(Basic) Guitar setup

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 1077 Location: Norway

I'm under the impression that there are many skillfull people attending this board. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them when it comes to guitar setups.... Crying or Very sad

Of course everybody has their own preferences regarding action, playability and so on, but a short-list of tips and tricks would surely be handy!

How about a basic checklist describing a complete guitar setup from start to finish?

My main guitar for the moment is a Jackson Dinky Firestorm.
It has a Floyd Rose but I'm just as interested in fixed bridge descriptions, since my next guitar will be a Dean... Wink

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 4406 Location: Hostile Territory

This is a good setup primer there are several types of guitars styles to get information about.

http://www.mrgearhead.com

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 4797 Location: BEERMUDA

Ask dave at B & T he has done an incredible job on the you know what ML!

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 2036 Location: VALHALL

Dave knows !

or we can ask Dr.Lewnworx to give us an indeep Guitar Setup Lesson Question

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 403 Location: Cincinnati, OH

Perhaps your guitar was playing great when you brought it home from the store, and gradually you noticed that it just didn't feel right anymore. Or, maybe it just never felt right from day one, whatever the case, you know it's time for a tune-up (pun intended). I can usually tell when my guitar needs a bit of tweaking, it starts to feel tedious and tiring to play, albeit in a very subtle way. This page is intended to help you do the basic tasks yourself. I've brought my guitar to lots of techs before for basic setup tasks, and for the most part, none of them ever seemed to get it right. It was always difficult to talk to the person who was actually doing the work, since a lot of places just farm it out to outside sources. What I consider the basic tasks are:

Adjust the truss rod for proper neck relief.
Adjust the bridge for proper string height and action.
Adjust the height of the pickups properly.
Adjust the intonation for accuracy.
By no means is this an all encompassing list, but it's a good start for the minor tasks that you can accomplish yourself. If you've never done it, I recommend that you first bring your guitar to an experienced luthier, and have him check and repair the following items as needed. Even if it's a brand new guitar, you'd be amazed at the difference these items can make:

Regulate the nut. This insures that the strings are the proper height at the first fret. If they're too high, you may experience a slight degree of sharpness in the lower fret region. This is because the string has to travel too great of a distance when you depress a note at the first fret. Not only that, but you will also find it tiresome to play in the lower fret region as well. Most guitars do not come with a properly regulated nut, this is a must do.

Here's what Gibson had to say about the nut slots on their guitars: Nut slots themselves are cut according to the string gauge used. Some good measurements at the first fret for string height are: bass side: 2/64 inch, treble side: 1/64 inch

Check for high and low frets, level the frets as needed. Any time frets are leveled, they will need to be re-crowned to insure accurate intonation.
Check for loose frets, and re-glue any that are found.
Have the frets polished, this will give them a smooth, silky feel.
Sounds expensive eh? The usual cost for a full guitar setup - regulating the nut, adjusting the truss rod, and setting the action and intonation shouldn't run you over $35.00. For the fret leveling, crowning, and polishing, my luthier charges a flat rate of $75. Re-gluing the loose frets will probably run you another $30 or so flat rate. This should be a one time expense, thereafter, you can do the tweaking yourself and get the guitar playing exactly the way you like it.

Being that I'm primarily an electric guitar player, this page really deals with working on electric guitars, not acoustic. I also don't address the issues with setting up tremolo systems, especially Kahler or Floyd Rose types. I am not responsible for any problems you introduce by working on your own instrument. This is merely intended as a guide to help point you in the right direction. If you don't agree with that, then STOP here! I am by no means a professional at doing this type of work, however I do keep my guitars playing the way I like them to play, and save myself a lot of time and money by doing the type of work outlined below. Any adjustments you make to your instrument, you do at your own risk. These are tried and true techniques that have been in use for many years. With care and caution, you should find this information helpful in assessing and setting up your own instrument.

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Getting Started
The good news is that you need very few tools to do the work yourself. Stewart MacDonalds is a great source for quality tools. To get started, here's what you should have:

A capo to act as a 3rd hand when needed.
A truss rod wrench that fits your particular truss rod.
An accurate, high quality 6 inch metal ruler with 64's and 32nds increments.
Small philips head and regular screwdrivers.
Set of small allen head wrenches.
Set of feeler gauges, preferable sizes in the range of .009 to .018. I bought mine from an automotive store for about $7.00
First thing you need to do is to put on a set of new strings in the gauge of choice. It's important to start with a fresh set of strings to insure proper intonation of your instrument. If you change the gauge of strings in the future, you will need to redo the setup on your guitar to accommodate the new strings. Where appropriate, I've tried to include the factory recommended values, as well as any specific information that differs in the way they recommend their guitars are setup.

Tip: Always work in a clean, uncluttered area. Be especially cautious, if you drop a tool onto your nice flametop guitar, you will damage the finish. Don't have any items on shelves nearby that can fall and land on your guitar. Always place your guitar on a soft workarea such as a folded up towel or blanket to prevent scratches etc. I can't stress this enough, one wrong move, and you've marred your perfect finish - pay attention to what you're doing. If you bring your guitar into a dealer or a luthier for a setup, always do a once over with the store or person to make sure that they know there's no dings on the guitar, or at least what the current condition is. That way, if you get the guitar back and there's damage, you can argue the fact credibly. I have a friend who brought his Les Paul to a reputable luthier, and when he picked it up, there was a large damaged area on the back of the guitar that wasn't there when he brought it in. The luthier ended up repairing the damage, though he couldn't remember doing it himself. Accidents happen, and you need to point out the condition of your guitar so that you can come to terms should any damage occur.

For the most part, I've only dealt with Gibson and Fender guitar specifics, however, the basic tasks are common to most guitars with slight variances as to how or where a specific measurement is made. Here's some pointers to other manufacturer's setup guides for their instruments.

If you'd like anythign more speciffic, just ask!

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 2036 Location: VALHALL

hehe there you go Ziggy !!

Thanks Dinasty Very Happy

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 403 Location: Cincinnati, OH

Truss Rod Adjustment
You need to have a small bit of relief or clearance in the middle of the fingerboard so that a vibrating string has ample clearance to vibrate freely and naturally. This is achieved by adjusting the truss rod. Most manufacturers will ship a truss rod wrench with the guitar. At any rate, you need to find the correct wrench for your guitar. Gibson guitars commonly use a 5/16 wrench, while Fender's typically use a 3/16 or 3/32 allen head wrench. The directions below apply to guitars with the truss rod adjustment located in the headstock only. Some guitars have the truss rod adjustment located at the end of the fretboard near the pickups. Since I've never done this type of adjustment, I can't give you the details, though the mechanics should be basically the same.

Don't ever force the truss rod if it doesn't move freely, this will most likely only result in damage to your instrument. If the truss rod doesn't move freely, bring it in to an experienced repair-person and have it checked out.

Tip: To quickly check whether the truss rod needs adjustment, hold the low E string down at the 1st and 13th frets, then tap the string down at the 6th fret. You should hear a light click as you do this from the string hitting the frets. If you don't hear it, the neck needs more relief. If it's extremely pronounced, then you probably have too much relief.

If there's a plate covering the truss rod, remove it to expose the truss rod
A rough giude for setting actions;
Rock & Roll Medium - Low 0.010
Jazz Medium - Low 0.013
Acoustic-Electric Medium - Low 0.013
Classical-Electric Medium - Low 0.023
Electric Bass Medium - Low 0.020

In general, this measurement is taken by measuring the distance between the bottom of the string and the top of the 6th fret while holding the string down at the 12th fret and the first fret. This is where the capo comes in handy - put it on the first fret so your hand is free to take the measurement. Using a feeler gauge of the desired height, in this example, 0.010, hold the low E string down at the 12th fret (with the capo on the first fret), and measure the distance between the top of the 6th fret and the bottom of the low E string. If the distance is greater than the desired relief, then you need to turn the truss rod clockwise (towards your right) as you're looking down the headstock towards the body of the guitar. If the distance is less than the desired amount, then you need to turn the truss rod counter-clockwise (towards your left) as you're looking down the headstock towards the body of the guitar. The basic rule is:

Clockwise to tighten for less relief
Counter-clockwise to loosen for more relief
When making truss rod adjustments, always work in small increments, never more than an 1/8th of a turn. If you really have to force the truss rod, or it feels like it won't move, stop immediately and bring it to an experienced repair-person -you may have other problems that need to be resolved. Finally, always check the relief while holding the guitar in playing position. Otherwise, the neck can flex from the weight of the body if it's improperly supported. It's common for the truss rod to take a while to have it's full effect on the neck, so make sure you periodically revisit the relief to insure it's still accurate during the remainder of the setup process. Paul Reed Smith guitars use a double-acting truss rod in post 1992 production guitars. As stated on their web site: "PRS switched over to the double acting truss rod about halfway through the 1992 production year. To determine whether your guitar has this system simply examine the adjusting nut. The single acting rods used a brass adjusting nut threaded onto a steel rod. The double acting rods use a steel nut fused to a steel rod. The double acting truss rod achieves twice the amount of adjustment as the single acting rod with the same amount of movement of the adjusting nut. Do not over-adjust!"

Tip: You might want to consider doing this adjustment, and then allowing the guitar to sit overnight and adapt to the change. Then check the next day and make final tweaks before continuing on with the rest of the adjustments. It's also a good idea to check the truss rod adjustment several times during the setup, especially if you dramatically raise the height of the strings at the bridge, just to make sure it's correct.

Other thoughts: There are alternate methods for adjusting the truss rod/neck relief. For example, PRS recommends fretting the 1st fret and the last fret, then making the measurement from the top of the 8th fret. For most guitars, the truss rod really affects the area from the 1st to the 13th fret which is why the measurement is commonly made using the 1st & 12th fret. Try the different methods and see which one works best for you. Personally, I rather like the way PRS recommends doing it, and often, I'll use their method to get the neck close to the desired adjustment. It's something that you'll eventually get a feel for when your relief is set correctly, and you won't have to measure, you'll just know by the way the guitar plays.

Specifics for Gibson Guitars

Here's the actual answer I received from Gibson regarding the truss rod adjustment:
"We don't actually have any published specs for this. It actually is whatever setting works best for the guitar to create minimal buzz and good action." From my own experience, I've found that .010 is a good starting point on my guitars.

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 17 Location: Cleve. oh.

ONe quick truss rod question, should you loosen up the strings when you make adjustments or leave them too tuned tension?

Great info dynasty I tought myelf to do set ups by doing alot of research at different sites you put alot of good info here.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 403 Location: Cincinnati, OH

You should make your truss rod adjustments with the strings on and in tune, and after you've made your adjustment, retune the guitar, and let it sit for at LEAST 4 hours before you touch it again, although I really recomend over night.

here's somehtign else every guitarist should know how to do;

Adjusting the intonation
Intonation refers to whether or not a note plays sharp or flat from it's intended sound. When you depress a string, you actually stretch it a bit beyond it's unfretted position. This generates a slight sharpness in pitch which is compensated for by adding a slight excess of string length. To check intonation on a given string:

Play the harmonic at the 12th fret, listen closely to the resultant pitch
Now play the same note by fretting the note at the 12th fret. The two notes should match exactly if the intonation is correct.
If the fretted note sounds sharp, then adjust the bridge saddle so that it moves back away from the fingerboard.
If the fretted note sounds flat, then adjust the bridge saddle so that it moves towards the fretboard.
The adjustment is really dependent upon your skill, and the accuracy of your ear in determining the pitch between the two notes. Always make the adjustment to the saddle in small increments so you can fine tune the intonation. If you're unable to get the intonation accurate, bring it into a qualified repair-person to determine if you have other problems.

One problem I've seen a number of times is where a guitars intonation is set properly, but notes fretted between the 1st and 5th fret sound sharp regardless. This is almost always due to the fact that the nut slots are cut too high. The additional distance required to push the string to the fret is causing the note to be sharp. Bring the guitar in and have the nut regulated properly to resolve this problem.

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Finding Buzzing Frets

Here's a cool method I read about in Hideo Kamimoto's book Electric Guitar Setups. You need to have a digital or analog multimeter so that you can measure the resistance as described. You want to have a pair of test leads with a clip built into the end. Also, a capo is handy for holding the strings down in the position where you're getting the buzz.

Clip one of the leads onto the string that's giving you a buzz, between the nut and a tuner.
Put the capo at the position where you're getting the buzz. Example: If you get a buzz on the 3rd string when you fret it at the 8th fret, place the capo at the 8th fret of the 3rd string. The multimeter lead would be connected to the 3rd string between the nut and the tuner.
Sit in your normal playing position, and play to reproduce the buzz. While doing so, hold the other lead from the multimeter on the fret you want to test. Anywhere that the string is buzzing against a fret, it will complete the circuit and you will get a reading. You may find that the string is actually buzzing against several frets. For example, using the previous example, if you put the second lead on the 12th fret of the 3rd string while striking the 3rd string, and you get a reading, then it's buzzing on the 12th fret. Strike the string in your normal playing fashion so's not to introduce false results - obviously, if you strike the string really hard, it will vibrate much stronger and buzz against frets it wouldn't normally buzz against.
Finally, repeat this procedure for each individual string that you're getting buzzing on.
If you are getting buzzing, it could be due to a high fret, and it's possible that just tweaking the bridge saddle for that particular string may be enough to solve the problem. If not, you may want to bring it to a reputable luthier or repair shop and have it investigated further.

For TRUE intonation, spend the extra $$$and get the full Buzz Fieten Tuning System... I ahev it and swear by it!