Set up help

[Dazza1004]

When I bend the high e string on the 8th fret and below it frets out. 9th and above sounds fine

Does this mean I need to slacken or tighten the truss rod or adjust the bridge ?

Thanks

[Fourth Feline]

Hi Dazza,

It sounds like you need to slacken the trussrod ( turn anticlockise as you look at it from the headstock ) about 1/8 th to 1/6th of a turn, or at least until the lower frets stop catching on the strings. A good general guide is that with a capo ( or finger ) on the low  'E' first fret - and the low 'E' held also down at the last fret , there should be about 0.008" - .010" gap at the 8th fret, or perhaps a touch less.

With this 'back bow' corrected, you may even be able to lower the bridge a bit afterwards. Certainly, I find that optimum comfort and lack of fret buzz comes from alternating between adjusting the bridge and trussrod adjustments until you get the best action for you.

You may also have some problem with the frets not being seated tightly on the bass side, therefore acentuating the slope, or ( like me ) you may have a guitar with a rather steep ( i.e. 7.5" ) 50s type neck radius, so the high 'E' has to be set a little higher than usual at the saddle to compensate.

At least let's start by slackening the truss rod a little ...   :)

[Dazza1004]

cheers fella, I did slacken it about 1/8 of a turn last night but it didn't seem to make much difference.

The guitar is nearly 15 years old and the rod is very stiff, not sure if I have a deeper issue here.

[Fourth Feline]

A " deeper Issue " may well be the case, but I succesfully 'corrected' a friend's Strat neck by following some advice from Dan Erlwine's interesting book ' Make Your Guitar Play Great'.

Basically he recommended that you remove all the strings, then unscrew and if needed, remove the nut on the trussrod completely ( using WD40 to loosen the threads if needed ).

Then with the truss rod completely loose , get someone to firmly hold the guitar body ( or clamp the body very carefully using pads onto a work bench )  -  then pull the neck back or forward into a staight liine ( use a long steel ruler or similar  to check).

Whilst the neck is in this 'almost ideal ' position,  refix the nut - and use it to hold the neck right there.  This way ( after you re-string ) - the nut is only having to change the neck bow a tiny fraction either way from hereon in.

Jonathan from Feline Guitars may have a better way though, and of course - if in doubt consult a tech.

[Dazza1004]

ok mate, thanks for the info. I will slacken the rod another 1/8 of a turn and see if it works.

if not, it will be off to feline

[badgermark]

A little point, and me jumping in before Wez (he always gives out this nugget of wisdom), the truss adjustment can take time to settle. So best to adjust and leave over night to let everything settle into place before adjusting again.

[ToneMonkey]

Do you think that it would be worth setting up a little section with this sort of info in.  I know that it can be found elsewhere on the net, but I think that we have the resources here (well Wez and Jonathan) to make sure that nothing stupid gets in there.

I've seen the same few questions about set up and pup adjustment a few times.

Would probably have to ask Tim as you wouldn't want any duff info on here being asscoiated with BKP's though.

[WezV]

i have a 6 page set-up guide .doc that i am working on that i am happy to share.. at the moment its pretty generic  but getting there!!

[ToneMonkey]

! step ahead again  :D

[FELINEGUITARS]

Do you think that it would be worth setting up a little section with this sort of info in.  I know that it can be found elsewhere on the net, but I think that we have the resources here (well Wez and Jonathan) to make sure that nothing stupid gets in there.

I've seen the same few questions about set up and pup adjustment a few times.

Would probably have to ask Tim as you wouldn't want any duff info on here being asscoiated with BKP's though.

It is like we need a sticky subject with moderator only access so good answers to FAQs on setup stuff can be posted there - or copied from other threads and reposted in an easy to find space

[MrBump]

Do you think that it would be worth setting up a little section with this sort of info in.  I know that it can be found elsewhere on the net, but I think that we have the resources here (well Wez and Jonathan) to make sure that nothing stupid gets in there.

I've seen the same few questions about set up and pup adjustment a few times.

Would probably have to ask Tim as you wouldn't want any duff info on here being asscoiated with BKP's though.

It is like we need a sticky subject with moderator only access so good answers to FAQs on setup stuff can be posted there - or copied from other threads and reposted in an easy to find space

Sounds like a good idea to me.