Is it possible to damage a musicman guitar by turning the truss rod too much?

[tj1]

One of the features I like about the Ernie Ball guitars is the ease of which the truss rod can be adjusted.

My question is if you do it much: either clockwise or anti, could the guitar be damaged in some way. And if so would there be any warning signs before permanent damage occurred?

Any insight appreciated.

 

[tbonesullivan]

if you loosen it too much, the nut may start to press against the body of the guitar. Other than that, loosening it can't really damage it.

Tightening it too much could potentially damage the neck, snap the truss rod, etc. I never turn the truss rod more than 1/8 of a turn when tightening it.

 

[DrKev]

1) You really cannot break the neck itself with a truss rod. Maple is strong stuff all by itself.

2) In terms of neck relief, there is no danger to the neck whether you have no relief or lots of relief.

3) Truss rods can break but you need to really use a *lot* of force when tightening a truss rod to break it. If you cannot appropriately adjust your truss rod without wanting to use a long fulcrum to really crank it, you should stop and contact Music Man customer service. But as long as you can get it where you need it there is little to worry about.

For more info, and piece of mind, see my blog post about truss rods...

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

 

[xjbebop]

You really shouldn't ever need to turn it more than 1 full turn either way... usually just 1/4 turn at the most.

 

[tj1]

Thank you for the replies.

From what people have said the truss rod appears to be 'idiot proof' unless I turn it to such an extent the real force is required.

 

[RayHammer]

So if I fret the 2nd and 12th and a business card will fit flat at the 5th that would tell me that I don't need to adjust the neck on my Stingray. I use regular slinky's and tune this bass to Eb (was at D). String height at the 12th is over 3mm, too high. There is not a buzz anywhere on the fretboard. The bridge looks ok. Should I still go the route of neck adjustment to lower the string? Seems like it can go another 1/4 or 1/2 turn. The neck at present has a very slight bow. Thanks all!

 

[DrKev]

I think of the business card not as a goal, a useable maximum. If you can *just about* fit a business card in there, you don't need more relief. But 3 mm action over the 12th fret is a LOT and suggests to me that you should lower your saddles too.

Remember, you cannot break anything without using force so feel free to adjust and see what happens. Just keep track of every adjustment you make so you easily undo everything and get back to where you started, e.g. counting 1/4 or 1/8 turns of the truss rod and number of turns of the saddle adjustment screws. Write it all down, step by step as you do it.

 

[RayHammer]

This was very helpful. Thank you.