Which bar is better - straight or curved?

Straight Olympic bar

The classic type of bar, without which not a single full-fledged workout can do.

Weight : 20 kg

Length : 2.2 m

Diameter : 28 mm

Used in combination with pancakes with a diameter of 50 cm. The maximum weight is about 400 kg.

There is also a “female” version of the Olympic bar, its weight is 15 kg, length – 2.5 m, diameter – 25 mm. A bar weighing 9 kg is used for training young athletes.

An Olympic bar is necessary for performing basic exercises: bench press, squats, deadlifts. It can also be used for standing presses and can be used to perform Olympic lifts such as the snatch and clean and jerk.

Neck material and cut

The quality of a guitar neck depends primarily on the material (wood) from which it is made. The main body of the neck can be made of various types of wood: maple, mahogany, cherry, wenge, bubinga. Most necks are made from maple. Composite materials such as graphite or lucite can also be used to make the neck. Wooden fingerboards are usually coated with a layer of varnish on top to prevent them from warping due to possible drying.

Few people know that there are several types of cutting wood used for making fingerboards, namely: radial (quarter sawn) and tangential (flat (slab) sawn). The type of cut affects not only the appearance of the neck, but also its physical properties.

For radial cutting

the plane of the cut passes through the core of the trunk, such wood is uniform in color and texture, and the neck made of such material is very durable and resistant to external influences. Such a neck will serve you faithfully for many years, without deformation and impressing with its wear resistance. Once you have adjusted it once, you will hardly need to adjust it; the bar will hold the desired angle for a long time, withstanding greater tension. As for the acoustic properties, when cut radially, the necks sound brighter and the lows are clearer.

For tangential cutting

the plane of the cut passes at a distance from the core. A fingerboard made from such boards has a pronounced texture and a rich wave-like pattern of annual rings. Such necks are less expensive than radial ones, but they are more flexible, react to string thickness, changes in temperature and humidity, and will have to be adjusted more often.

As a compromise solution, multi-layer necks were invented, similar in sound to radial ones. When making such necks, two or three pieces of tangentially cut wood (even different species) are glued together, allowing for greater rigidity and lower cost, as well as a unique sound.

Powerlifting bar

Such a bar can rarely be found in an ordinary gym, unless he has a specialization in powerlifting. A powerlifting bar has greater rigidity compared to an Olympic bar, so it allows you to work with heavier weights.

Weight : 20–22 kg

Length : 2.2 m

Diameter : 29–30 mm

The maximum weight for such a bar is 500–600 kg. It is used to perform the three basic powerlifting exercises: back squats, bench presses, and barbell rows.

MasterGitar.com

There are two schools of thought among guitar makers: some believe that the neck of the guitar should be perfectly straight, others that the neck of the guitar should have a deflection, they call this a saddle. Forming this correct bend in the neck of a guitar is not so easy.

The point of this tiny deflection is to prevent the strings, especially on the basses in the first positions, from hitting the frets. Those. it should look like raised frets in the first positions, and starting from the 5th fret, the neck looks almost straight. The deflection is small, I do it without exact measurements, some couple, three tens. There is talk about 0.2-0.5mm. if you apply something flat to the neck of the guitar. Later in the article, when the word “smooth” appears relative to the neck, keep in mind that this deflection is taken into account if you join the party of bent necks.

It seems that there are many ways to straighten a guitar neck, but in fact there is only one way to straighten it - this is to straighten the plane of the fingerboard using a plane and lapping, i.e. cutting and skinning her body. If you have an anchor, then you are either not a classic or a classic-exclusive. By the way, I don’t see anything wrong with anchors for a classical guitar. It's just a tradition not to make an anchor in the classics. I very much doubt that the anchor has a negative effect on the sound.

First you need to determine how much your bar is bent. You need to watch and evaluate with the strings stretched and tuned to the tuning fork, so that a standard load is applied to the fingerboard. We remember about the introduction, where it is written that a small bend is good, not evil. Also, if you don’t feel discomfort when playing, then maybe nothing should change!?

How to determine the amount of lead on a guitar neck?

Having secured the body of the guitar at your feet or on the table, you need to hold the head and the area of the first fret, not very tightly, to imitate the tension of the strings, bending the neck. Look along the fingerboard under tension and achieve, by removing a little at a time using a cycle and lapping, so that under tension the fingerboard becomes even. The whole difficulty lies precisely in the strength of tension. The feeling will only come with practice. But I can immediately say, do not bend with all your might, slightly, but not completely sluggishly. If the bar is removable, on a bolt, then you can hold the heel with one hand and the head with the other, bend it, and you have enough strength in your hands.

String tension matters. It’s one thing to have weak tension, about 35 kg, and another thing to have extra strong tension, about 80 kg. Mostly normal tension is used, about 50 kg.

It is with tensioned strings that the neck should be even (bent). It is impossible for strings to be stretched on an absolutely even neck without it bending, at least slightly. Only thick and uncomfortable necks or those made of high-quality wood with a super hard overlay, like ebony or ebony, hardly bend. What kind of neck do you have?

The neck gradually bends from the first fret to the ninth, tenth, because then the base of the heel begins. Further, after the 13th fret, it is possible to lower the pickguard, because the deck, which is not sufficiently reinforced with rips, bends. Or at the 12th fret the fingerboard suddenly rises up, forming an angle. This is rather a complex problem in the base of the neck - ring - guitar body assembly.

It is necessary to estimate how much wood needs to be removed to make the overlay even. Sometimes there are particularly severe cases when the body of the lining is practically missing. But rest assured, there is no other way than destroying the excess. The heart bleeds when you have to cut off the body of a fingerboard from valuable species, for example, transfer a rosewood fingerboard to shavings and dust, abundantly watering it with tears.

There are two directions in which you can straighten. Straighten mostly up to the ninth fret and mostly beyond the ninth. What does this affect?

This affects the height of the strings, i.e. if you want to raise the strings, you need to remove them behind the ninth fret, if you want to lower them, you need to remove them before the ninth fret. Assess the height of your bone on the stand and decide whether you should lower it or replace it with a higher one.

The bone should be about 2 mm. come out of its groove. Accordingly, on the sixth string it is 1 - 1.5 mm higher. relative to the first one. The distance from the soundboard to the sixth string should ideally not exceed 16mm.

That is, by removing the pickguard you can further adjust the heights of the strings. Sometimes there is no other way to repair a guitar when the strings are lying down and there is nowhere to lift the bone, but there is something to remove in the pickguard from the 12th to the 19th fret.

The springboard for active action is ready. Now you need to carefully pull out the frets. And now there is a dirty and crooked stick free from frets - you need to make an even and smooth neck.

The wood is very hard and the plane licks it or pulls it hard. Then all that remains is a scraper and sandpaper. In any case, after the plane you need to work with them. Because you need to take small steps to reach the optimal size. The cycle removes very carefully and levels the surface. Sandpaper on the lap is needed mainly for leveling. Although, if you don’t have a plane and scraper, you can work by lapping, changing the number of sandpaper from coarse to fine. But it will take a lot more time and effort. And working with lapping without experience is not so easy, because a person is not a machine that moves a tool with constant pressure in one plane. Only experience will teach you the nuances. I recommend trying it on a kamikaze stick. After you learn how to remove chips, learn how to perform the assigned task, i.e. They set the task to straighten and straightened it. We set the task of bending the edge by 1.5mm, simulating working with a fingerboard - and we did.

What should you do with the neck?

You need to remove the body of the fingerboard from the ninth fret towards the head, gradually up to the first fret. From the ninth fret to the nineteenth fret the fingerboard should be level. These three lines in practice are quite a complex process, take the time to practice.

First you need to make the bar absolutely straight, only then start doing the lead, bending from 9th to 1st. You need to use a level to determine evenness.

And constantly look along the fingerboard, now from the left, then from the right, tuning your eye to see what is even and what is uneven.

Once you think everything is ready, you will need to deepen the cuts under the frets to the required depth. First you need to measure the frets that you will insert. There should be no visible scratches on the surface. Now everything is ready to install the frets.

Mikola Rudenko

Straight training bar

There are several main varieties of this neck:

Length – 200 cm, weight – 10 kg.
Length – 180 cm, weight – 8 kg.
Length – 150 cm, weight – about 7 kg.
Length 120–125 cm, weight – about 6 kg.

The diameter of all bars is the same as the Olympic bar. In contrast, they are more compact, which allows them to be used for home training.

Two-meter bars are used for basic barbell exercises. Bars 150–180 cm long are suitable for various types of presses, lunges, and bent-over rows. Occasionally they are used to perform isolated exercises on the arm muscles.

Small bars are used for exercises that work one muscle, such as the biceps.

Determining whether you need such a bar for training or an Olympic one can only be done experimentally.

Sports bars for gyms

Exercises with free weights, such as rubberized collapsible dumbbells and sports barbells, are included in the mandatory training program for representatives of various sports disciplines.
These classes are important for both bodybuilders and powerlifters. During training, a straight barbell allows you to use several joints and muscle groups at once. The collapsible design is very convenient, since during training you can easily adjust the load, increasing the weight as the athlete becomes more trained. This is true for both beginners and experienced athletes. It is difficult to imagine a modern gym that does not have a free weights area, therefore, when equipping it, it is necessary to buy a barbell with weights of various weights and more than one, as well as a bench press with safety stops. Whatever the size of the hall, it is worth paying enough attention to the design of this area. The cost depends on the number of pancakes included in the set. In principle, the prices for a biceps machine are quite reasonable. Training types of equipment with the least weight, accordingly, are cheaper than a more massive projectile, for example, a T-shaped bar.

Parallel grip bar

Weight: 5–7 kg

Length: 85–90 cm

Diameter : 28 mm

There are also longer and heavier options. The neck has two parallel handles in the middle. Needed for working triceps, sometimes they perform biceps curls with it.

Common mistakes

Body rocking . In some cases, you can observe how athletes try to bend their arms holding a curved bar by swinging their torso. This does not need to be done, since the load will not be applied to the biceps normally. It is better to perform fewer repetitions, but without losing quality.

Raising your elbows to the side . This mistake occurs especially often among beginners, since they do not master the technique of this exercise. Raising the elbows leads to a decrease in the amplitude of flexion, so the biceps contract poorly. It is very important to keep your elbows pressed to your body, they should not swing or move.

Bouncing the barbell off your hips . This technique is often used by weightlifters to simplify the exercise. However, beginners who work with light barbells do not need to use this technique, as it will prevent them from using their arms properly.

EZ-shaped neck

This apparatus is designed for people who have limited mobility in the hands or weak forearms. It allows you to target your biceps with exercises like the French bench press or barbell curl without putting unnecessary strain on your wrists and forearms.

Weight : 5–7 kg

Length : 1.2 m

Diameter : 28 mm

How much deflection should the bar have?

In fact, everyone has a different answer to this question. Some people find it convenient to play with a slightly larger arch than usual, others with a smaller one. However, the standards for an acoustic guitar say that the deflection should be such that the distance between the string and the fingerboard at the fifth to seventh frets is no more than 0.3 mm with the first and eighteenth frets simultaneously clamped.

W-shaped neck

Used primarily to perform the French bench press. It increases the effectiveness of this exercise: the ability to perform this exercise with a neutral grip, with your palms facing forward, increases the load on the triceps.

Weight : 5–7 kg

Length : 1.2 m

Diameter: 28mm

Safety

Bent bar curls are simple exercises, but this does not mean that safety precautions can be neglected. Advanced athletes must work at racks, as their arms can get tired at any time under the influence of heavy weight. You can also use the help of a belaying companion. He should stand behind him, since only in this position can he catch the barbell.

Beginners are recommended to work with an empty bar. As a rule, its weight reaches only 10 kg, but at first this is quite enough. Once you feel that the exercise has become too easy, you can start using larger weights.

It is important to hold your wrists firmly in this exercise . There is no need to “break” them too much, as this leads to rapid fatigue of the joint. When working with heavy weight, such a movement can injure the joint.

T-bar

The basis for it is usually a standard Olympic bar or one of the training options. In fact, this is no longer an ordinary barbell, but a simulator, since one end is fixed on an iron rack, and pancakes are attached to the second.

Bent-over T-bar rows are considered one of the best exercises for strengthening your back. Sometimes it is used to practice striking and pushing movements in martial arts.

Anchor and anchor nut

The anchor device consists of a metal rod and a nut. It can be located on the side of the headstock or at the place where the beam is attached to the soundboard. When positioned on the body side, the neck must be detached to adjust the truss rod. On most instruments, tuning access is located on the headstock under the plastic pickguard.

Adjusting the neck of a guitar with an anchor bolt is carried out using an anchor nut, which rotates using a device. A guitar truss key is included with the instrument upon sale. In exceptional cases, the action can be performed with a regular screwdriver. After adjustment, leave the guitar alone for half an hour and measure the deflection again. If necessary, repeat the adjustment.

Trap neck

An unusual diamond-shaped bar, which is used to perform basic barbell exercises, including for beginners: it is considered safer to do deadlifts with it, since due to its shape the load on the lumbar region is reduced. You can also perform shrugs with it, that is, lifting the shoulders to work the trapezius muscles, and the “farmer's walk” exercise – moving the barbell from one place to another.

Weight : 15 kg

Length : 1.6 m

Diameter : 28 mm

Myths, guesses, misconceptions

On one of the guitar forums I read a thread where a person asked - to what degree should the truss rod be twisted? And they answered him - until the click.

You can't do that. A click means that you have at least stripped the threads, or even broken the neck and have a crack running through it.

The rod must be twisted carefully, constantly checking the correct deflection. This can be done simply by looking at the block on the plane - as shown in the photo. This will make it perfectly clear how much it was bent, and how long it will take to twist. Often it only takes a couple of turns to fix the whole situation, so remember - accuracy is paramount.

In addition, before making repairs, it is necessary to remove or loosen the strings - so a beginner should first learn how to change strings on a guitar in order to do this without problems.

Useful tips

The load on the biceps directly depends on the degree of curvature of the bar: the more the bar is curved, the higher the load.
You don't need to throw your arms too high up. In other words, the bar should not rise to shoulder level, since towards the top point of the amplitude the load will begin to decrease, which will negatively affect the efficiency of the entire exercise. In this case, the hands at the top of the movement are always in front of the elbows.
There is no need to move your elbows back when lifting the weight and forward when lowering. It is enough to move your elbows 5 cm while lifting the barbell, and then return them to their original position.
There is no need to swing your whole body, since the bar rises not by inertia, but due to muscle strength.
At the bottom, the arms are fully extended so that the biceps can fully stretch under the load. This movement greatly improves the amplitude and efficiency of the exercise.
It is important to keep your shoulders and back straight. The chest is straightened and the shoulders are pulled back slightly so that the posture always remains level.

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The correct technique for bending the arms on the upper block is always available at: /silovye/ruki/s-bitseps/sgibanie-ruk-s-verhnego-bloka.html.