neck adjustment

mseely Posted 2003-05-02 7:06 AM (#209480) Subject: neck adjustment Joined: May 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Maryland was hoping to find previous discussion on neck adjustment but could find none. i have a factory rebuilt baladeer (3 months old) and am getting a significant buzz when playing the lower frets...4th and 5th mostly. is that definately neck warp and should i adjust myself? is there a better description of that process than the manual? i'm handy, but know enough that some things are best left to the pros. Paul Templeman Posted 2003-05-02 9:26 AM (#209481 - in reply to #209480) Subject: Re: neck adjustment Joined: February 2002 Posts: 5750 Location: Scotland Sounds like the neck doesn't have enough relief. If the neck is too straight the guitar will tend to buzz in the lower positions, especially with anything but light picking. Capo the guitar at the first fret & fret the 6th string at the 14th. You should see some clearance between the crown of the 5th fret & the string. There's no absolute correct setting for the amount of clearance, it's conditioned by string gauge, action, playing style & personal preference. If there's too little clearance the guitar will buzz in the lower positions. Let the truss rod off a quarter turn & let it settle for a while, continue till it looks, feels & sounds right. Bear in mind that it's damn-near impossible to achieve a very low action & not have fret-rattle, especially on an acoustic guitar