[Nik]

Alright, so I've decided to finally learn to do this myself, but I might need a tad of guidence.

I had the action lowered on my Alvarezz accoustic a while back, and the tech said that when the strings get old, they'll start to buzz. This was all good, but when I put new strings on it later on, it buzzed even worse. It's so bad that frets 13 through 15 on my treble strings all play a G (the 15th fret) when I push down on them.

That means I need to bow the neck a bit (make it concave) right?

The truss rod is not positioned on the headstock, its accessed through the soundhole. I gave it a 1/4 turn clockwise (I hope that's the right direction) and I plan to see what happens by tomorrow. The problem still persists, but I need to wait a while to let the neck settle, right? Or do I need to see a bit of immediate improvement before letting it settle?

Reassure me that I'm not messing up my guitar!

[D-EJ915]

new strings jangle more than old strings do (because of dirt).

[OzzyC]

How long have you been playing with learning this stuff?

[7slinger]

you're not messing up your guitar, and if you're patient enough to wait a day to see what you're adjustment really did, that's a great way to do it...quarter turns are also good to start with.

are you starting with the neck totally straight? if so, a quarter turn and check it tomorrow is what I would say. If the neck is slightly convex to start with, perhaps a half turn and then check it on the morrow

[Nik]

@ Jeff - problem is not jangling -- the action is so low on those strings that there's not only buzzing, but it's actually impossible to play notes.

Originally Posted by 7slinger

you're not messing up your guitar, and if you're patient enough to wait a day to see what you're adjustment really did, that's a great way to do it...quarter turns are also good to start with.

are you starting with the neck totally straight? if so, a quarter turn and check it tomorrow is what I would say. If the neck is slightly convex to start with, perhaps a half turn and then check it on the morrow

Well, I really can't say from a visual standpoint--that's pretty hard to gauge. All I know is that frets 13-15 on the treble strings are so low that it's impossible to play notes on those strings.

In my Ibanez RG manual, it says that fretbuz in that area means that the neck needs to be more concave, so that's what I'm shooting for--only problem is that my accoustic didn't come with a manual, so I'm not sure which way to turn, so I'm just turning the truss-rod and trying to see if the problem gets worse or better.

Just checked the guitar and it seems to be about the same. I guess the truss-rod is not super-responsive, correct?

As I said, the truss rod is accessed through the accoustic soundhole. Looking up at the rod, I turned it clock-wise. Does that sound like the right direction?

[JPMDan]

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/trussadjust.htm

[Nik]

Alright, so apparently I'd been turning the truss-rod the wrong way for the last 2 days Got it figured out now. It spins much easier when you twisted in the correct direction.

I think I may need a new plastic part for my bridge, though. The one I have now raises the bass strings more than the treble strings--that's why I only get buzzing on the treble strings. And when I adjusted with the truss rod, I ended up getting the bass strings reaaaaally high off the fretboard

[JPMDan]

Always good to do a little research before doing something you don't know how to do.

[Nik]

Originally Posted by JPMDan

Always good to do a little research before doing something you don't know how to do.

I did do research, but as I said, none of the research said ANYTHING about which way I'm suppose to turn (hence why I posted here).

All the places said counter-clockwise. I did counter-clockwise, and it turned out that that was wrong

[ibzrg1570]

It's always safest to check the instruction manual for the guitar first if it comes with one. It should have a diagram with arrows that points in the direction you need to turn it. But at least you didn't snap the neck or anything.