Stewart MacDonald 5295, Assembly Instructions Manual, Page: 36 / 40

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Neck “relief,” the upward curvature of the neck in the direc-
tion of the string’s pull, is adjusted with the truss rod . You
should set the neck relief before final adjustment of the nut
and saddle heights . Although the truss rod will affect string
height, it shouldn’t be used to do so . It’s intended to control
the relief, which can affect “buzzing” in the lower frets . De-
pending on your playing style and the accuracy of the fret
heights, the neck should have anywhere from zero (straight)
to 0 .012" of relief . A straight neck tends to play better, but few
guitars end up with no relief at all, and several thousandths
or more is perfectly normal .
Start with the nut and saddle roughed out to height, and
the guitar tuned to pitch . With a straightedge resting on
the frets, along the centerline of the neck, use feeler gauges
between the seventh fret and the straightedge to determine
the amount of relief . The heavier you strum, the more relief
you’ll need . Bluegrass players may need more relief, finger-
pickers less, and the majority of players will be somewhere
in between .
Turn the truss rod nut
counterclockwise to bring
the neck up, adding relief .
Turn the nut clockwise
to pull the neck back,
reducing relief .
Go slowly and carefully — a little
adjustment goes a long way .
Understanding neck relief
KIT TIP: Feeler gauges
Unwound guitar strings make excellent feeler
gauges for measuring relief . Turning the truss rod
nut clockwise straightens the neck and reduces
the relief .
Turning it counterclockwise bows the neck upward, adding
relief . Always adjust the truss rod with care — a little bit
goes a long way .
The tops of the nut and bridge saddle have been shaped to
a 16" radius to match the fretboard, but they’re still too tall
at this point . Installing the two outside E-strings will help
establish the string spacing at the nut, the string clearance
over the first fret, and the saddle height above the top of
Nut slotting, saddle adjustment and string action
the bridge . The latter two measurements determine the
action height, judged by measuring string clearance at the
12th fret .
The first stage of setup will produce a medium-high action
(this may be suitable for bluegrass players, but can be low-
ered for other playing styles) . The heights of the nut and
the saddle should be adjusted together; changes in one will
affect the other . Adjust the truss rod to make the fretboard
playing surface as straight as possible . If your neck has un-
even fret heights, you must level them in order to “read” the
frets accurately (see “Leveling the frets”) .
Position the high and low E-strings on top of the nut at the
desired distance from the edge of the fretboard . 1/16" from
the top edge of the fret end bevel is an average distance .
Pencil these positions on the nut
(pictured) , and file shallow
slots for each string . Leave at least 1/32" clearance between
the bottom of the strings and the top of the first fret .
Install a guitar capo behind the first fret and tighten it just
enough to pull the strings down for clearance between
the bottom of the strings and the top of the first fret . Set
this clearance at about .020" below the treble E-string, and
.030" below the bass E-string . Use .020" and .030" guitar
strings to measure the clearance as the capo is tightened
(pictured)
. Now measure the overall string action at the
12th fret . A comfortable medium action is about 3/32" to
7/64" under the bass E-string, and 1/16" to 5/64" under the
treble E-string .
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