Kingofpain678
Returned from the dead
Are they supposed to be perfectly straight or are they supposed to have a little bit of a curve to them?
guido #2
New member
Ever so slight of a curve forward- with the string pull.
This is called relief. A backwards curve is a bow.
Lay a steel strightedge down the length of the fretboard, careful not to scratch the frets, and use a feeler gauge to check the gap. Usually, just a few thousandths is all it takes (all this depending on the guitar and other setup factors).
This is called relief. A backwards curve is a bow.
Lay a steel strightedge down the length of the fretboard, careful not to scratch the frets, and use a feeler gauge to check the gap. Usually, just a few thousandths is all it takes (all this depending on the guitar and other setup factors).
P
pure.fusion
New member
Not necessarily guido.
It depends on how you want your guitar to feel, and what you use it for.
You can have a dead straight neck, resulting in higher action, less buzz and more sustain if (for example) you wanted to play slide or were playing stumming chords and never wanted to shred at the 22nd fret.
Yes, a bit of relief in the neck for low action shred machines.
Of course the above explanation is really boiled down. There more to it if you look...
FM
Edit: Ahhh you know that Guido, you run setups! Just though I'd tell mr Pain. Cheers.
It depends on how you want your guitar to feel, and what you use it for.
You can have a dead straight neck, resulting in higher action, less buzz and more sustain if (for example) you wanted to play slide or were playing stumming chords and never wanted to shred at the 22nd fret.
Yes, a bit of relief in the neck for low action shred machines.
Of course the above explanation is really boiled down. There more to it if you look...
FM
Edit: Ahhh you know that Guido, you run setups! Just though I'd tell mr Pain. Cheers.
Kingofpain678
Returned from the dead
Well its for a bass guitar and I kinda want the string to be closer to the fret board so I can get some "growl" and string noise going on.
right now the neck has a bit of a bow forward or "relief" as guido put it.
right now the neck has a bit of a bow forward or "relief" as guido put it.
muttley600
Banned
A guitar should have no buzz whatever neck relief you put on the neck. The neck relief cannot effect sustain. Sustain is a product of the materials the guitar is made of, the string gauge, the amount of energy you put into the string and the rate at which the energy is lost.
muttley600
Banned
You can have some relief in the neck to allow for the arc of the strings vibration. Many players especially jazz guitarists go for a dead flat neck. You set the neck straight and then make sure the frets are level. String it up with the action you want and that will usually put some neck relief in there. You then pull it as far back to straight as you can with no buzzing. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much as it is dependent on many things. You treat a bass the same as a six string as the mechanics are pretty much the same.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I always go for a straight neck and then allow the strings to pull it a bit ...... I guess pretty much like Muttley said.
I, personally, like a fairly high action though.
On bass I definitely want a high action for two reasons. I don't like the slightest hint of buzz on a bass plus, I find that a large thick neck with a high action on bass FORCES me to be in a different mindset so I play like a bass player and not like a guitar player playing bass. There's a difference.
I've been a bass player as long as I've been a guitar player but still, I find it useful to be forced to separate my playing styles between bass or git.
I, personally, like a fairly high action though.
On bass I definitely want a high action for two reasons. I don't like the slightest hint of buzz on a bass plus, I find that a large thick neck with a high action on bass FORCES me to be in a different mindset so I play like a bass player and not like a guitar player playing bass. There's a difference.
I've been a bass player as long as I've been a guitar player but still, I find it useful to be forced to separate my playing styles between bass or git.
Kingofpain678
Returned from the dead
Ya I can see how that could put you in a different mindset but tone-wise, it seems that the bass strings' interaction with the frets and fret board have some effect on bass "growl" which is something that I like.
Having the neck almost straight and having a low action so that there's more string/fret interaction seems to add more "growl" so that's what I'm going with. That string noise lies around 2-4khz (at least with my bass) so I get a nice boost there and my bass already has a boost from 80 to 200 hz so it goes great in a mix.
Having the neck almost straight and having a low action so that there's more string/fret interaction seems to add more "growl" so that's what I'm going with. That string noise lies around 2-4khz (at least with my bass) so I get a nice boost there and my bass already has a boost from 80 to 200 hz so it goes great in a mix.