Trussrod cover question

[Cunamara]

When watching jazz guitar videos, sometimes posted by forum members as well as more generally on YouTube, I notice that many people are playing instruments without the trussrod cover on the headstock.

I am always a bit surprised by this, as I usually find myself adjusting the trussrod at most a couple of times of year (sometime in the spring and sometime in the autumn, usually) or even not at all for years at a time. It depends on the instrument. I don't think I have had to touch the truss rod on my Ibanez GB 10 in 25 years or more; on my Cushman archtop, it takes a little tweak for cold/dry winter weather and a little tweak in the other direction for warm/humid summer weather. One Telecaster needs a bit of adjustment as the seasons change, the other does not. My Strat, which has a 1 3/4" Warmoth maple/ebony slab neck hasn't needed a trussrod adjustment in years, even when swapping between pretty different gauge strings.

So how about you? Do you keep the truss rod cover off to be able to tweak the neck? How often do you have to do that? Or are you able to leave the cover in place for years at a time?

[DawgBone]

Sometimes they break, so I just toss them in the case. If you've ever had a slim taper neck, they require more routine adjustment. I had a guitar that needed a monthly adjustment or it played like crap so I just took the cover off permanently because it eliminated another step.

I usually adjust my main player about 4 times per year with the seasons although it can be helpful to make yet smaller adjustments in between for best action.

When I played strats I took the back trem cover off as soon as I got the guitar so there is another dumb trim piece I don't need.

[JCat]

This topic can be expanded into a few sub categories:

Vanity 1. Some guys think it looks "professional" having the truss rod cover off; "I for one, have the skills to operate a truss rod wrench! You can all see I'm a pro, because there's no truss rod cover". No kidding, these people do exist.

Vanity 2. Some guys think it looks butch, road worn, relic: "My tech wants it off, because he's changing strings for me after each song. Besides, we lost it in San Bernardino in 1962".

Tone freaks. Some folks find that the guitar sounds better without a truss rod cover. No kidding, these people do exist.

Problem guitar. Some people feel the need to adjust all the time and therefore leave the truss rod cover off. The paradox is that the more often the guitar is tweaked the more unstable it becomes because the guitar never gets a chance to rest in equilibrium. This is a symptom of a poor set up and possibly bad storage conditions.

Fender guys. Traditional Fender designs never had a truss rod cover, so some Fender guys think that no other guitar should have one.

Bum. "I've lost the screws"

Conclusion: Put the truss rod cover back in place and stop tweaking (fix your set up problems).

[grahambop]

Honestly I think I’ve tweaked the truss rod on my 175 about twice in 40 years.

[Gitterbug]

The need for seasonal adjustment depends on the guitar and on where you live. Here in Finland the winters are extremely dry, and the tuning of most of my guitars goes up by at least a half note during summer. But not all necks need adjustment. I like JCat's analysis. Some rock guitarists don't even cut away excess string ends, unless they need a cigarette holder.

[mr. beaumont]

The one on my 575 arrived with only one screw and it rattled so I took it off.

How vain of me.

[Average Joe]

Laziness. I have to adjust the truss rod a couple of times per year, at least around beginning and end of heating season, and I can't be bothered to put the cover back on.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I’m in the “years” camp, so if it came with a cover, it still has it. I don’t think I’ve had to adjust an archtop rod more than 2 or 3 times total through at least a dozen over 60 years. I keep them properly humidified in cases and I’ve never used less than 11-52s on them.

I’ve tweaked a few more solids in that time. But I’ve also tried more variety in string types and gauges on solids, so it was necessary for setup. In the process, I’ve also cut a few nuts and experimented with bridge & saddle height.

[AllanAllen]

I take it off to adjust the truss rod. I play every day, here in Illinois winter can be -15 and summer can be 110 degrees that's -26 to 43c. That's going to lead to necessary adjustments.

Now, I'm no pro, so I tweak it so it's better, tune up and then play. It's not uncommon that overnight the neck bows further and the guitar is unplayable in a the other way, so I back off a little of what I did. After a few days and a few more tweaks it's good enough to ignore, and I just play. About a month later I notice it's still off and put it back on.

[wintermoon]

I've rarely had to adjust truss rods but suspect that many of the guitars we're seeing w removed covers are instruments belonging to touring musicians.
These guitars are exposed to a higher degree of environmental changes through travel in airplanes and other vehicles as well as different venues etc.
Most of us keep them at home only to be taken to the same or similar venues every week, so there's less environmental change than a touring guitar would be exposed to.
Take Pete Bernstein's Zeidler for example. I don't think I've ever seen it w a cover. I suppose there's a possibility he never had one since it was previously owned and John sometimes engraved them w their orig owners name but could be the fact that that guitar's been around the world many times in every kind of venue imaginable w different environments likely necessitating adjustment.

[sgosnell]

It depends on the instrument, IME, and even more on the setup. If you use several thousandths of relief, and 12th fret action at 1/8" or higher, then you probably never need to adjust the truss rod. For some players, that's unacceptably high action. I use almost no relief, because relief raises overall action. I set the neck as straight as I can get it, and the action as low as I can get it, usually just over 1mm, but barely over. That makes a noticeable difference in feel. It also makes any change in temperature or humidity noticeable. I think humidity changes have more effect than temperature, but both contribute to some degree. I raise the action slightly as the first fix, but I also check the relief often. On my guitars, the truss rod needs a tweak relatively often because of the way they're set up. I usually turn the nut only a few degrees, seldom more than the distance between the D and G strings. A tiny movement is often enough adjustment. I tend to put the cover back after I'm done, but I'm not religious about it. I am religious about relief and action height. This setup demands perfectly level frets and perfectly cut nut slots, of course, and isn't possible without them. If you're willing to accept higher action and more relief, then you probably won't need to adjust the truss rod often, perhaps never. That seems to be the more usual case. As always, it's your guitar, so do as you like with it (them). Setup is a very personal preference, and mine won't often be the same as anyone else's.

[vinnyv1k]

I think on many older guitars the screw holes are simply stripped out.
They are tiny little screws with not much threads.

For me I am too anal to leave the cover off and a trussrod nut looks ugly. Plus some trussrod covers are beautiful.

[rpjazzguitar]

I've never thought to adjust the truss rod except when changing string gauge significantly. My guitars seem to intonate well, at least by my standards.

Seems to me that I've had a luthier make an adjustment once or twice, but I can't recall why.

Two seasons around here. Hot and dry. Cool and wet. Haven't seemed to need seasonal adjustments.

[charleyrich99]

I leave it in place on my archtops. It looks good as it was part of the guitar's original design and it's easy enough to take off if I need to make an adjustment. The two seasons where I live in SW Florida are very humid and humid so the neck doesn't seem to move and require an adjustment.

My solidbody guitars are G&L and have no truss rod cover.

[AKA]

I’ve noticed some luthiers are using magnets to attach the truss rod cover. No screws to get lost. Cleaner look.

AKA

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I put covers engraved with my initials on a few guitars that I've really loved and used regularly over the years. I think it's a nice but subtle and reversible touch that makes a guitar "mine". I'm sure there are other sources, but Philadelphia Luthier Tools offers them in several styles for little $, and they've been a reliable source of parts and tools for me for years. This one cost me $14, but their prices have gone up a bit in the last few years. I think all shapes and styles of these are now $16.49 .

[icr]

I had a custom truss rod cover made for my "L5-Style" Sebring.


Also, I found the best place to store all my truss rod covers was on the headstocks of the guitars from which they came. That way I always know where they are and they won't get lost.

[Cunamara]

It depends on the instrument, IME, and even more on the setup. If you use several thousandths of relief, and 12th fret action at 1/8" or higher, then you probably never need to adjust the truss rod. For some players, that's unacceptably high action. I use almost no relief, because relief raises overall action. I set the neck as straight as I can get it, and the action as low as I can get it, usually just over 1mm, but barely over. That makes a noticeable difference in feel. It also makes any change in temperature or humidity noticeable. I think humidity changes have more effect than temperature, but both contribute to some degree. I raise the action slightly as the first fix, but I also check the relief often. On my guitars, the truss rod needs a tweak relatively often because of the way they're set up. I usually turn the nut only a few degrees, seldom more than the distance between the D and G strings. A tiny movement is often enough adjustment. I tend to put the cover back after I'm done, but I'm not religious about it. I am religious about relief and action height. This setup demands perfectly level frets and perfectly cut nut slots, of course, and isn't possible without them. If you're willing to accept higher action and more relief, then you probably won't need to adjust the truss rod often, perhaps never. That seems to be the more usual case. As always, it's your guitar, so do as you like with it (them). Setup is a very personal preference, and mine won't often be the same as anyone else's.

Wow, that might explain a couple of things. I use just a shade less than 4/32" at the 12th fret on both the bass and treble sides. Relief on most of my guitars is 0.10 inch. I am probably pickier about action at the nut than anywhere else. I have thought that's pretty low- many people seem to use 5/32 or 6/32 action- and repair people have commented on it noting "oh, you must have a light touch." The action and relief that you are talking about is really close tolerance.

[sgosnell]

It is tight. The difference between a clear note and buzzing is a matter of maybe a quarter turn of the bridge adjustment wheel. The difference between perfectly straight and a very slight backbow is sometimes a matter of rain instead of dry air. Ebony seems to be particularly affected by humidity changes, much more than rosewood, and humidity changes definitely cause expansion or contraction of the fingerboard. I'm not advocating for anyone else to keep things that tight, it's just my personal preference. I tend to use my Blue Chip Jazz 40 pick for checking action, because it's .040", and that's close to where I've settled, although some guitars need .050". I don't actually measure when setting action, I just lower the bridge until I get string buzz with strong plucking, then back off just a little. Again, that's just the way I do it on my guitars. If someone doesn't want to deal with truss rod adjustment, they can just set adequate relief and forget about it.