Can Adjusting the Truss rod of the guitar crack the neck?

Question

I wonder if anyone can help me here. I bought a used guitar from Ebay and it looked fine at first sight. The action needed adjusting and I tune to Eb so I decided to adjust the truss-rod. I turned it clockwise a couple of times and it felt like it came loose so I thought, "Well, the Truss-Rod is broken". And I can't adjust this guitar :o/

I then looked at the neck and I could see a crack right behind the locking nut.

I really don't think it could have been me as I didn't turn the rod tight of nothing like that but I wanted to check if it's possible to crack a neck by adjusting the truss-rod.

Here's a picture of the damage:

Hope someone can help.

Answer 1

You can cause damage by turning the truss rod too tight, but normally a few quarter turns one way or the other will be just fine.

That photo looks like the guitar has been dropped and the head has hit the ground.

So possibly you tightening the truss rod has just forced a damaged neck to split further.

Answer 2

That does not look like damage that might be caused by overtightening the truss rod, but perhaps improperly tightening the truss rod broke loose a poorly repaired broken headstock. When tightening a truss rod, the guitar neck should be clamped into the desired amount of back stress and then tighten the truss rod just enough to hold the neck in the desired shape. Many a truss rod has been broken by trying to tighten and straighten the neck without first clamping the neck into the desired shape. To better understand the correct technique, I recommend reading Dan Erlewine's book on guitar maintenance and repair.

Answer 3

Probably turned the truss rod too fast, turn like 1/4 then wait like 30 minutes to an hour for it to set it then to it again, the wood takes time to set in so going to fast will put to much pressure