What's part of the Truss Rod goes Down or Up in One Way Truss Rod or Two Way Truss Rod as well

[@zvezdachka2568]

Does the shim get glued to the rod or to the sides or both?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Sorry for the delay. I have been doing some teaching in Brazil. The shim gets glued to the sides of the slot as well as the top of the rod.

[@Metalbass10000]

@@OBrienGuitars why is it glued to the top of the rod?

[@OBrienGuitars]

@@Metalbass10000 Traditionally that is how it has been done. I don't see how gluing it to the bottom of the rod would do any good.

[@cowdudeable]

I assume that to compensate for the bow of the neck from the stress of the strings, one is supposed to tighten the truss rod which pushes up on the bottom of the fingerboard with the most pressure in the center of the neck, around the 7th or 8th fret. Doesn't the shim you have epoxied into the truss rod slot prevent this from happening?

[@OBrienGuitars]

No, the truss rod does its job with or without the shim

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

To help stop truss rod vibrating. Put a small bead of what first ?

[@TheShockwaveDragon]

Caulk.

[@skatebaker321]

hey great video ive got a question. i routed my truss rod channel a bit off about 1/8" off center, and i was wondering if this is a critical issue. please let me know if you could. thanks

[@shirleysarabin1568]

Which is the lenght for a Gibson les Paul?

[@AjustedeGuitarrasGBRCenter]

Cool vid! im repairing a gibson sg from 1968, (the rod broke) it has a channel .225" wide but the rod is .170" without the plastic cover the had (or still have. donno). This is my first rod instalation (on an old guitar) i'm thinking i'll cover the new rod with heat shrink tubbing. Do you think it'll work? Also, the rod was installed so deep and covered with a thick (from bottom to top) piece of mahogany. Is this normal? Im also wonering if i should install a new mahogany (flat sawn, im not sure i trust it and it's hard to find quartersawn mahogany) stripe or a maple one to cover the rod. Sorry for so many questions. I appreciate your help! :)

[@OBrienGuitars]

It is hard for me to give advice without actually seeing it. I would go with the least invasive repair possible. Make it easy on yourself.

[@AjustedeGuitarrasGBRCenter]

OBrienGuitars Thanks Robert, i appreciate your reply and do like all of your videos a lot, they are relly helpfull! Yes i guess it's kinda hard. In the end I just tried to make the repair as close as i could to the way i found it. And i think it came out pretty decent. here are some pics if you'd like to see (site's in spanish thou): www.gbrcenter.com/repgsg.html

[@OBrienGuitars]

GBRCenter That was a major. Repair but it looks like you did a nice job! Congratulations.

[@AjustedeGuitarrasGBRCenter]

Thank you Robert! Best

[@eddododo]

Is that neck mahogany or cedro? I have some mystery wood that looks just like that, and doesn’t seem to be any of the mahogany or imitations I can find

[@OBrienGuitars]

I believe it is mahogany because that is what I normally use on my steel string guitars..

[@syariffudin3102]

whether the Dutch teak wood can be made the guitar neck information please thank you

[@philiphale4320]

Great Information Thanks..

[@OBrienGuitars]

That depends on what your definition of restore is. To me that means keeping it as original as possible.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@HanoHeh I used spruce but any wood will work

[@briansmith9698]

OBrienGuitars I have old parlor guitar with no rod I made a truss rod slot and am going put steel rod into neck think steel rod well help it?

[@OBrienGuitars]

If you have gone to the trouble of putting a slot in the neck for a rod, why not just go ahead and put an adjustable truss rod in it? I would do that.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@biggestclaptonfan It is possible to still do it the way you describe. You will need to shim the neck blank so that it is level as you run it across the router table. Then just use a cover on the peghead end. Good luck.

[@vegane_athee]

Hi ser! Do I have to remove the plastic (bleu in my case) of the truss rod?

[@OBrienGuitars]

+renerelire no, you can leave it on.

[@vegane_athee]

+OBrienGuitars Thanks !

[@TristanJCumpole]

Perhaps a bead of silicone to help prevent rod rattle but no glue. I always silicone my rods since it is pretty much impossible to solve rattle after the rod is in there.

[@yoheff988]

Would love to here your take on the subject: Vigier guitars do not use adjustable truss rods, instead they are using a Carbon none adjustable rods on all their necks, they also claim that the neck never ever moves no matter what string gauge, is it possible?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Not familiar with this system. They must have a way of making the neck relief work for them.

[@e926h]

does this method also works on electric guitars?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Thank you. Glad you are finding the videos useful. I would use an oil finish. Check out my video on Tru oil.

[@OBrienGuitars]

Thank you for the compliment. Your answer is no. Leave the fretboard flat as you install the frets. You will dial in the relief during the set up phase.

[@briansmith9698]

OBrienGuitars can you do a video on none adjustable rods steel rods carbon fiber rods?

[@OBrienGuitars]

I will put it in the looooooooong list. haha

[@pluckerpick]

What is your view on single CF truss rod , no adjustment ?

[@OBrienGuitars]

I prefer the double action truss rods.

[@vangelisp.4546]

I thoughted classical guitar necks doesn't need a rod cause they're wider, thicker etc. Isn't this true?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Generally folks do not use truss rods in classical necks due to less tension from the strings.

[@Tricknologyinc]

While filing the welded nut, a text graphic appears that says, "CAUTION: Doing This Can"... can what? It doesn't say what!

[@OBrienGuitars]

Doing this can weaken the weld and void the warranty!. In some browsers the entire message doesn't appear in others it does. Gotta love technology.

[@Tricknologyinc]

Thanks for pinch hitting for technology. : )

[@Scotchegz]

Some manufacturer's heat shrink over the truss rod instead of caulking. ;-)

[@OBrienGuitars]

@IggyFunk Yes, glue it to the rod and sides of the channel.

[@OBrienGuitars]

Yes it does.

[@AprendizdeLuthier]

Perfect!

[@AgusAversano]

thank you very much, im making a new fretboard and then i will glue it on

[@blessedwithchallenges9917]

Nice and relaxing. I want a real workshop. Right now I just use my kitchen table (that I made out of a fir tree).

[@OBrienGuitars]

Don't get happy with the glue when applying and this will not happen. Some people place a small piece of masking tape over the rod when applying glue and then remove it before gluing the fretboard. The truss rod is installed exactly as you see it in the video.

[@nickdryad]

Epoxy doesn’t dry. It sets

[@gigi52pl]

Avevo qualche dubbio, ora non più. Grazie

[@OBrienGuitars]

+gigi52pl sei sempre il benvenuto

[@natanborges5983]

Muito Bom professor

[@davidmusicstuff4979]

do you need a trust rod

[@OBrienGuitars]

+Ace of Spade's TV I do not put them in my classical guitars but I recommend them for steel string guitars.

[@davidmusicstuff4979]

+OBrienGuitars thanks

[@909sickle]

I can confirm that E-Poxxy™ is the way to go

[@Zombbg4]

Ah I wish I had a router table as nice as that...

[@OBrienGuitars]

@TheFacelessBrain No, only if you want to use one.

[@OBrienGuitars]

With this rod you get about a quarter turn and that is it. Don't try and push the envelope.

[@OBrienGuitars]

No, do not glue in the rod.

[@OBrienGuitars]

Beats me, call 'em and ask.

[@joeyrock]

So.....After I buy this overpriced truss rod I'll have to do the final quality check and file finish the weld? Why doesn't LMI do this??

[@majorgunn]

Less is more, They are all Klunky, a single 3/16" round single action is all that is needed unless the guitar is poorly made (choice of woods, not quartered, etc)

[@5urg3x]

Meh, scarf joint headstocks are yuck.

[@NoneNone-gk9wt]

NO COMPLETLY WRONG