You Don't Want a Straight Guitar Neck!

Understanding Guitar Neck Relief and String Action: If you have a perfectly straight guitar neck (i.e. no neck relief) your string action will increase as you move from the lower frets to the higher frets. If you have too much neck relief your saddles could be too low. Here I explain why.

See my other Neck Relief Videos...

[jarodreddig]

Probably the most helpful video on the interaction between the neck, saddles, and truss rod ive ever seen. Thank you very much good sir.

[EDKguy]

I was always told to get low action you need a straight neck. You made perfect sense and it's clicked in my head! Thanks for the video and helping visualize what's going on.
Cheers!

[zacharybishop]

Best explanation ever! I've been fighting high action above the 12th as all the techs in my area kept suggesting a straight neck after leveling.

[andrewbecker]

80% correct. And most people that understand this much can fill in the rest. My only gripe is that he somewhat contradicted himself when saying the part of the neck connected to the body won't move, but then said it will with too much relief. It won't period. But, because there's such a variety of construction styles and body shapes, the point at which the neck is securely fastened to the body can be drastically different. Not every guitar will react the same from the same adjustment. Understanding that the string height can be adjusted by at least 3 variables on almost any modern guitar, is the whole point.

[marcocelestino]

That is the most well explained video on the tube ...but could you give us some reference on How to set it up ?

[Sealevelsounds]

Dr. Kev, I am also a player and guitar tech, and this is one of the most straightforward and logical explanations of neck relief, as it relates to string action, that I've encountered. Props to you and keep up the good work. It's amazing the difference we can feel in our fingers when we're making adjustments in tiny fractions of inches / centimeters!

[orlandomejia]

You just fixed my partscaster! It had super high action after the 12th fret, the saddles on the lower strings were all the way up and still buzzing. I adjusted the neck relief and the action is lower and the fret buzz is gone. Thanks a bunch DrKev!

[PTRK]

My neck is sort of straight with a little relief and I have low action but it works fine for me. I used to have a straight neck and it was a pain. A little relief fits me well.

[Franxiquito]

You're awesome!!! Second video of yours I watch and immediately I've had burning questions answered that nobody else even addresses. For this video, I was wondering why you measure neck relief while fretting the body fret and not the last fret, and now I know! Thank you SO much for your videos! Subbed!

[WindOnMyWings]

That is the video I needed to understand what I felt I was missing on strings action. Well done!

[pantera]

Another great video. Read through a few comments after, and I definitely agree that this explains the theory and geometry behind neck relief better than any other resource I've come across yet. Thanks for the run down.

[jamesgibson]

Thank you Dr. Kev for this video. I am starting to set up my own guitars and your video(s) are very informative and you explain better than any other videos on YT. Also no other person on YT has explained the interaction between relief and distance between the string and frets past 12. This comes in handy. I am setting up my Fender Jaguar which is my first setup.

[chrisking]

So I tried this with a couple guitars and almost straight (.003") offer the best result. So when ppl say straight they probably mean very little relief. I used to have a lot of relief but now that I've tried little I'm hooked. It feels more even and responsive from top to bottom.

[Roostersix]

This is by far the best explanation of neck relief I’ve ever seen! Sub’d!

[peterricoy]

Super helpful and exactly what I needed thanks!

[willman]

Thanks. I needed to understand this. I was reading that a straighter neck is easier to play. I’m finding that a neck with a good amount of relief is more comfortable for my wrist. My JP15 has a thin neck, so adding extra relief makes it feel better.

[philcunningham]

Thanks so much for explaining this so clearly, some knowledge here that I’ve been searching many years go

[barryirwin]

My man, right to the point clear as a bell, ty subscribed

[johnjonesToffeeman]

I never had a problem with high action or fret buzz. All my guitars have a slight concave bow. If you look down the neck if it has a barely visible slight bow it will be fine.Then you have to adjust the saddles or nut

[gulapula]

Recently changed all my guitars from 100% straight to having a bit of relief, instantly all the strings sound fuller acoustically and plays much better, buzz free