Hey, Im not exactly a very advanced guitar tech, so I need some help. *I have a USRG10 which I kept 9's on for a few years until just recently changing to 10's, and now the neck is bowing inward too much causing the string height around the mid-upper neck to be too high, especially for a list priced guitar of $1200 (or whatever it was).
I know these USRG's have the stress-free neck, in which the metal rod down the neck supports the tension, not the wood, but this is a legitimate problem. *Also, I should note that the string height was never super low, as the neck may have been bowed a bit in the first place (I never really checked, so I cant say for sure if it was). *
So all i need to do is adjust the tension rod through the hex screw in the middle of the four neck bolts, right? *Shouldnt that solve the problem resulting in a perfectly
straight neck, or could there still be a bow once the tension setting is "maxed out" so to speak? *The reason I ask this is because I tried to adjust it, and could not see (or feel) any results. *I turned the screw approx 1.5 revolutions clockwise, at which point it stopped turning (or at least got too difficult to turn with that crappy little allen wrench, but it felt like it fully stopped) *I also turned it 1.5 rev's counter clockwise, at which point I stopped because the neck didnt seem to move at all (I could hear some noises inside it though), and I thought that was the opposite way I should have been turning it. *
So now for the questions:
What is the correct way to turn the screw in order to decrease the inward bow? *I thought it was clockwise (hence "tightening" the neck tension), am I correct? *
How many revolutions can it be turned, and can you damage the neck in any way? *(I heard this neck is a lot more forgiving than a
standard neck)
Should I be able to fix it myself, or should I take it in to a tech? *(Id rather do it myself)
IF for some reason I adjust the neck tension to the fullest extent and there is STILL an unreasonably large neck bow, WHAT DO I DO?! *My crappy Squier plays better than it right now... well at least the string height on the Squier does.
Thanks for the help!
