As seasons change, the wood in your guitar will respond to differences in humidity and temperature, causing the neck to become misaligned and not as straight as the day you bought it. Some of the symptoms of a crooked neck are; poor intonation, trouble staying in tune, excessive fret buzz, or the strings resting uncomfortably high off the fretboard. It is a good idea to check your neck’s alignment a few times a year, or whenever you change the string brand or gauge. If you always use the same strings, and the guitar is kept in a climate controlled environment, you will not need to adjust the neck as frequently.
To avoid costly maintenance at repair shop, and if you are confidant in your skills, here is a simple way to adjust your guitar neck.
The first step is to identify if your neck is bowed backwards, causing the strings to rest too close to the fretboard resulting in buzz; or if the neck has too much relief, where the strings are too far off the board. The way to do this is by pressing down the low E string down at the first and last fret. I usually use a capo on the first fret to make this easier.
Next, look at the side of your fretboard and see how close the string is to the frets. The string ought to move away from the board as you get closer to the area between the 7th and 12th frets. If the string touches all of the frets, your neck is back bowed. This can also mean that your neck is perfectly straight, but if you encounter buzzing when you play, a little adjustment is in order. If the string is too far away from the fretboard, noticeably more than .012”, and its hard to play chords, your neck has too much relief.
In the case of my guitar, the neck is back bowed. Notice how the string touches all of the frets.
The next step is to remove the truss rod cover on the headstock of your guitar and insert the Allen wrench/Hex key into the hole.
To increase relief, turn the key to the left, or towards the high strings. To increase tension, turn the key to the right, or towards the low strings. If you are increasing tension, it is a good idea to loosen the rod a little bit before tightening. 1/8 of a turn at a time is the safest way to make sure you do not mess things up. After adjusting the rod, press down on the first and last frets like before to check how the strings are now resting.
After giving my neck some relief, the string is no longer touching all of the frets.
Replace the truss rod cover on your neck, and you are ready to play again.
All Things Guitar 