Heel truss rod adjustment question

[Shreddy Mercury]

To flatten out a heel adjust rod where the neck has to come off, do you guys adjust it flat, then reinstall it and string it up and hope the relief hasn't been knocked out too much from string tension or is there some secret technique I'm not privy to?

 

[Bardagh]

Well, it depends. Some bodies have it to where you can access the heel truss rod with the right kind of tool if you pull up the pickguard (assuming strat or tele here). There will be a hole in the neck pickup cavity. If it’s a 21 fret neck you can usually keep the strings on these and adjust the truss rod.

 

[Shreddy Mercury]

I had to loosen them, capo the first fret, then take the screws out and pop it up. It only took 2 times to get the neck pretty flat. My friend's action was really high on his Custom Shop Tele so I flattened it out some for him and lowered the action so now it's much quicker playing still without any buzz, and room left to go if he wants it lower. Had to pop the whole neck out but it wasn't too bad, just a lil time consuming.