setting up a guitar; how to?

[michael.butler]

after 15 plus years of playing guitar, i believe it's high time i learned how to set one up. what sort of magic is required? any tips/instructions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

michael

 

[Beltrom]

Go here,

http://www.mrgearhead.com/

and click Fender.

There's a downloadable pdf-file somewhere there...

 

[Dr_simon]

http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/haze...uilding_and_repair:_Guitar,_electric&sku=3720

master piece !

 

[Scottgman]

The way I learned to set intonation is pretty easy... but I'm no expert. As for neck adjustments, I just eyeball it until I get the action I want without fret buzz. When adjusting the neck (truss rod), I do it in about quarter-turn intervals.

Anyway, to set intonation, plug your guitar into a tuner (chromatic would probably be best) and tune it. Next, hit the 12th fret harmonic on the top string and then fret the note at the 12th. If the harmonic is sharper than the fretted note you adjust the bridge saddle towards the nut (I can never remember the direction, it could be towards the bridge-- if you mess with it for a couple minutes, you'll figure it out). If the harmonic is flatter than the fretted note, you adjust the saddle the opposite direction. Keep adjusting until both the fretted note and harmonic are in tune.

Just do this for each string. I usually will repeat the process because you will probably have to completely re-tune your git after doing this to all strings.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers!

 

[philboyd studge]

Neck adjustment, and this works for most any guitar:

You'll need a feeler guage and whatever tool your truss rod takes for adjustment.


Put a capo on the first and then press the bass E string an octave above. Then put the feeler guage (set at .010) between the string and the 8th fret.........it should slide in snugly.

If the string is all buzzy and the feeler guage doesn't fit, back off on the truss rod a little till it does. Or if there's too much clearance, tighten the truss rod.

After this adjustment, then set string height (varies to taste, string guage and weather it's acoustic or electric), and intonation.

 

[michael.butler]

thanks for tips guys. this really helps.

michael

 

[Tom Hicks]

Holding the headstock of the guitar from above and sighting down along the big E string like a straightedge, you will see by comparison that the neck is either perfectly straight, concave or convex. Classical guitars should have perfectly flat necks. Electric guitars set up for rock are mostly straight with a slight upbow called "relief", which is factored in to reduce fretbuzz when bending notes.
I agree with the earlier comment about 1/4 turn increments when adjusting the truss rod. Turn and resight. Repeat and let the wood slowly adjust to the pressure of the tensioned rod inside its routed slot.
With the bridge saddles and setting intonation, move the saddles toward the headstock to sharp the pitch. Move the saddles toward the tail to flat the pitch. Retune after each adjustment, with a very accurate tuner and retest. If the saddles are sticky and balky, graphite dust from sandpaper and a #2 pencil will lubricate them. Also use graphite dust in your string slots of the nut to reduce binding of the string during tremolo bar action or string bends.
When setting string height on the saddles, follow the curvature of the neck. Gibsons are a larger radius and Fenders are cut from a smaller circle. Follow that angle by eye when setting the saddles.
Make every adjustment slow and see the result before moving on. That will keep you out of any trouble. Re-intonate with a new string job.

 

[Doug H]

If you play a strat, or any curved hneck, the saddle height should roughly follow the curve of the neck. The guitar book I read suggested cutting out a circle from a strip of cardboard the same radius as your heck and using it as a guide for placing the saddle height. I usually just eyeball it and set it too feel. Again, pn a strat, depending on the pickups, it can be problematic getting a pure note out of the low E and G strings if they are too close the the pole magnet. This is mostly a problem with vintage style single coil pickups.