Official Luthiers Forum!

What do you think? Any reason to use them? Think they help or do you think they do very little? I've used them a handful of times but I don't really know if they actually help with anything. My reason for wanting to use them is to help with any tendency the neck may have to backbow/forwardbow, twist or warp. Hardwood has a lot of power if it wants to naturally move though. I don't know if these little rods could do anything about it. Maybe they can. What do you think?

I've repaired guitars where the maker used CF stiffening rods and the neck was so stiff that the truss rod split the back of the neck wide open because the neck would not flex when you want it to.....

I see a use in adding stiffness to say a bass guitar neck but there is a line that if crossed and the neck gets too stiff CF rods render a truss rod a liability...and not what it was intended to be.

Just wanted to add yesterday I brought a Martin EC model back to life after drying out solely.... because of the maker's choice to use a double action rod.... I had to dial in the rod to add forward bow..... This is not all that uncommon either.

If I were building again no CF for me and always a double action rod.

I've used CF for splines on a Gibsons style headstock repair and again as a backstrap on a 12 string headstock repair. Otherwise I've never had a neck "move" on me where I felt the CF would have made a difference and I build resonators, 12 strings and other guitars with relatively high string tensions. I might consider it for a build without a truss rod but I use double acting rods in everything, so no CF

I'm going to agree with Hesh, not a good idea on a guitar with a truss rod. I've used it on a bass neck, but that was a 35" scale 5 string. It was appropriate for that neck, and it would be appropriate for a guitar neck without a truss rod. You can make the neck stiff enough that string tension doesn't pull any relief into the neck, and build the relief into the fretboard.

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Thank you for the replies. I agree with you all. I've used them before but I don't think I will again.

I use them on all my guitars and basses with truss rods. They aren't about just stiffening the neck. They also eliminate dead spots by shifting the resonant frequency up out of the range of the fundamentals. I have zero problems adjusting the necks with the truss rods.

I use double acting rods which sit right under the fretboard. But I also build a little relief into the neck when I glue the fretboard on. That way you always need a little rod pressure to get the neck straight.

Generally speaking, the stiffer the neck is, the better the tone you will get from the instrument. And it's nice not having to adjust them every time the seasons change!

I was torn on this myself as a noob builder. Nearly done on a Ric 4001 clone build. They use two trussrods, but with no.scarf joint or volute, it leaves a weak spot at the big double trussrod adjustment pocket. I have a Warmouth Jazz neck that has always been really stable, and that has two CF rods, so I went that route. Two 1/8" cf rods and DA trussrod, with volute added. I was worried the neck would be too stiff, but in fact it adjusts with no problems, so at least I can say it did no harm. It remains to be seen if it cancels out seasonal movement.