Help! factory setup specs?

[tekbow]

Folks

first off, if any other threads i've missed in my admittedly cursory glance thru the forums are dealing this already, please feel to direct me there

just bought an axis (second hand, mint 98) and what i really want to do is clean the neck up (not that its particularly dirty) strip the old finish off and refinish it. i know all the products i should be using, so no worries there. however this might be a bit of a task given in 18 years i've never done any real maintenance (other than the cleaning of fretboards etc). basically what i want to know is what the factory specs for truss rod adjustment are, as at the very least i want to get all the strings off and work out some of the dirt from the fretboard (not much but a start) i've been told that taking all the strings of MM necks without truss rod adjustment isnt an amazing idea (is this true btw?), so just want to know what to set the neck to b4 i' take the strings off and what to set it back to when i've finished and put the strings back on

cheers

 

[andynpeters]

Hello Tekbow Ernie Ball ® Music Man ® Guitar F.A.Q. will give you some helpful info....the experts will doubtless wake up soon and advise you whether your plans are a good idea. They'll also ask you for some photos of your new guitar!!!

 

[tekbow]

andy

thankyou very much, excellent fao that i hadnt come across before

 

[Big Poppa]

whoever told you that it isnt a good idea with our truss rod to remove all of your strings may just be on crack. Dont worry and IF things are out of whack when you restring then adjust to taste.

 

[andynpeters]

But BP....this is taken from the FAQ answers
"The best way to restring your guitar is one at a time to keep tension on the neck. It is not recommended to take all of the strings off at once. If you need to remove them for cleaning or to do some repair work, you will probably need to readjust the neck and re-intonate the guitar."
I assume the guy who wrote it wasn't on crack??

 

[Big Poppa]

THere is no problem unstringing your guitar. As a practice it only makes sense if you are just changing the strings to do one at a time. OBVIOUSLY keeping the tension has the upside of not readjusting the neck.....

I also said that you would probably have to readjust.

You will not damage your guitar. Anymore smartass comments?

 

[TonyEVH5150]

If it's a Floyd-equipped model, you'll need to block the trem to keep it from flying off or damaging the body. It doesn't wrap around the trem posts like the OFR.

 

[Big Poppa]

thanks tony!

 

[leftyguitarblue]

You will not damage your guitar. Anymore smartass comments?

I have a comment BP, and I will PM it to you right after I finish writing a thread about a customer service issue.

 

[leftyguitarblue]

^^^obviously kidding.

 

[tekbow]

thanks guys

cheers! sorry for the delay of my reply, im offshore and working night shift..

to recap then,so i definately DO need to make trussrod adjustments if taking off the strings (at the same time) and it helps if i'm on crack?

so as explained, not so amateur playing guitar and the general day to day stuff but very amateur when it comes to setups and fiddling with the neck, so bearing that in mind..

do i need to adjust the neck by flattening it out or bridging it more? (i just ordered a book called the guitar players repair guide but until i recieve it i'm not going to be afraid of asking lame questions if i don't know the answer) and should i adjust the neck before or after i take the strings off and before or after i put them back on?

also on the point of the floyd rose, i thought if the axis had a floyd rose that sat against the body anyway, so why would i neeed to put something between it and the body (or are we talking the trem block in the rear of the guitar

cheers much

Simon


Im not arguing, im developing my knowledge

 

[TonyEVH5150]

The Floyd on the Axis does rest on the body, but the knife edges don't hug the trem posts like the OFR does. They just rest against them. Hopefully the picture below shows it well enough.

When you take the string tension off, the entire trem wants to kick out and back towards the body. You can either leave a string or two on at regular tension while you clean the neck, or you can block the trem with a piece of wood to keep it in position.

I'm by no means an expert at truss rod adjustments. I'll let someone else chime in on that. You won't need to adjust it until after you restring, as BP stated above. Most of the recommendations in the FAQ were more because of the Floyd and it's tendency to lift out with loss of string tension (I think).

 

[tekbow]

ok

got that thats great man, cheers. so a little block of wood or something in the rear of the guitar between the body and block should prevent it popping out.

 

[floyd99]

ok

got that thats great man, cheers. so a little block of wood or something in the rear of the guitar between the body and block should prevent it popping out.

i wrap a used 9v battery in electrical tape and use that.