neck relief

[Brian L]

Hi I just bought a beautiful 2009 silo special and went to raise the action by the relief wheel because of buzzing I had no more turns counter clock wise' is the wheel supposed to get loose then tighten the other way? I can play it like this but it is super low action.
thanks Brian

 

[jones4tone]

Welcome to the forum. Post some pics of your Silo Special!

You want to gauge neck relief by putting a straight edge on the neck. If it's truly loosened all the way, it should have a significant amount of relief. If you think the truss rod is frozen, such that it won't turn either direction, don't try to force it. I would take it to a competent luthier for a check in that case.

You can raise the action by raising the height of the saddles.

 

[Brian L]

thanks, the wheel goes completely loose and the neck has just a small amount of relief.

 

[jones4tone]

Hmm. I would call Music Man customer service and see what they advise.

 

[DrKev]

Can you accurately measure the amount of neck relief, and the string height?

Where are you playing when the strings buzz?

Rule of thumb...

String buzz when playing high frets (15 and above), raise the saddles.
String buzz when playing lower frets, you need more relief.

If the wheel is loose you're at the maximum relief the neck will currently give you and you should consult a luthier and/or Music Man customer service (see links in my signature).

Welcome to the forum!

 

[JamieCrain]

Hi there, agree with Kev and as a general rule you would raise/lower the saddles on the bridge to adjust action, not the truss rod. The truss rod is there for adjusting the neck bow. Yes this will also change the action but that is not its primary purpose. Start with the saddles, and then adjust the truss rod only if necessary. Cheers, Jamie

 

[Brian L]

Thanks everyone, I adjusted the saddles now have 4/32 string height but the saddle on 1st string is max ,but guitar plays great
Brian when I figure out out to post a pic I will.

 

[fbecir]

This video can be helpful :

 

[BrickGlass]

Hi there, agree with Kev and as a general rule you would raise/lower the saddles on the bridge to adjust action, not the truss rod. The truss rod is there for adjusting the neck bow. Yes this will also change the action but that is not its primary purpose. Start with the saddles, and then adjust the truss rod only if necessary. Cheers, Jamie

The thing about this that I've found in my own experience is that typically the neck becoming concave or convex is the cause of the the action issues. Assuming you get your saddles adjusted correctly, you don't typically have to adjust them very often unless you change string gauges or tunings, etc. But you can have everything playing great and then a week later have buzzes in several spots, and in my experience it is the neck shifting around. I believe the climate of the place you live has the biggest impact in this regard. Here in Utah the weather can be 95 one day, and withing three days of that it can be down in the 50's. Or it will be 20 degrees and a week later 63. These temperature shifts really wreak havoc on guitar necks, especially if it is really dry and then we get a bunch or rain. The humidity changes are real issues for guitar necks. I'm constantly adjusting the the necks of guitars/basses here because the action is off, and it is usually off because of the neck bowing.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

The thing about this that I've found in my own experience is that typically the neck becoming concave or convex is the cause of the the action issues. Assuming you get your saddles adjusted correctly, you don't typically have to adjust them very often unless you change string gauges or tunings, etc.

Agree 100% with this.

 

[DrKev]

Yup. Tis is why the EBMM advice on adjusting string height is truss rod. If you've not adjusted the bridge or saddles, any unwanted change in string height must be due to neck relief changes. Adjusting the truss rod is the appropriate course of action to correct that.

 

[jones4tone]

Yup. Tis is why the EBMM advice on adjusting string height is truss rod. If you've not adjusted the bridge or saddles, any unwanted change in string height must be due to neck relief changes. Adjusting the truss rod is the appropriate course of action to correct that.

When you hear "just got a 2009 Silo" and that the truss rod adjustment seems to have been loosened as far as possible and still buzzing, don't you have to look at saddle (and bridge, if a trem) adjustment also at that point? I get the routine maintenance of a dialed-in setup when the play changes with the weather/season being the truss rod, though. (I'm not trying to be argumentative here - I'm still learning this stuff, for sure.)

 

[DrKev]

Yes.

 

[Wahoonc]

I always adjust the truss rod first, at tension, by fretting the 1st and 15th fret and checking the clearance at the 7th fret. Once I get the neck right in that manner, I make adjustments to the saddles, if necessary, which is easy enough. I've been lucky in that none of my MM guitars have been needed a shim or any other non-standard adjustment, so I haven't had to do anything other than what I described above to get low, buzz-free action.

Disclaimer: I am a tinkerer mechanically, but not electronically. Never changed a pickup or switch in my life. And I don't know how I finally settled on the truss rod procedure above, but it works every time.

 

[jwp333]

I wish my neck had a little more bow when fully loosened. It's pretty straight like the OP's guitar. I've tried to help it a little, pressing down in the middle. I also went to 10 gauge strings hoping a little more tension would pull it that way. Result so far is that there is only a little more relief. Still happy with the guitar but I do have to set the action a little higher to compensate.

 

[Leandro Paez]

Hi Op, Hi Jwep333!

I am from Brazil and just got an amazing Majesty Monarchy 7-string (Imperial Blue). I had the exact same issue: wheel truss was completely loose, and the neck with a back bow. After adjusting a bit the saddles and putting some pressure on the wheel truss, the sound got better, but the buzzing on the lower frets still happen. I've been to three luthiers (one of which is a reputable luthier who crafts the best guitars produced in Brazil) and they all had the same view: the neck has back bow and it is trully hard to revert it (aready have the 0.1 strings gauge, and the luthier went 1 step up to try putting more strength on the strings - and the neck did not come back). Overall recommendation was to return it.

I've spoken with Joe from EBMM CS (very nice guy) who recommended putting some pressure on the middle of the neck and then turning clock-wise the wheel truss (so to have it into more "default" state).... and after a couple of hours try to loosen it a bit and see if I can get some relief. I will try that once I get home from work.

Has anyone experienced similar trouble? Is it possible to revert it?

The guitar plays well the way it is, but for being astonishing as I dreamed and hear about I would want to lower the action a bit more and avoid the buzzing (which is clearly noticeable through the amp on the lower frets).

Thanks a lot for your help!
Leandro