Hi all,

I have an old SRV signature model Stratocaster. I play slide on it so it has heavy (12-52) strings, and a relatively high action, tuned to open g.

A mate of mine had a play of it recently and commented that the neck seemed to have a lot of bow in it. I'd honestly never thought about this before, so we measured it. It has about 30 thou of relief!

I've read that Fender's recommendation for a neck like this is only 10 thou.

I like the feel of it & how it plays at the moment, and it's had the same setup for years, so I'm not really to keen to start messing around with the truss rod unless I have to.

My question is: is this much relief damaging to the neck at all & should I adjust it?
Or is it ok to leave it as it is?

Hoping someone with a bit of technical knowledge can advise me...

I don't really know this - but I would guess that it is not healthy for the guitar to have the same bad set-up for years. Especially with those heavy strings - they make a lot of tension to the neck ! Why not adjust the truss , and then raise your bridge a bit ?
http://www.fender.com/en-NO/support/art ... etup-guide

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A-man

It doesn't matter, there is no harm leaving it this way. That is why there are so many adjustments, so you can set it up exactly the way that you like it. The tension on the neck will be the same no matter how you adjust the relief. The suggestions in the guide are just that, suggestions and not rules. Frankly, if you adjust the relief to .010, you'll likely have to raise the saddles to prevent fret buzz anyway.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

+1
The setup guide is just to get you going. A starting position.
You adjust according to your playing style.
As Shimmilou pointed out, at .010 you'll tend to have fret buzz.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I have no reason not to trust you ,on that guys

But I was most worried about that neck bow - isn't it likely to believe that it might be worse to get it into a more normal curve later on , if one make a small adjustment now and then?
Not talking a about getting strings low - if it's mainly for slide , we want it a little higher. But if one raise the saddles that should work - and the neck curvature normalizes..... Just wondering. Appreciate an answer. ( I assume the OP is satisfied with your answers - not trying to hijack the thread )

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A-man

Get the neck straighter and raise the saddles if you want high action. There are two big problems with setting up with too bowed of a neck, even if you like the feel of high action.

The first is that you'll actually get MORE buzz in upper frets, despite higher action. This is often mistaken for overly round radius choking out, but the fact is that if you get the neck straight enough, it isn't much of an issue. Having it properly set up will mean having fewer of the compromises.

The second is that when wood sits in a certain position, it likes to stick there. The longer the neck sits bowed, the harder it would be to eventually get it back to a straight position, because the truss rod will have to fight string tension and the neck in its new bowed state. After having it like that for so long you may find it hard to get it straight even with the neck off of the instrument, and it may need to go to a good tech for the truss rod adjustment to be fully functional again. It is an easy fix in the right hands.

Sure not the same setting for years , the neck move slowly and you don't see or feel it .

Better to fix it , very easy. Most of the time close to 0.010 to 0.012 inches give an more easy playing.

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... -truss-rod

Look the post before you ; SERIOUS NECK PROBLEM

Pretty much the thoughts I had about it : Thanks - makes me feel better -and not completely lost. I guess the OP now knows what to do

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A-man

What exactly is your neck relief set to now?

There is a lot in how guitars are set up. Not least how you play them. I've guitars with excessive relief and guitars with non. I've even one with a touch of back bow.
The frets don't buzz as long as I use the guitar what it was meant for.

If you're whacking the strings, then yeah a good bit of relief and a generous action are probably right. However for slide, why have any relief at all? Lap steels don't.

Horses for courses and without being in the same room as you when you play, diagnosis is impossible.

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No no and no

Thanx for your replies guys.

I think at this stage I'm going to leave it as it is.
It's been the same setting for about 18 years or so & it does play perfectly and feels great, I didn't really want to change it unless I really had to.

I am going to keep an eye on it though now, just to make sure it isn't gradually getting worse over time.

I appreciate all your responses, thanx again.

This is wrong ! You did not read my answer ?

No neck adjustment since 18 years !!! Better do it before your guitar be unplayable and neck damaged .

I'm not sure if anyone has said this before, but you should have a slight bow in the neck, but you should get it checked out by a proper luthier.

You like heavy strings and a high action, then just tell the Luthier. He or she will know just what to do. You can still have a slight bow in a neck and still have high action by raising the saddles.

In an artincle I read about the Fender Custom Shop meeting with SRV's brother, one of the CS guys said that Stevie's Strat had imposibly high action.

I've used heavy strings too and haven't had that many problem. Find that tuning to Eb is a better sound for me when I use heavier strings.

From the book ; '"How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great " by Dan Elewine. We can read on page 118 about SRV " Number One " Strat ;

Strings : GHS Nickel Rocker .013........0.058
Relief : 0.12 " at the 9th fret
Action : at 12th fret , .7/ 64 ( bass side . 5 /64 treble side