For a beginner who is starting out in their journey of mastering the guitar, a guitar neck may unfortunately be the least of their concerns. The neck of a guitar plays a major role as it affects the tone because most of the strings' vibration is supported by the neck and the degree of comfort for your fretting hand. Up till now, many would ask how can they check and buy a guitar that has a good guitar neck. Read on and you will find useful tips to inspect a guitar neck!
Inspecting the neck
A warped guitar neck is very obvious especially on a used guitar. Hence, you should always give the neck of the guitar a visual check to see if it is straight. To do so, use the strings as a guide; compare the side of the neck with the strings by looking down straight from the guitar, placing it at a forty five degree angle with the tuners close and in front of you with the body of the guitar on a platform. Also, do it for the other side.
Ensure that the neck is straight with a slight dip around the 4th/5th/6th lower frets. Take note that it should not have gaps between neck and body or bow in its neck, especially a back bow which is a bigger problem than the rest. Ensure that the neck and headstock of your guitar is not twisted while placing the guitar in the same position mentioned above. Otherwise, it can become difficult to tune which also makes playing more difficult. Check the neck pocket to ensure it is free from debris, chips and that it remains clean. The back of the neck should also be free from chips, tip over or dents too.
Inspecting the fret board
Next, you have to check the fret board in conjunction with the neck by laying the guitar on a flat surface. As the fret board is usually glued onto the neck, make sure there are no cracks or stress fractures on both sides of the neck. More importantly, there should not be any splits because under temperature change or simply using it very often, it will end up splitting and giving you many problems. Run your fingers down the sides of the neck to ensure that the edges of the neck are properly filed.
Checking the fret wires
Usually for a brand new guitar, it is unlikely for the frets to have any defects but since it is very expensive for frets to be repaired, giving it a visual check would be very important. Look carefully over the neck of the guitar that it does not have any protruding frets, dents, cracks, gaps nor sharp edges or corrosions by pressing onto the guitar strings and pushing it off to the sides so that you can see what is laying under the strings. For second hand guitars, it is very common to see dents in the fret caused by the guitar strings. With dents, that can cause buzzing in the sound the guitar produces.
In conclusion, if your guitar is playing well and sounds good, don’t bother too much over the bent or twisted neck as some good guitars with truss rod are designed to control how much the guitar should bent to create better sound. Although some issues may look simple, never insist on fixing such problems by yourself, bring it to a quality local store and have them to do the truss rod adjustment for you!
With the information above, you will less likely come into contact with a musical instrument that may disappoint you. Visit Music Mart today to start your shopping!