How do you adjust truss rod for epiphone special 2 and what is the spin direction for tightening the truss rod?

Answer 1

When attempting to readjust the neck contour of your guitar keep a few things in mind. Let's start at the same place....the body of the guitar, preferrably the strap button. Hold the guitar so that the headstock is pointing slightly skyward and get a good look at the neck. I always use the strings as a guide. Since there is only a straight line between two points, this is a good way to see just what needs done. As you are looking from the end of the guitar to the headstock you can see that the strings are perfectly straight. Then get a good look at the neck and compare them. More often than not, the neck has a "back bow" or too much relief in it. It looks like it's sagging in the middle? At which point, you tighten the truss rod. If it looks like there's a hump from about the sixth fret to the somewhere around a 11th or 12th fret, the neck has not enough relief in it, you should loosen the truss rod. How to do that? Easy as pie......from the other end of the guitar (looking from the headstock towards the body) turn the truss rod counter-clockwise to loosen it and clockwise to tighten it. HOWEVER be very careful to not over do it. A lot of do it yourself jobs end up in my shop because people don't realize that this should be done by someone with some experience. If you over do it or strip the truss rod out....it's bye-bye guitar time. So only turn the truss rod a quarter of a turn at a time. Let the guitar set up for about 20 minutes or more and start over. Checking the neck contour to monitor progress. Until you get the hang of it, it takes a lot of time and patience. But rest assured that you won't be throwing Guitars away left and right while you're honing your new skill.