Majesty action issue

[chenson019]

Hey guys,

I bought my Majesty 6 string back in October last year.

I had the guitar set up professionally for hybrid slinky's in line with my personal preference.

The guitar has performed great ever since but I've noticed that the action keeps rising back up over the period of roughly 3-4 weeks. I give it around a quarter and a bit turn on the truss rod and it usually lowers back to where I like it. However, after another 3-4 weeks, the action has gone back up again.

My explanation up to now was that the weather was messing with the wood in the neck as it's been generally very cold and we've required the heating on quite a lot in the house which I know can cause a few issues. However, today was the 3rd or 4th time I've had to adjust the rod and I'm hesitant to be continually playing with it (I'm certainly no guitar tech!)

Is this normal or is there a bigger issue with the guitar?

Thanks

[JamieCrain]

Wow that’s a difficult one. It sounds like the truss rod is unwinding or slipping. Otherwise if you keep having turn the truss one way, you will eventually reach the end of the thread and the neck will be under considerable stress. Not good at all.

My tip to start is to adjust the neck so you’re happy with it, then mark the truss wheel with a sharpie or similar. When the neck needs adjusting again, see if the truss wheel has moved. It shouldn’t. If it has you’ve got a problem.

Also remember that truss adjustments can take 24 hours or longer to settle. Good luck!

[DrKev]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

No two pieces of wood are the same and so some necks are more sensitive to seasonal changes in humidity than others. With the relatively thin necks of the JP guitars, it would not be unexpected to have a guitar neck that changes as much as yours does, or even more often. It may well go the other way come spring!

If there is a problem with the neck wood (very rare but happens in a small percentage of all guitars) it'll become more apparrent as time goes on (this is why we have warrantys). But if your guitar continues to play well and all that's required is a small truss rod adjustment from time to time, you have nothing to worry about at all and everything is 100% normal.

Enjoy!

[thejone]

In my opinion it takes the majesties a while to to get in balance. I had to adjust the trusrod allmost weekly for one year on my majesty and majesty artisan. Now, they are very stable. However, the monarchy took only a few weeks to reach a stable state. What kind of majesty is yours? Anyway, don't worry. I am sure it will stabalize soon and than be a great and reliable guitar for you.
Regards, J

[tbonesullivan]

My advice is that if you don't have a humidifier, time to get one. Really helps with guitars in the winter time. Also keeping it in the case when you aren't playing it can help.

[chenson019]

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

Further to what JamieCrain said above - so there is no need for me to be concerned with having to readjust the truss rod every few weeks during the winter?

I honestly don't know if the truss rod wheel is moving on it's own, I'd have to keep an eye on it for a while.

Thanks.

[DrKev]

There is no need to be concerned and the wheel won't move on its own (unless it's loose, which if you are successfully adjusting it, it won't be). Adjust when necessary. Play. All is good.

Re: humidifers, having spent all my life with relatively mild western European winters, I never fully realized until this winter just how dry a house can get during a harsh winter. (Now that I'm back in Paris from an artic Christmas in Buffalo, my skin and lips are finally retaining some moisture again and the cracks are starting to heal!) It is a real issue in parts of the US and couple that with hot, humid summers and some guitar owners in the US really have a tough job keeping their guitars in tip top condition! For Europeans it's much less of an issue, though that depends on recent weather and the central heating system in your home too. In Paris, with a small apartment, for two adults and a toddler, I run a dehumidifier from fall through to spring.

[Rick C]

it's always a good idea to test the impact of truss rod adjustments each time to gauge consistency of this operation; maybe the OP is doing this already. If not, what I do is capo the first fret and touch each E string down at around the 22nd fret and see what is happening between these two points; if the string is plucked and a note can be heard then there is a slight concave bow in the neck, if the string is loose and only just touching the frets around the 10th fret then the neck is flat and if its clearly hard connecting with all the frets then the neck is convex. Like many, I had read that JP's tech sets up JP's guitars flat, acknowledging that at the upper end there will be some minor buzzing.

Temperature shifts in the room where you keep your guitar will also adjust your necks for you. Stable temp and humidity are your friends if you have sensitive guitars.

[Etudica]

I'm in central PA area and it's a constant struggle. It's a serious chore to keep the humidity at least 30% in the winter and below 60% in the summer. If I'm away for more than 24 hours and don't tend to the humidifiers things go haywire very fast being on electric heat pump only. It sucks.

My first EBMM was a JPXI-7, and it moved all over the place during the first year. I too was worried in the same way as the OP, and I also posted a few times here on the forum after experiencing the exact same behavior. Fast forward to six years later and all is still good. I will say my JPs move a lot more than the other guitars I have sitting right next to them and I usually need to tweak them slightly every month or two.

[JamieCrain]

Apologies to the OP, I misread the frequency of the adjustments. I thought it was much more frequent than what the OP actually said. Minor adjustments over a 3 to 4 week period doesn’t sound crazy, but as noted above by others it should settle eventually. Well until the next season!

[tonechaser1]

My advice is that if you don't have a humidifier, time to get one. Really helps with guitars in the winter time. Also keeping it in the case when you aren't playing it can help.

+1 on Tbone's response.

I'm located in the Chicago area and it has been very cold and very mild in the last couple of months here, which has been messing with all my guitars more than normal this winter, including my Majesty. My room humidifier has been working overtime. I find that the best room humidity level is 45-50. Remember to allow your Majesty to settle a day or two after adjusting the truss rod as well. I also find that leaving hot water in the bathtubs and sinks helps with the house humidity level when it gets really cold and dry. Hope this helps.

[DrKev]

Remember to allow your Majesty to settle a day or two after adjusting the truss rod as well.

Let me talk about this briefly...

1) In my experience it's not an issue. Necks react very quickly to truss rod adjustments. That means...
2) You can adjust it as and when necessary.
3) Even if it necks do take time for adjustments to take full effect, "allow it to settle" does not mean don't play. Adjust, play, if you feel the need to adjust again later, that's perfectly OK.

See myth #4 and video linked in myth #3

Truth About Truss Rods – Part 2 – Myth Busting! | DrKevGuitar.com

[tonechaser1]

Let me talk about this briefly...

1) In my experience it's not an issue. Necks react very quickly to truss rod adjustments. That means...
2) You can adjust it as and when necessary.
3) Even if it necks do take time for adjustments to take full effect, "allow it to settle" does not mean don't play. Adjust, play, if you feel the need to adjust again later, that's perfectly OK.

See myth #4 and video linked in myth #3

Truth About Truss Rods – Part 2 – Myth Busting! | DrKevGuitar.com

Agreed. My apology, if my settling comment was confusing. I should have stated, allow it to settle a day or two before adjusting the truss rod again. Obviously you can play it between truss rod adjustments.

[DrKev]

Yup. I mention speifically because some people do take it wrong. I once knew a guy who but his bass away for a week after a truss rod adjustment. Totally unnecessary!

[jones4tone]

I have not had significant issues with weather-related changes to my guitars up until this year. This winter in our region has brought on what felt like significant fret sprout, and some drastic changes in neck relief over a very short period of time. Multiple guitars - but not all - showed symptoms. What I've seen makes it not at all hard to believe that the OP could have needed to adjust the truss rod multiple times over a period of just a couple of weeks.

Placing a humidifier in the music room has really helped the guitars return to something closer to normal. (At present, I'm just using a humidifier such as you might place in a sick child's room. It is doing the job for the time being.)