How do you determine whether a guitar has a warped, or twisted neck?!
Question: How do you determine whether a guitar has a warped, or twisted neck!?
I know that your supposed to look down the neck, but I just don't get what to look for exactly!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
You should ask a local guy who's been playing guitar for a number of years, or a music store, that will not only give you an honest diagnosis, but will also show you how to SEE THE BOW!.!.!.!.!.if indeed there is one!.
Despite popular belief, some CONCAVE bow is needed in a guitar neck, to insure playability!. There is concave & convex bows!. CONCAVE is when the neck is bowed backward a little in the middle and that's the one that you want!. If the neck juts forward in the middle ( around the 10th, 11th, or 12th frets ) the strings will " Hit " off of most of the frets!. ( THIS IS A CONVEX BOW ) You don't want that!. These sightings, by the way, are done with the guitar laying flat on a table, with the pickups facing the ceiling!.
Another sign of a bowed neck is if, down by the first 3 or 4 frets, the action is great (nice and low, but playable without buzzing)!. Then, as you move up the neck, towards the 10th or 11th fret area, the action gets high ( rising uncomfortably above the frets), then, proceeding farther up the neck higher ( towards the 17th, 18th, or 19th frets), the action gets great again!. This means that there is TOO MUCH of a concave bow, and the action in the middle of the neck will be awful, but will look to improve as you stare up the neck towards the 17th to the 21st frets!. Or in simpler words, the action is Great at the both ends of the neck, but kinda BLOWS in the middle area!.
If a guitar neck twists in all kinds of ways ( I've seen a few in my day ),
it means that the guitar was a piece of junk to begin with, because manufacturers like Fender & Gibson only use the better, stable woods on their better- and higher-priced guitars!. They almost never bow!.
I'm including a site that will help you!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!. and be sure to read the second paragraph!.
http://macgirvin!.com/article/ea730c80-d4!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Despite popular belief, some CONCAVE bow is needed in a guitar neck, to insure playability!. There is concave & convex bows!. CONCAVE is when the neck is bowed backward a little in the middle and that's the one that you want!. If the neck juts forward in the middle ( around the 10th, 11th, or 12th frets ) the strings will " Hit " off of most of the frets!. ( THIS IS A CONVEX BOW ) You don't want that!. These sightings, by the way, are done with the guitar laying flat on a table, with the pickups facing the ceiling!.
Another sign of a bowed neck is if, down by the first 3 or 4 frets, the action is great (nice and low, but playable without buzzing)!. Then, as you move up the neck, towards the 10th or 11th fret area, the action gets high ( rising uncomfortably above the frets), then, proceeding farther up the neck higher ( towards the 17th, 18th, or 19th frets), the action gets great again!. This means that there is TOO MUCH of a concave bow, and the action in the middle of the neck will be awful, but will look to improve as you stare up the neck towards the 17th to the 21st frets!. Or in simpler words, the action is Great at the both ends of the neck, but kinda BLOWS in the middle area!.
If a guitar neck twists in all kinds of ways ( I've seen a few in my day ),
it means that the guitar was a piece of junk to begin with, because manufacturers like Fender & Gibson only use the better, stable woods on their better- and higher-priced guitars!. They almost never bow!.
I'm including a site that will help you!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!. and be sure to read the second paragraph!.
http://macgirvin!.com/article/ea730c80-d4!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
The taught strings are perfectly straight so you compare the neck to them!.
There should be more space between the string and neck at about the 7th or 9th fret than any where else; that's normal!. However, the subtle bow in the neck should be smooth and consistent and have no lumps!.
The neck should not twist at all!. You might be able to lay the guitar face down on a table or against a wall to help see twist!. The neck has a slight curve in the direction the frets go, that's normal!.
The top and bottom strings should maintain the same space to the edge of the neck along the length of it!.
If you can't SEE and problems, then you can probably set up the action and truss rod to compensate for buzz and string height problems!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
There should be more space between the string and neck at about the 7th or 9th fret than any where else; that's normal!. However, the subtle bow in the neck should be smooth and consistent and have no lumps!.
The neck should not twist at all!. You might be able to lay the guitar face down on a table or against a wall to help see twist!. The neck has a slight curve in the direction the frets go, that's normal!.
The top and bottom strings should maintain the same space to the edge of the neck along the length of it!.
If you can't SEE and problems, then you can probably set up the action and truss rod to compensate for buzz and string height problems!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
pretty easy actually!. Look down from the top of neck!. What you want to see is that the frets are equally distant from the strings all down the length!. If the bass side string are too far, then the neck is twisted in that direction!. Likewise if the treble strings are too far, then the twist goes that way!.
Depending on your guitar this can be fixed with a truss rod adjustment!.
Bowing, where the middle area of the neck is farther away or closer to the strings than the top end or bottom end of the neck is a morer serious problem, and harder to fix!.
If this isn't clear when you look down the neck, itt's probably not a problem!.!.!. but you know your nearest guitar center or luthier will be able to tell with a glance!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Depending on your guitar this can be fixed with a truss rod adjustment!.
Bowing, where the middle area of the neck is farther away or closer to the strings than the top end or bottom end of the neck is a morer serious problem, and harder to fix!.
If this isn't clear when you look down the neck, itt's probably not a problem!.!.!. but you know your nearest guitar center or luthier will be able to tell with a glance!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
youll be able to see if its warped by the angle of the nut relative to the fretsWww@Enter-QA@Com