Truss Rod Adjustment Question (Almost out of thread)

[ADClope]

So, I've done pretty basic setup stuff in the past with my guitars, but never really touched or messed with the truss rod(s) - I guess like most folks, afraid of breaking something.

I've watched a bunch of video's, Stewmac's video's are very helpful, and ordered a few of their tools to help with the setup's.

I recently picked up a 2008 Gibson Les Paul. Since it was apart I decided to give it a good cleaning, the fretboard, get it oiled, new strings, etc...

I used a straight edge to check out the neck without any string tension on it.

I was surprised to find that it had a bit of a backbow and the straight edge would "rock" back and forth. I've never really seen that before, but then again, I never really looked.

I went ahead and strung it up and checked again. Pretty flat at this point with very mild relief around the middle frets. If I had to guess, I would say somewhere around .004-.005 or something like that. It plays okay and doesn't really buzz much except on the low E. But overall seems to play reasonably well. Just wanted to set a bit more, around .010" to see if I liked that better.

My issue was when I looked at the truss rod itself. There's very little thread (rod) left for me to utilize to give me relief.

My understanding is you loosen to the left to give yourself more relief, and you tighten, or to the right to flatten it out and dial relief out.

But this one already has the truss rod half way (a bit more than halfway, really), threaded into the nut. (Like I imagine 3-5 full turns counterclockwise, or loose and the nut would fall off). So, ultimately, it's not hanging on by a ton. I mean it's more than a thread or 2, but still I would have thought the truss rod would have extended through the nut, not stop halfway in the middle like that.

Is this normal? Or is there an issue here?

If it's fine, or fairly normal, then I'll just play it , it just seems odd that they'd utilize only half of that nut for the truss rod. It also seems odd that this one seems to want to push back into a back bow as opposed to pull up into relief with no tension or... but maybe that's not weird either... I'm just getting into learning about seeing up necks.

 

[ADClope]

Wanted to insert an image but it's not letting me like before. It was just drag and drop and now it's wanting a web address.

Anyone know how I could get pictures posted. I think I described it well, but a picture always seems to help.

Mine actually looks very similiar to the first picture posted in this thread: https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/truss-rod-what-should-the-thread-look-like-under-the-trc.448754/ with the exception of the "half moon" looking washer on mine is straight, as opposed to rotated in the image in the thread.

Actually, I believe I have a little bit more rod catching threads than the one in the picture (maybe 1 or 2 more), but it's close to what this one looks like... apparently that is A-ok?

 

[Any Name You Wish]

If the back bow unstrung is slight then I would not worry too much about that. It isn't normal to have so few threads engaged on the truss rod but not the end of the world if you can get some relief. Your understanding of which way to turn the nut on the truss rod to get more or less relief is correct. .010" relief is on the high side. You can probably get to about .006"-.007" at the 7th fret (fretted at the 1rst and 12th frets) on the high E with a 1/8 turn CCW and that would be in spec. Trying to get more relief than that and you run the risk of the nut stripping off the end of the truss rod threads. The nut threads would probably strip first since it is the softer material. When you try to turn the nut and it is really loose then you should take it to a good luthier.

 

[OLD GUITAR PLAYER]

Hmmm... I'd be far more concerned if it was the other way around (had very little thread left on the truss rod) which can be a very expensive and time consuming repair. When shopping for a used Gibson, the first thing I always check is how much adjustment room is left on the truss rod threads. If it's cranked most of the way down, I pass. However, Gibson's seldom have back-bow issues (in my experience) so as long as it goes away (once your guitar is strung up properly) you should be OK.