(attempted to post to the Guitar Discussion thread but couldn't)

Newbie looking for a little help tonight guys.

I bought a used martin dcx1e earlier today. I noticed the action on it was pretty high compared to a new one i played on at guitar center a few years ago. After doing some research, i got an allen wrench and tried to adjust the truss rod...i wasn't able to feel any tension when i put the allen wrench in and turned it clockwise and counter clockwise. i release the allen wrench and the bolt came out with the wrench - this seems like trouble. I'm going to take it to a shop tomorrow morning but wanted to see if anyone has any idea on what has happened and if this is fixable/normal. I'm hoping i didn't get ripped off

10/25/2011 11:22:59 PM

Where on earth did you read to adjust the truss rod to set the action?
Typically this is done by shaving the bridge down a bit.

Was your neck bent? The truss rod is just there to make sure the neck stays straight. Usually the adjustments here are minor. I've never had to do it myself, but it might be necessary if you let your guitar sit stringless for a long time, then after you re-string the neck is concave.


Anyway, at this point, IMO, you should to take your guitar to a luither. Even if you get the bolt back in, you'll never get the neck straight, action set, and intonation proper.

10/26/2011 12:19:47 AM

i saw a few articles here and there. the neck looks straight. i was only going to turn it slightly to see what it does but when i had the wrench it, it was super loose. like it wasn't even doing anything. we'll see what the shop says tomorrow

10/26/2011 12:44:18 AM

Yeah, you should never try to adjust the action with the truss rod. Even if an adjustment is necessary, you should never need to turn it more than a quarter of a turn one way or the other.

On the upside, those guitars have plywood necks, so you might not be in too much trouble.

10/26/2011 4:04:31 AM

Go to Capitol Blvd, swing by guitar center or that other place, and have one of their techs or luthiers put it back together and re-adjust it. It's a pretty simple job to reassemble the truss rod itself, but as mentioned, you're likely going to need some other adjustments to get everything perfect again.

What I am curious about in this situation is whether the strings should be detuned, removed, or left alone entirely to avoid warping.

[Edited on October 26, 2011 at 8:25 AM. Reason : warping]

10/26/2011 8:23:40 AM

thanks for the advice. i went ahead and took all the strings off last night. I'll post back later after I've had a tech look at it in case someone runs into this in the future

10/26/2011 9:00:07 AM

Quote :

"Where on earth did you read to adjust the truss rod to set the action? "

lol. this.

For the more expensive Martins, they've made it a pain in the ass to adjust the truss rods; you have to order this stupid specialty wrench from them. Nothing else fits.

Also, I'm not gonna talk noise about your guitar like vinylbandit, whose acoustic is clearly a 1937 D-28, but I really hate cutaways. Tell me that thing has a pickup, at least...

[Edited on October 26, 2011 at 11:23 AM. Reason : plywood neck ]

10/26/2011 11:03:04 AM

I'd take it over to Zion Guitars off Atlantic Avenue. I've always been happier with their work than Guitar Center or Sam Ash....and they're very reasonable.

Hanson and Crawford is a good option if you need serious work donel, but they are more expensive and probably overkill for a basic setup.

10/26/2011 11:13:04 AM

^^ A plywood neck is going to be much less resistant to warpage than solid wood, especially if there's no tension on the rod at all.

10/26/2011 1:32:18 PM

That's not how it came off, because I didn't think these things had necks really made of plywood. Just looked all this up; $700 for a guitar like that is pretty ridiculous. I had a Blue Ridge BR-40 a while back and it was solid wood and right around $300 new. What the fuck is "Mahogany Pattern HPL Textured Finish"?

You can easily get a better guitar than that for that kind of money. Wow, now I'm talking noise...

[Edited on October 26, 2011 at 3:42 PM. Reason : k]

10/26/2011 3:37:00 PM

I have a DCX1E

The neck and fretboard play very smoothly, almost like an electric, yet you still get a decent tone out of it. The pickup gives off a great tone as well. Not sure what happened to the OP, as my action was set almost too low.

10/26/2011 4:15:22 PM

^thats the one thing that stood out for me when i played this a few years ago

I dropped it off at music go round earlier and picked it up after work. everything is ok. im guessing the guy who had it before me unscrewed the bolt pretty much all the way. the tech put it back on and gave it a proper set up. the action on it is still a tiny bit higher than i remember but it plays great

10/26/2011 8:34:11 PM