I need truss rod adjustment advice for low action

[Severinsteelsmith]

For those of you who like low action and use Ibanez RG's or S's, how low are you able to get your action and how much fret buzz do you have? I am going crazy trying to get the proper amount of relief to have consistent and low action across the fretboard. It seems like the straighter I make the neck, the the higher I have to raise the bridge because I get buzz in the lower frets. Ugh ?

[Pursuit]

I will say this calmly:

The truss rod is NOT for adjusting the ACTION!

[Zgicc]

May I suggest a neck shim

[skins345669]

I think the point Severin is making is that with the neck put straight using the truss rod, lowering the action at the BRIDGE is causing fret buzz. Having it a little bit above arrow straight may help, this is what Satch's tech does for him.

[LonePhantom]

Originally Posted by Pursuit

I will say this calmly:

The truss rod is NOT for adjusting the ACTION!

How's that work? Adjusting the truss rod does affect your action...

[Pursuit]

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

How's that work? Adjusting the truss rod does affect your action...

It does affect the action, but that is not its primary purpose. The action change is actually a by-product of the truss rod adjustment, not the reason for doing it.

The truss rod is for compensating for string tension.

But you can change the action at the bridge, Severin.

[Severinsteelsmith]

Originally Posted by Pursuit

I will say this calmly:

The truss rod is NOT for adjusting the ACTION!

Pardon my word usage in the title. Of course I realize that action is a byproduct of multiple adjustments including the bridge etc... I was thinking along the lines of what amount of relief would be the best platform for low, consistent action.

[Scali]

Originally Posted by Severinsteelsmith

It seems like the straighter I make the neck, the the higher I have to raise the bridge because I get buzz in the lower frets. Ugh ?

That is correct.
The neck will have to have a slight bow in it (neck moving away from the strings a bit in the middle). The exact amount of bow depends on the guitar.

Perhaps the best way to adjust it is like this:
1) Set the bridge as low as you would like it
2) Adjust the trussrod to try and get it to be as buzz-free as possible over the entire neck (I find that it's most crucial around the 12th-15th fret... if you get those right, the rest will generally be fine. I mostly check there, both to make sure it sounds good, and to make sure the action feels nice and light aswell).
3) Adjust the bridge again to remove any remaining buzz (or perhaps set it even lower if it's buzz-free, and insanely low action is your thing).

Repeat as often as necessary.

[Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Severinsteelsmith

Pardon my word usage in the title. Of course I realize that action is a byproduct of multiple adjustments including the bridge etc... I was thinking along the lines of what amount of relief would be the best platform for low, consistent action.

Fair enough lol

My bad

[Severinsteelsmith]

Originally Posted by Scali

That is correct.
The neck will have to have a slight bow in it (neck moving away from the strings a bit in the middle). The exact amount of bow depends on the guitar.

Perhaps the best way to adjust it is like this:
1) Set the bridge as low as you would like it
2) Adjust the trussrod to try and get it to be as buzz-free as possible over the entire neck (I find that it's most crucial around the 12th-15th fret... if you get those right, the rest will generally be fine. I mostly check there, both to make sure it sounds good, and to make sure the action feels nice and light aswell).
3) Adjust the bridge again to remove any remaining buzz (or perhaps set it even lower if it's buzz-free, and insanely low action is your thing).

Repeat as often as necessary.

Great advice! I found that each of my guitars likes a slightly different amount of relief. But yeah, still working on getting a couple how I want them, but otherwise all is well!