New member, Question on neck adjustment

[AwakenedAndHungry]

Greetings, I just registered a few minutes ago, and am very happy to have discovered this great site. I've been playing guitar (and piano) for many years, but am guilty of focusing more on the music itself than learning the fine points of guitar care, equipment, adjustment, etc. Having my heart completely broken last year has propelled back into music after being emotionally closed for awhile, and now I am hungry to write, sing, play out, etc. Right now I'd just like to ask a general question, and appreciate any tips. Question: What should I keep in mind when adjusting the neck of my acoustic (Hohner, HG-07), or acoustics in general? I had some buzz on the lower frets, and made an adjustment a few months ago which cured that problem but made the action higher than I'd like. Any suggestions on the best way to do it, or is it mainly trial and error? Thanks! and please forgive my long first post.

[dkitt]

Welcome! Love your name!

If you have loosened the truss rod to the point wear there is no more fret buzz, BUT, the height is now too high...your're in trouble!

The trouble is that you can't easily raise the bridge on an acoustic.

I would try to tighten the truss rod back and then raise the bridge by inserting 2-3 strips of very thin wood veneer under the saddle.

Somtimes this a better solution than adjusting the truss rod.

[AwakenedAndHungry]

Thanks dkitt. Fortunately, I was able to tighten the truss rod just enough to bring the action back to where I wanted it, without the buzz. I really didn't want to raise the bridge, even to remove the buzz, because that would have raised the action on the upper frets, and this guitar has always had great action. It also tunes up real well, and for a guitar that's not one of Hohner's more expensive models, was a bargain at $30 (used, with soft case at a Swap Meet in Everett, WA in 1995)! Thanks again.

[Brendo613]

Yeah, some of those "bargain guitars" can turn out to be really great. Hopefully, once I get some more money, I can start fixing up some vintage guitars ... that'd be cool :)

=Brendan= :cool: