Truss - how much is too much?

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Author Message pts Junior Username: pts Post Number: 20 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2008 - 12:24 pm:    Due to interesting climatic conditions this past year, the neck on my Essence 5 developed a lot of forward bow. I wanted to move to a lower setup anyway, so over the course of about 3 weeks back in October, I began giving both truss rods a quarter-turn (equally), and then letting the instrument sit upright for a day or two, but it was incredibly slow to respond. I've now reached a neck profile I'm mostly happy with, but it took 2.5 full rotations past snug to get there. Is that too much? Am I courting danger come springtime? adriaan Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 2027 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 1:04 am:    Sounds to me like you tightened the truss rods to the point where they started pulling harder than the neck already did by itself. The truss rods should now be in the zone where quarter turn adjustments are usually enough. terryc Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 646 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 2:48 am:    I agree with adriaan, come spring time you should have enough reverse adjustment to compensate. I would give the fretboard a dose of lemon oil just to keep the wood supple, to prevent any of the grain opening. pts Junior Username: pts Post Number: 22 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - 5:57 am:    Yes, I oiled the fretboard before I started the truss rotation increments. I had read years ago that a neck should respond to a half-turn past snug, so I was concerned that 2.5 turns was way too much and in danger of breaking the rods. terryc Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 649 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 - 3:13 am:    I would think the rods are more than capable of the tension, I would be more wary of the threads stripping out. keep a close watch on the neck as you said, as soon as the wrmer weather comes it may be on the move again white_cloud Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 538 Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 - 5:32 am:    This just goes to show how lucky we are in this respect here in the UK where humidity is not really a big issue. John. terryc Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 650 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 - 7:49 am:    john..I agree there, I hardly tweak the rods at all.