Before tuning your instrument, you should tighten the tuning pegs securely, double-check the strings are installed correctly, and adjust the neck.
Check that the strings are securely fastened to the headstock. Then inspect the strings on the pads (they should be wound without overlapping each other). And only after that read on.
Neck adjustment is necessary to ensure comfortable tension on the strings. The adjustment itself varies depending on the guitar you play.
Neck adjustment on classical and acoustic guitars.
Classical guitars most often use a glued neck, so the adjustment can be adjusted either by using a truss rod (if available) or by selecting strings of a specific thickness and tension. I can’t advise you on this, as you make this choice yourself through trial, error, and experimentation.
On acoustic guitars, things are simpler. Most often, there are pins on the body side that hold the string in the saddle, and on the headstock side, there’s a bar with a truss rod screw behind it. Let’s talk about that.
Neck Adjustment Using a Truss Rod
To check and adjust the neck, clamp the string at the first and last frets. If the string rests comfortably on the neck at frets 5-7, loosen the truss rod adjustment bolt (counterclockwise). If there’s a significant gap between the string and the neck at frets 5-7, tighten the truss rod adjustment bolt (clockwise). If the string tension is even across the entire neck, the neck is adjusted.
Some older or more sophisticated acoustic guitar models have screws that attach and hold the neck to the guitar body. Let me tell you a little about this adjustment method.
Neck Adjustment Using a Screw
The optimal position for the screw is when it’s fully tightened. However, if the strings are stubbornly resting on the fretboard or there’s a large gap between them and the fretboard, you should loosen the screw slightly so that the distance between the strings and the fretboard at the 12th fret is no more than 5 cm.
Adjusting the Neck on Electric Guitars
On electric guitars, the neck is adjusted only using the truss rod and the so-called string adjuster on the nut of the guitar body. The string adjuster allows you to adjust each string to a comfortable height. The principle is simple: tighten the string adjuster if the string is too high for your playing style. Loosen the string adjuster when you hear unusual noise from the open string (ringing).
Once all adjustments are completed, you can proceed to tuning. More on that later.
