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I just adjusted the truss rod on my Johnny Ramone (needed a little more relief to cure a slight buzzing) for the first time and just wanted to know whether there was an easier way.

I loosened the strings, put a capo on the first fret, and then loosened the neck screws enough to lift the neck heel out of the pocket. I struggled with this for quite a while because it was such a tight fit and I was very apprehensive about potentially damaging anything, but eventually got it to lift far enough out to get a hex key to engage with the truss rod end and I loosened it very slightly. I found that there wasn't much tension on the rod to begin with, so I only loosened it to the point where it was just barely still engaged. Then I re-tightened the neck screws, tuned back up, checked the relief, and played a little. It plays great (always did) with no more buzzing, but now I've got a few questions about whether there was an easier way.

I wish I had taken note of this when I had the pickguard off a year or so ago, but can the truss rod adjustment be accessed by removing the pickguard on the JR model (I assume the Hallmark II would be the same)? The strings would still need to be loosened, but this could save having to remove the neck screws and wrestle the neck heel out of the pocket.

I'm kicking myself for not checking while I was at it, but does the JR have a 2-way truss rod? The relief is great now, but it may be worthwhile knowing just in case it ever needs a little more relief in future.

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope this new decade treats you all well!

Is it possible to loosen the pickguard and adjust that way ?

Dan

That's what I'm not sure about. I had the pickguard off some time ago, but cannot remember whether the truss rod adjustment was accessible. I have it back together now, so this is more of a question for "next time" as I'm not really feeling motivated to dive into it again just to satisfy my curiosity.

just remove the pickguard. it works with strings on it also and you can access the trussrod channel

Great news, thanks for the feedback.

Does anyone happen to know if the truss rod adjusts both ways on this guitar? I guess I'll find out if I ever need a little more neck relief.

it should be a single action truss rod. why you need two directions? do you have a bow or something like that in the neck? a picture with a ruler on the neck would be good

I'm not really concerned about it, just curious. I'm satisfied with the neck relief now and the truss rod is just barely engaged. So I'm just thinking that it doesn't leave any room for adjustment if, at some point in the future, I find that need more relief.

I emailed Bob Shade to get a definitive answer to my questions and I've pasted his reply below just in case anyone comes across this thread looking for this information.

"Yes the JR had a dual action rod. You will need to remove the guard or lift the neck out of the pocket. I prefer to remove the guard so you can adjust the rod to the proper string tension."