Guitar Maintainence

George Lynch models (along with other models) don't have the truss rod access at the headstock. It's in the heel, which is hidden in the body.

If you look at the headstock (below), you'll notice there is no access to the truss rod. The first step to access the truss rod is to unlock the string locks with an Allen key.

Next, I put a towel behind the Floyd Rose tremolo. The towel servers two purposes. The Floyd Rose system is based on equal resistance from the strings and the springs in the back of the guitar to balance the tremolo. When we loosen the strings, the Floyd would be sunken into the body, if the towel wasn't there. Second, if we roll the towel up enough, it will cause the tremolo to actually pitch upward, thus beginning the process of loosening the string before ever touching a tuning peg. Notice how the back of the tremolo, which is normally parallel to the body, is now pitching up, and releasing some tension on the strings.

Next, I put a towel behind the Floyd Rose tremolo. The towel servers two purposes. When we loosen the strings, the Floyd would be sunken into the body, if the towel wasn't there. Second, if we roll the towel up enough, it will cause the tremolo to actually pitch upward, thus beginning the process of loosening the string before ever touching a tuning peg. Notice how the back of the tremolo, which is normally parallel to the body, is now pitching up, and releasing some tension on the strings.

The next step is to loosen the strings by turning the tuning pegs.

This will give you enough play to access the truss rod after the screws are removed.

At this point, the strings are completely slackened. Time to remove the screws. Turn the guitar over to access the screws.

I use a Dewalt Hammer Drill to get the screws out.

Once the neck is removed from the body, you can see the truss rod. Note that I removed the neck because I didn't want to harm the finish in any way. I could have taken the back 2 screws out, and loosened the front 2, as shown above. But it didn't give me full access. I might have marred the finish. So, I just removed the neck.

Insert the Allen key and adjust the neck.

Reassemble the guitar. Remember to work the process in the reverse order. Tighten the strings around the same amount they were loosened. DO NOT tune them to pitch yet, because the towel is still holding the tremolo. You just tighten them enough for the string tension to stop the tremolo from crashing into the body when the towel is removed. After the towel is removed, you can tune the guitar to pitch.

As you probably guessed, the real problem with this method is that if it needs more adjusting, you have to take it apart again, and make the adjustment.