Truss rod on Epi 60s Les Paul

[malibu43]

I am new to owning a Les Paul. After playing my Epiphone Les Paul 60s for several weeks and making some action adjustments, I went last night to tighten up the truss rod as well to remove a tiny bit of relief from the neck. I was concerned to find that there was no resistance turning the truss rod in either direction (for several minutes I actually thought I had the wrong size allen key and kept trying different sizes) and nothing seemed to affect the amount of relief in the neck. After a while I went a few extra turn clockwise and finally hit some resistance, and then subsequently remove some relief with a few fractions of a turn.

I was concerned about all this until I read about 1-way truss rods (my other guitars have always been two-way truss rods I guess). Is it correct that my guitar comes with a one way truss rod? And then I guess the other thing is that whatever amount of relief I had in the neck before will be the most I'll ever get, since the truss rod was completely loose...? (unless I went to heavier gage strings or something...)

 

[Lester]

Yeah, I think you have it right... someone loosened the truss rod well beyond "end of travel" trying to get more relief. However, it may change over time with moisture and weather, as well as tension from the strings and being played, so I would not be too concerned.

Was this a new purchase or used?

EDIT: Oh, and this isn't a Les Paul thing... a single action truss rod is pretty much the same in all guitars as far as I know.

 

[malibu43]

Yeah, I think you have it right... someone loosened the truss rod well beyond "end of travel" trying to get more relief. However, it may change over time with moisture and weather, as well as tension from the strings and being played, so I would not be too concerned.

Was this a new purchase or used?

EDIT: Oh, and this isn't a Les Paul thing... a single action truss rod is pretty much the same in all guitars as far as I know.

Thanks. This was a new guitar from Guitar Center, so I would assume it's the factory set up. I'm going to re-string it in the next few days (still have the factory strings on, not sure why...), and will watch for any changes. Also been pretty dry here in Southern California the last couple of months...

 

[Lester]

If it's new, I see two possibilities: 1) it had issues in the factory and they just loosened it up and then "sent it". 2) it was OK at the factory 6,000 miles away in a different climate but the wood dried substantially as it hung on the wall in California for a few months.

Guitar Center is very liberal with returns in the return period (30 days?) so if it bugs you, return and get another. But wait for the rest of the crowd here to chime in. There are people with a LOT more experience across guitars than me.

 

[malibu43]

If it's new, I see two possibilities: 1) it had issues in the factory and they just loosened it up and then "sent it". 2) it was OK at the factory 6,000 miles away in a different climate but the wood dried substantially as it hung on the wall in California for a few months.

Guitar Center is very liberal with returns in the return period (30 days?) so if it bugs you, return and get another. But wait for the rest of the crowd here to chime in. There are people with a LOT more experience across guitars than me.

Thanks. Either one of those scenarios seems possible. I'd rather not return it unless someone brings a reason for serious concern. After my initial confusion, I have the neck where I like it. The only scenario I see as an issue is if I want more relief and can't get it. The neck was pretty straight to start with, so I'm surprised the truss rod was out of adjustment, but is it that unusual? (not sure since it's my first experience with a Les Paul)

I went through a return process once already late last year, and it was a hassle. I think I only have a few days left in my 45 day return window. https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/continue-trouble-shooting-epiphone-60s-les-paul-or-return-and-try-again.448821/

 

[truckermde]

I don't think it's too uncommon to get a new guitar like that, especially taking into account several things, like your climate vs climate in factory location, store it came from, and guitar price range.

Glad you got it where you wanted, and I hope it serves you well. None of my Epis, or Gibsons for that matter, have had any truss rod issues.

 

[mkel2010]

Since the guitar is new and still under Epiphone's warranty, I'd suggest setting up an appointment with their Virtual Tech service and run it by them. Granted I have little experience, but every video I've watched related to setting neck relief leads me to believe there should be SOME resistance when adjusting the truss rod.

Epiphone | Virtual Guitar Tech Service

www.epiphone.com

 

[malibu43]

Well.... I feel a little silly...

I was reading about "loose truss rods" yesterday and read a few posts in forums about truss rods being loose in the "neutral" range, ie - where the truss rod matches the natural curve of the neck. When I first discovered my issue, it *seemed* like I was turning and turning in both directions with no resistance. I guess that wasn't the case. I gave it just over half a turn counter-clockwise last night and I started to feel some resistance. So I guess my truss rod was in a position where it wasn't exerting enough force on the neck to feel tight when turning, and I initially wasn't turning it far enough in either direction to get it out of that range. I thought I was turning it a lot, but I guess I was really only going about 1/4 turn and then stopping because I was worried about not hitting any resistance.

So last night after I got about an 1/8 turn of resistance counter-clockwise, I just went back the other way to where it started since I was happy with where the neck was. And all is well again... well actually everything is a total disaster right now (I think 2021 wants to give 2020 a run for it's money). But my GUITAR? My GUITAR is good!

Thank you all for your time and help!

 

[Street Lethal]

Well.... I feel a little silly...

I was reading about "loose truss rods" yesterday and read a few posts in forums about truss rods being loose in the "neutral" range, ie - where the truss rod matches the natural curve of the neck. When I first discovered my issue, it *seemed* like I was turning and turning in both directions with no resistance. I guess that wasn't the case. I gave it just over half a turn counter-clockwise last night and I started to feel some resistance. So I guess my truss rod was in a position where it wasn't exerting enough force on the neck to feel tight when turning, and I initially wasn't turning it far enough in either direction to get it out of that range. I thought I was turning it a lot, but I guess I was really only going about 1/4 turn and then stopping because I was worried about not hitting any resistance.

So last night after I got about an 1/8 turn of resistance counter-clockwise, I just went back the other way to where it started since I was happy with where the neck was. And all is well again... well actually everything is a total disaster right now (I think 2021 wants to give 2020 a run for it's money). But my GUITAR? My GUITAR is good!

Thank you all for your time and help!

Your 60's Standard has a dual action truss rod. It was probably sitting in the "dead zone". As long as you start to feel some resistance when turned in either direction and the neck reacts you should be o.k.. You may have come across one of my posts when you searched the forum for truss rod issues. I had a 50's Standard that had a crap neck and I couldn't get enough relief out of it and I maxed the rod out. It kept trying to back bow so I returned it. I wound up buying a used 50's Standard and it has no issues. As long as the rod is not maxed out and you're happy with the amount of relief all is well.