▶ Get all the tools you need to adjust the action on your guitar HERE: bit.ly/4cQOsZM ▶ Get the T-shirt Jim is wearing: bit.ly/43Rvr5d ▶ Shop Your Gibson Guitars HERE: bit.ly/3VQR5o5
Simple rule: Hold the string down at the 1st and last fret. There should only be a slight space between the string and frets. Then adjust the rod (right=tight / left=loose). If a neck is too flat, you will get fret buzz from frets 1-3. Then loosen to find the "sweet spot" (flat as possible without buzzing from the lower frets). Then do a slight "nudge" in the opposite direction to secure the rod at its new tension.
These videos with Jim are pure gold. Great to watch for beginner or higher. And a great reference to get the most out of your guitar. I personally get more enjoyment out of playing the more I learn how to better maintain it - if I only learned these things years ago!
I like there is not much crap talk as many videos, straight and informative. It's also not a commercial for selling a lot of expensive tools with great advice to use what you'll have at home.
This is what I learned from Peavey a long time ago. Great information Jim. Every player needs to know how to adjust a guitar properly and not be scared of the truss rod!
Man I remember taking my guitar somewhere cause the truss rod needed a third turn🤣 Now I look back at myself and think "that guy was right not to charge me for this". Which honestly was very nice of him.
With all of the videos out there on how to do this, this, to me is the best most others rush thru like they are teaching people that already know, Thank You
For what it is worth ... I think Gibson went through a difficult period with its image during the last decade at the least.and I understand why.. not to say youtube is the proper solution but I think Gibson "the process", plus affiliated videos, and especially Jim Decola fronted them are doing a very good job to bring back the legacy Gibson deserves
Gibson is a company and 'deserves' nothing. A better product that is a saleable value will take care of all the earnings and no need to 'deserve' anything you say.
thanks for not avoiding to tell the difference between the high and low strings. Most videos do the safe thing to tell " there should be the same at both strings" and that's almost never the case. Real scenario videos, I'm falling in love again with gibson.
I've been watching these instructional videos over and over so when my left-handed Epiphone SG arrives, I'll have the knowledge and confidence to set it up correctly. Thank you, Jim and Gibson!
Oh god thank you so much Gibson. This is why you're my favourite brand. I have an Epiphone LP100 that desperately needs a truss rod adjustment. I don't have Luthier tools and can't get them in my country easily and I've always been intimidated to do it with TH-cam tutorials but this is a great explanation and thankfully you explain it in both brands. Please keep it up.
WOW!! Someone FINALLY explains this in a way that I can understand. And I DON'T have to get gouged on tools from StewMac to do this! Excellent video Jim and Gibson. Thanks so much!
This is great. Really appreciate Gibson taking the time to help people gain some mastery over instrument maintenance. It’s a real shame when people don’t play because of poorly setup instruments and truss road phobia keeps them from troubleshooting.
They didn't, truss rods had been used for over 10 years before that. Not the only time Gibson patented something someone else invented - humbuckers are another. Gibson lies, a lot.
@@laughingdaffodils5450 the humbucker and filtertron were created at the same time. Bothe seth lover and the creator of the filtertron made a hum-bucking pickups at the same time but Gibson patented it first. Gibson invented the humbucker
@@Otis-Isom "Gibson invented the humbucker" in 1955, you really believe that? Then explain this: docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/USRE20070.pdf Neither Mr Butts nor Mr Lover could have possibly invented the humbucking guitar pickup in 1955 when Mr Lesti patented a humbucking guitar pickup 20 years earlier!
I'm glad you dealt with the relief being different on one side to the other- quite a few of my guitars are like that and I was beginning to get paranoid. Good vid
I'll tell ya this Jim Decola, I got major love and respect for you brother. You've brought the production standards at Gibson, to a new, greater, and better level. You are an awesome asset there at Gibson! God bless you and yours dear brother.☺👍
5 thou= 0.13 mm, 15 thou= 0.38 mm this is the range. He ends up with 8 thou on the low side which is 0,20mm and 6 thou on the high side which is 0,15 mm.
Thank you for that. I really appreciate your clarification. He totally threw me off when he said eight thou on the low side as he’s measuring the high side. You can be one of the best at what you do but that doesn’t mean you’re a good teacher.
Did you mean bass strings when you said low side or high side my english not very well and google translate didnt good translation also can I use this parameters on every guitar or these are just for gibson guitars if you explain me I will be appriciate
At the moment I'm just cleaning my fretboard and changing the strings and letting this run according to its algorithm and this guy is definitely teaching me a lot of stuff that I did not know before because basically I play the guitar but definitely deficient on all the other aspects of this! This guy knows what he's doing I can say that much and that is a hell of a lot more than I do!
I love the 2020 Gibson & 2020 Epiphone Guitars.. The 2020 Les Paul's are fantastic as is the Explorer and V. Thank you Gibson for what you done with the Gibson/Epiphones from the 50s & 60s and the good pick-ups and wiring. GOOD JOB. PLEASE KEEP IT UP🤘
Amazing video! I remember a couple years ago I tried to fix my adjusted guitar neck but never really found a good resource that thoroughly does the process of adjusting the neck. Thankfully, I have come across this video. Keep up the great work!
Wow thankyou soo much for this. I recently bought a Gibson Les Paul Satin Manhattan back a few years ago. And havnt made an adjustment because I didn't trust anyone. But if Gibson says... Gibson says. Thanks guys!!!
Thank you so much! Such an easy to follow video. I had recently purchased a Les Paul body style and the previous owner had the trussrod so tight there was almost no relief at all. The guitar went from a buzzy mess to playing beautifully. Thanks again!
Hey Jim - just did a neck adjust on my CME Carmelita R9 Les Paul. Your vid took the nerves away ... and the bow. It plays great now! Thanks for calm and thorough explanation!
Thank you so much! This was such a great video. Explained everything so well. Really helpful, approachable, and thoughtful. Your personality shines through. Best!
Hi, I have the same les paul but whenever I put capo at 1st fret and press on 15th and measure 0.08” am getting buzz from High E string and my action is 2mm low E and 1.5 High E. Can you share your measurement and do you capo and 15th fret or what?
Thank you so much for this! Been scared to fiddle with my truss rod until now, exactly what I needed. My neck was like the first guitar, way too much of an inward bow.
Thank you so much. I've spent enough money at local shops having my guitars setup over the past 3 years that I could have bought another nice guitar. With your video I can now take care of my own neck relief setup. I've avoided playing my Les Paul since one shop "set it up" and left it with a terrible buzz. Tonight I checked and I've got less than .005" clearance. Now I know what to look for and how to fix it!
I found this video yesterday, but I didn't watch it until now. Coincidentally, this morning I restrung my guitar and checked my neck relief. I didn't have feeler gauge so I just checked was there any space between my string and fret wire. I found there was a little space in my 6th string and very tiny space in my 1st string. i was confuse and suspected something wrong with my neck. Luckily Jim explain this is ok. So thank you for making this video.
THAT was a great video. Thank you for making it. Who better to definitively show people, including me, how to do this than Gibson? Now I have 37 truss rods to adjust...
Nicely explained, just would be convenient for you also mentioned or put up on screen the metric equivalent measurement. Just about all my measuring tools are metric.
I adjust my truss rod while the guitar is in playing position. Having in on a bench with something pushing on the back of the neck can add more relief than intended. Especially on a bass guitar.
I’m going to purchase a Gibson les paul but the product description says it is a single action truss rod in the neck. My question is does that mean it can only be adjusted in one way? What do I do if I want to add relief to the neck?
Totally agree about the adjustable bridge. Allen wrench are nice and safe to use over paint. But would much rather have a nut and longer truss rod on the Epiphone Les Paul. Seeing the amount of truss rod used or not is a great feature to have.
Yeah I think I should be thankful for this video, 2 years ago I never would’ve thought I would do anything to my guitars now shit I set my friends guitars up and a lot of people here in my town but love Gibson sg I had a standard black ebony and I ended up with a sg faded a cheaper guitar but honestly I enjoyed the faded hands down played and sound a lot better which I now have a vintage brand les Paul that it is my number one guitar plays great I love Gibson guitars but folk it’s a name they r some great guitars out there it’s a hassle trying to get the one that talks and inspires you to play better thanks cheers
Thank you for this video...but I have a question: what is the value when you mean "spec is 5000 for the high side meaning"...what 5000 stands for please? Thanks ;)
I've read several comments on this post saying more or less the bridge setup can get close on intonation, but sometimes close is good enough. I do not agree. I have owned more than a dozen Gibsons (close enough) and three PRS guitars that were dead nuts on intonated from the factory. I still play the Gibsons live because I love them, but they are not the same.
Hey, great information here, Thank You Gibson. If only more Guitarist would understand how to properly setup their own guitars. After neck adjustment Guitarists need to understand how speaker type influences their final tone!
Wow. Warehouse aside, my side room in the studio is low key starting to look like this.... To say that i almost went to a local luthier schools instead of starting my music university program in drum/ percussion (my main instrument; ) maybe i should get down to it and finally go learn the portion of the at i still do not know. Anyways. thanks for the video serie itll be handy next time i forget which way to turn the tross rod ....again
I'm brand new at guitar, just learning to work on my own. It seems like it would be better to loosen strings a bit before adjusting the rod. Maybe even give you a more accurate rod adjustment maybe? Probably don't matter but, is it ever applicable to do that? Thanks for the video!
▶ Get all the tools you need to adjust the action on your guitar HERE: bit.ly/4cQOsZM
▶ Get the T-shirt Jim is wearing: bit.ly/43Rvr5d
▶ Shop Your Gibson Guitars HERE: bit.ly/3VQR5o5
Simple rule: Hold the string down at the 1st and last fret. There should only be a slight space between the string and frets. Then adjust the rod (right=tight / left=loose). If a neck is too flat, you will get fret buzz from frets 1-3. Then loosen to find the "sweet spot" (flat as possible without buzzing from the lower frets). Then do a slight "nudge" in the opposite direction to secure the rod at its new tension.
Nice to have an official Gibson video on this as there are so many conflicting videos out there. Thanks!
These videos with Jim are pure gold. Great to watch for beginner or higher. And a great reference to get the most out of your guitar. I personally get more enjoyment out of playing the more I learn how to better maintain it - if I only learned these things years ago!
I like there is not much crap talk as many videos, straight and informative. It's also not a commercial for selling a lot of expensive tools with great advice to use what you'll have at home.
This is what I learned from Peavey a long time ago. Great information Jim. Every player needs to know how to adjust a guitar properly and not be scared of the truss rod!
Man I remember taking my guitar somewhere cause the truss rod needed a third turn🤣 Now I look back at myself and think "that guy was right not to charge me for this". Which honestly was very nice of him.
A skill every musician should have thanks Gibson!
With all of the videos out there on how to do this, this, to me is the best most others rush thru like they are teaching people that already know, Thank You
For what it is worth ... I think Gibson went through a difficult period with its image during the last decade at the least.and I understand why.. not to say youtube is the proper solution but I think Gibson "the process", plus affiliated videos, and especially Jim Decola fronted them are doing a very good job to bring back the legacy Gibson deserves
Gibson is a company and 'deserves' nothing. A better product that is a saleable value will take care of all the earnings and no need to 'deserve' anything you say.
I've been waiting for this official truss rod adjustment video, THANK YOU!!!
your ace?
Thanks, Jim.Great information ! Greetings from Poland,Warsaw!
good format, would love more of these videos on a bunch of your models !!
thanks for not avoiding to tell the difference between the high and low strings. Most videos do the safe thing to tell " there should be the same at both strings" and that's almost never the case. Real scenario videos, I'm falling in love again with gibson.
@@creamwobbly I live in south america, we pay epiphones with two full months salaries like they where gibsons, I feel you 😅
I love this series. Thank you Jim and Thank you Gibson
Can you do how to do intonation on a hard tail/tune-o-matic bridge? (Les Paul, SG, etc...)
It’s coming
we always wanna adjust the truss rod first, then action, then intonation. I imagine they'll post all the vids in that order :)
AWESOME, this days I was searching videos about this, and what's better than gibson to learn that? Right
I've been watching these instructional videos over and over so when my left-handed Epiphone SG arrives, I'll have the knowledge and confidence to set it up correctly. Thank you, Jim and Gibson!
Oh god thank you so much Gibson. This is why you're my favourite brand. I have an Epiphone LP100 that desperately needs a truss rod adjustment. I don't have Luthier tools and can't get them in my country easily and I've always been intimidated to do it with TH-cam tutorials but this is a great explanation and thankfully you explain it in both brands. Please keep it up.
Truss rod adjustments are the same for almost every brand *except* for Fender guitars, which is the reverse of almost all other brands.
WOW!!
Someone FINALLY explains this in a way that I can understand. And I DON'T have to get gouged on tools from StewMac to do this!
Excellent video Jim and Gibson. Thanks so much!
Dude, StewMac explicitly gives options for those who dont want to/can buy stuff.
Favorite video series on this channel
There is literally no Video in German that showas this so Professional! Thank you so much and best wishes from Germany!
Thanks Jim. You've taught me a great deal in very little time. Love your videos.
Nice one. I bet this man has a guitar collection to die for!
Maybe not. Remember ,the shoemakers kids go barefoot.
But you can be sure that whatever he has at home plays fantastic.
This is great. Really appreciate Gibson taking the time to help people gain some mastery over instrument maintenance. It’s a real shame when people don’t play because of poorly setup instruments and truss road phobia keeps them from troubleshooting.
I had no idea Gibson invented the truss rod................Thank God!
They didn't, truss rods had been used for over 10 years before that. Not the only time Gibson patented something someone else invented - humbuckers are another. Gibson lies, a lot.
@@laughingdaffodils5450 and there was a make of guitar with adjustable necks in the 1830s; the Staufer (usually with 'ff' but mine had one 'f'.
@@laughingdaffodils5450 and sues a lot
@@laughingdaffodils5450 the humbucker and filtertron were created at the same time. Bothe seth lover and the creator of the filtertron made a hum-bucking pickups at the same time but Gibson patented it first. Gibson invented the humbucker
@@Otis-Isom "Gibson invented the humbucker" in 1955, you really believe that? Then explain this: docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/USRE20070.pdf
Neither Mr Butts nor Mr Lover could have possibly invented the humbucking guitar pickup in 1955 when Mr Lesti patented a humbucking guitar pickup 20 years earlier!
I'm glad you dealt with the relief being different on one side to the other- quite a few of my guitars are like that and I was beginning to get paranoid. Good vid
Ah just the video i was looking for. Thanks Gibson!
I'll tell ya this Jim Decola, I got major love and respect for you brother. You've brought the production standards at Gibson, to a new, greater, and better level. You are an awesome asset there at Gibson! God bless you and yours dear brother.☺👍
5 thou= 0.13 mm, 15 thou= 0.38 mm this is the range. He ends up with 8 thou on the low side which is 0,20mm and 6 thou on the high side which is 0,15 mm.
Thank you for that. I really appreciate your clarification. He totally threw me off when he said eight thou on the low side as he’s measuring the high side. You can be one of the best at what you do but that doesn’t mean you’re a good teacher.
Genius thanku for saving me a whole day
Metric system people are thanking you
Tks
Did you mean bass strings when you said low side or high side my english not very well and google translate didnt good translation also can I use this parameters on every guitar or these are just for gibson guitars if you explain me I will be appriciate
At the moment I'm just cleaning my fretboard and changing the strings and letting this run according to its algorithm and this guy is definitely teaching me a lot of stuff that I did not know before because basically I play the guitar but definitely deficient on all the other aspects of this! This guy knows what he's doing I can say that much and that is a hell of a lot more than I do!
I love the 2020 Gibson & 2020 Epiphone Guitars.. The 2020 Les Paul's are fantastic as is the Explorer and V. Thank you Gibson for what you done with the Gibson/Epiphones from the 50s & 60s and the good pick-ups and wiring. GOOD JOB. PLEASE KEEP IT UP🤘
Amazing video! I remember a couple years ago I tried to fix my adjusted guitar neck but never really found a good resource that thoroughly does the process of adjusting the neck. Thankfully, I have come across this video. Keep up the great work!
Wow thankyou soo much for this. I recently bought a Gibson Les Paul Satin Manhattan back a few years ago. And havnt made an adjustment because I didn't trust anyone. But if Gibson says... Gibson says. Thanks guys!!!
Great video. Ive always wondered about this. Thank you for the great video
Thank you so much! Such an easy to follow video. I had recently purchased a Les Paul body style and the previous owner had the trussrod so tight there was almost no relief at all. The guitar went from a buzzy mess to playing beautifully. Thanks again!
Great lesson, Gibson!
Thanks
Hey Jim - just did a neck adjust on my CME Carmelita R9 Les Paul. Your vid took the nerves away ... and the bow. It plays great now! Thanks for calm and thorough explanation!
Thanks to Gibson USA 🇺🇸 for sharing this
Excellent video!!
You have cured my trussrod phobia ♥️♠️👍🏻
Jim Decola speaks how I write. I love it. Also, loving that ES-335 without the bound.neck. I've got a Gibson Memphis with P90s and unbound neck.
Thank you so much! This was such a great video. Explained everything so well. Really helpful, approachable, and thoughtful. Your personality shines through. Best!
Thank you I just adjusted my 60s Les Paul standard due to string weight decrease! This plays like a dream now with minimal adjustment. Awesome!!!!!
Hi, I have the same les paul but whenever I put capo at 1st fret and press on 15th and measure 0.08” am getting buzz from High E string and my action is 2mm low E and 1.5 High E. Can you share your measurement and do you capo and 15th fret or what?
Thank you gibson for this Videos. There are pure Gold.
I’m pretty good but I always like watching and learning. Thanks so much !!!
Thank you so much for this! Been scared to fiddle with my truss rod until now, exactly what I needed. My neck was like the first guitar, way too much of an inward bow.
Now I feel much more confident with making this adjustment on my own and not having to take it to someone else
Thank you so much. I've spent enough money at local shops having my guitars setup over the past 3 years that I could have bought another nice guitar. With your video I can now take care of my own neck relief setup. I've avoided playing my Les Paul since one shop "set it up" and left it with a terrible buzz. Tonight I checked and I've got less than .005" clearance. Now I know what to look for and how to fix it!
Please, more videos like this.
Jim, thank you for the great video and all the very detailed information. Keep up the great work! I'm looking forward to the next video!
Wow, great information, THANK YOU!
Always good to know. Thank you!
Another great tutorial. Thanks.
Thank you so much. You show are greatly helpful. I like to learn from the best.
nice informative info!! thx Mark and Gibson !! 👍
Yes please do an Intonation and Bridge or action set up for a Les Paul!
It’s coming
I found this video yesterday, but I didn't watch it until now. Coincidentally, this morning I restrung my guitar and checked my neck relief. I didn't have feeler gauge so I just checked was there any space between my string and fret wire. I found there was a little space in my 6th string and very tiny space in my 1st string. i was confuse and suspected something wrong with my neck. Luckily Jim explain this is ok. So thank you for making this video.
What a fantastic explanation and demonstration, thanks Jim and Gibson!
Very well presented.
thanks Jim, great info
you are a very informative man, thanks Jim!
Nice to have exact measurements. Got my son's Les Paul right on
Cool - I always wondered why you needed to adjust the truss rod and how.
Good tips Nice piece; good stuff. Take care.
THAT was a great video. Thank you for making it. Who better to definitively show people, including me, how to do this than Gibson? Now I have 37 truss rods to adjust...
Nicely explained, just would be convenient for you also mentioned or put up on screen the metric equivalent measurement. Just about all my measuring tools are metric.
Now I know we need proper tools to adjust the neck, thanks a lot.
The best video on the subject!
Just perfect! Thanks for this video.
Love that black burst..
Great info! thanks for these easy but very useful tips, much appreciated by us Gibson lovers.
LOVE these videos Jim. I will say, why is the "first suggested" course of action the third video in the playlist?!?
Great video. I have a 1914 gibson u harp guitar which had an external truss rod instead of in the neck
Just a Great Upload Thank you :)
Great stuff!
I love these videos!
Excellent instructional video. If you too far the D string will buzz (ever so slightly) in the third fret.
Please please, show how you setup a tune-o-matic bridge pleaseeeeeeee
Excellent. Thank you.
I adjust my truss rod while the guitar is in playing position. Having in on a bench with something pushing on the back of the neck can add more relief than intended. Especially on a bass guitar.
very well explained thanks
excellent video
What a pro!! Damn!
Good video. Thanks! Love Gibson 🙌🏻
This was helpful thank you.
I’m going to purchase a Gibson les paul but the product description says it is a single action truss rod in the neck.
My question is does that mean it can only be adjusted in one way? What do I do if I want to add relief to the neck?
Totally agree about the adjustable bridge. Allen wrench are nice and safe to use over paint. But would much rather have a nut and longer truss rod on the Epiphone Les Paul. Seeing the amount of truss rod used or not is a great feature to have.
Yeah I think I should be thankful for this video, 2 years ago I never would’ve thought I would do anything to my guitars now shit I set my friends guitars up and a lot of people here in my town but love Gibson sg I had a standard black ebony and I ended up with a sg faded a cheaper guitar but honestly I enjoyed the faded hands down played and sound a lot better which I now have a vintage brand les Paul that it is my number one guitar plays great I love Gibson guitars but folk it’s a name they r some great guitars out there it’s a hassle trying to get the one that talks and inspires you to play better thanks cheers
Thank you for this video...but I have a question: what is the value when you mean "spec is 5000 for the high side meaning"...what 5000 stands for please?
Thanks ;)
Great lesson!! Thank You !!!
How about a video on measuring/cutting new bridge saddle slots?
I've read several comments on this post saying more or less the bridge setup can get close on intonation, but sometimes close is good enough.
I do not agree. I have owned more than a dozen Gibsons (close enough) and three PRS guitars that were dead nuts on intonated from the factory. I still play the Gibsons live because I love them, but they are not the same.
Hey, great information here, Thank You Gibson.
If only more Guitarist would understand how to properly setup their own guitars.
After neck adjustment Guitarists need to understand how speaker type influences their final tone!
Isn't this the guy that worked with EVH in the Wolfgang? Used to work for fender and now heads of Kramer? I think I spoke to him before.
love it!
Great video, very informative
Wow. Warehouse aside, my side room in the studio is low key starting to look like this....
To say that i almost went to a local luthier schools instead of starting my music university program in drum/ percussion (my main instrument; ) maybe i should get down to it and finally go learn the portion of the at i still do not know. Anyways. thanks for the video serie itll be handy next time i forget which way to turn the tross rod ....again
Note: Your should measure the relief in playing position, as well as intonation
Agreed
This comment should be pinned.
fantastic thanks
Great Vid!
thanks!!
Some of the early Fender Esquires (Tele style with one pickup) did not have a truss rod and could be problematic as a result.
I'm brand new at guitar, just learning to work on my own. It seems like it would be better to loosen strings a bit before adjusting the rod. Maybe even give you a more accurate rod adjustment maybe? Probably don't matter but, is it ever applicable to do that? Thanks for the video!
You need tension on the neck to make the adjustments.
Therefore, all strings must be under tension… ✌🏼