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Half a clockwise turn, yes? With or without the strings on?

(For a VM Jag/Jazz)

Strings on. I would use some feeler gauges. Hard to say, may need a bit more to be honest. Start with half and see how you go.

Capo 1st fret and depress last fret on high e. you should just about be able to stick a piece of card under the 8th fret. That's a good relief to shoot for

You'll have to try it a few times to get it right. Most truss rods I've seen are way too loose so you might need more than half a clockwise turn. Also get a capo because it helps when you take the necks off.

I would do it once you've swapped strings... no harm there. You shouldn't just adjust for the sake of adjusting.

Clockwise to straighten, yes... as it is only likely to pull slightly.

Check: Left hand finger on first-fret, right hand thumb on last-fret (same string !! I go for D) and around the 9th fret there should be a slightly gap the size of business card which you can feel with your right finger once you stretch.

I changed from normal 9's or 10's on my S-100 to half round 11's. Definitely need to do an adjustment. Watching this thread with interest.

othomas2 wrote:I would do it once you've swapped strings... no harm there. You shouldn't just adjust for the sake of adjusting.

Yup, my '66 Classic didn't need an adjustment at all when I went up to .11s.

to play devils advocate here ... I've never touched any of my truss rods and all of my guitars work fine.

robroe has Mascis action though.

Making a guitar from good to better is always satisfying. Obviously all guitar have different tolerances and some necks are rock solid... just got to play it by ear which is why I say change the strings before adjusting. No turn, 1/4 turn, 1/2 turn.... there is no definite answer here, and some truss rods are just more responsive than others.

robroe wrote:to play devils advocate here ... I've never touched any of my truss rods and all of my guitars work fine.

I generally haven't had to adjust my guitar truss rods neither, though I have a couple times.

My basses, on the other hand, I have to adjust at least twice a year.

Guitars can work fine as long as you raise the action high enough. To get good intonation and reasonable bend performance (esp on 7.25" radius) while having lowish action requires truss rod, IMO.

I've never had to do much either but the spongey neck on the Guild wasn't so happy with the heavier strings. I originally put flat wound 11's on it, which I took off almost instantly. Maybe I should just throw a lighter set of normal strings at it. Or the gauge .009 half rounds I just ordered. Might save messing with the truss rod, and ruining one of the best guitars I own. Either that, or I could take it to a pro. I just dunno who.

Adjusting the Truss Rod shouldn't be scary... just do a little at a time. Ideally that is what you should do. Adjust and wait for it to settle.

Cheers all - plenty for me to digest here

yea i don't like super low action as a rule. i have played 13's for so long my finger memory is to push down hard. when im playing a guitar with low action or thin strings everything goes completely sharp.

also when you are playing thick as fuck strings, if you try and lower them down they go buzzzzzzzzzzzz. and there is nothing you can do about it because they are bigger around.

lots of dudes on here have played my guitars. most of them are like WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU DUDE? its an acquired taste

Actually I always thought thicker strings can have lower action because they're at higher tension.

any time i adjust the truss, little turn, let it set a couple days. then check. just cranking and cranking will just cause trouble

honeyiscool wrote:Actually I always thought thicker strings can have lower action because they're at higher tension.

na dude they are bigger around, thus making them closer to the strings without touching anything else on the guitar.

robroe wrote:when im playing a guitar with low action or thin strings everything goes completely sharp.

I would expect high action to be worse for that. If you're not used to them, thinner strings can make things sharps cause they bend easily when you press them down and you will accidently push them slightly sideways instead of just down onto the fret. But if you have low action it usually helps because there is less distance for you to push and therefore less chance of them bending when you fret a note. That's my experience anyway.

robroe wrote:

honeyiscool wrote:Actually I always thought thicker strings can have lower action because they're at higher tension.

na dude they are bigger around, thus making them closer to the strings without touching anything else on the guitar.

Would the distance, or height of the strings off the fretboard be the same even though the strings are thicker? I mean, you don't change the nut height or saddle height when you change out the strings normally. The distance is dependent on what the string is sitting on not the radius of the wire itself. The bigger radius strings do not sit deeper in the nut or saddle.

DanHeron wrote:

robroe wrote:when im playing a guitar with low action or thin strings everything goes completely sharp.

I would expect high action to be worse for that. If you're not used to them, thinner strings can make things sharps cause they bend easily when you press them down and you will accidently push them slightly sideways instead of just down onto the fret. But if you have low action it usually helps because there is less distance for you to push and therefore less chance of them bending when you fret a note. That's my experience anyway.

Pretty much.
High action, you're getting that bend, or increase in tension, causing a sharp note well before you even reach the fret wire, rather than simply from bending behind the fret. It can be countered with a proper set up... to a certain degree.

I am having similar issues when playing my daughter's Squier Mini, which is still set up with the factory .09s; it's very easy to exert too much pressure, causing notes to go sharp... but honestly, this just comes down to Rob and I having shitty technique

cur wrote:

robroe wrote:

honeyiscool wrote:Actually I always thought thicker strings can have lower action because they're at higher tension.

na dude they are bigger around, thus making them closer to the strings without touching anything else on the guitar.

Would the distance, or height of the strings off the fretboard be the same even though the strings are thicker? I mean, you don't change the nut height or saddle height when you change out the strings normally. The distance is dependent on what the string is sitting on not the radius of the wire itself. The bigger radius strings do not sit deeper in the nut or saddle.

Yes, the string would be the same distance from the fret; you're right, it's the distance from the bottom surface of the string, not the center of the string like Rob is implying in his statement.

Physics is also working against what he's saying; equal length, equal pitch tuned strings of different gauges vibrate at different amplitudes: light strings vibrate more than heavy strings with the same output... so you need more space for a light string to vibrate than a heavy string.