I am useless at setting up or adjusting guitars,

adamm82 · September 2017

I've watched lots of videos online and still have no idea, I copied all the tips and tricks they show me and still have no idea.

I look down the neck and I have no idea if it looks right. I tried to practice on an old squier tele I have lying around. all that's happen is now it's unplayable :-( I've made some adjustments on other guitars which so far have been ok. I somehow managed to intonate my les paul junior.

I would like to be able to do this better to get the most out of my guitars and not having to take them to the guitar shop.

So in summary what are the basics I need?

rico · September 2017

What have you done to your Tele so far and what makes it unplayable?

adamm82 · September 2017

the truss rod doesn't appear to do anything.
I fear it may be stripped as it sometimes turns and some times doesn't

the string heights are all all over the place. I lowered them it was buzzing. I raised them they still buzz, The bridge makes a weird sitar sound but that's probably different issue.

I can't get it to stop buzzing.

darthed1981 · September 2017

I'm trying to put a tool kit for guitar maintenance together at the minute, there are quite a lot of bits that can help, but here are some bits I've bought: -

1. Decent screwdriver set.
2. Full set of Allen Keys.
3. String height gauge.
4. Masking tape and metal polish (a non-abrasive one) if you want to polish your frets (ahem).
5. String winder.
6. Pack of microfibre cloths

I'll no doubt think of more later.

The main tip I'd give you, as someone who actually managed to rip an A string a week ago rushing, is take your time. Lots of guitarists who have done it for years can change,stretch and tune a set of strings, set the truss rod, set the action and intonate a guitar in ten minutes. I can't do it in less than a couple of hours and I accept that now!

No reason why anyone needs to risk their guitar to rush.

Also be very careful with your truss rod, if it breaks, a beginner guitar is basically trash, which is tragic at any time if it's one you like enough to want to make it play better!

Some tasks, like levelling and re-crowning frets etc. are much more advanced and I personally would get a proper tech to do it.

Arktik83 · September 2017

Looking down the neck is a bit of a subjective thing, some people swear by it others say it's not that important. I personally never found any benefit from sighting a neck.

When setting relief in your neck, small adjustments go a long way, if you're adjusting the neck by half turns or something extreme you're just throwing the neck out one way then the other way. It's like if you were driving a car, if you veer off in one direction then immediately 180 the steering wheel it won't set you straight, you'll just veer off in the other direction.

Just try with like just less than a quarter turn, let it settle for an hour or so then come back to it and see what's happened, ideally you let it settle overnight really. Your squier might be unplayable in its current state but just take the current measurements you have and adjust to factory spec.

If you don't have any feeler gauges etc, with regards to relief on the neck, I found putting a capo at the first fret, place a finger where the neck meets the body (usually around the 17th) then with your free finger tap the string on the 7th/8th fret and see what kind of relief you have. General rule of thumb is if you can get a business card under there without it pushing up the string then you're in the right ballpark.

If it's buzzing at the first few frets it could be a nut issue, if it's buzzing/choking out on the higher frets your action is probably too low and you need to raise the bridge saddles. Also, if your Squier is a vintage radius (7.25") fretboard it needs much more of a curve on the strings than say a Gibson (12") does.

Good Luck!

rico · September 2017

Ok. It could be any combination of things. I guess the main points would be:

- nut height
- neck relief
- action

If your nut is cut too low there's not really much you can do about that to get rid of the buzz. If the nut is OK (fret each string at the third fret and there should be the tiniest amount of 'bounce' if you tap the relevant string at the first fret) then you need to consider the action and relief in the neck.

Do you have a means of measuring the string height accurately and checking the straightness of the neck?

You could also have high frets relative to the preceding fret which will buzz no matter how well the guitar is set up. if you have a small straight edge (maybe even a credit card) you can use that to rock back and forth over three frets at a time (loads of videos on Youtube).

The sitar phenomenon is most likely due to worn saddles.

JD50 · September 2017

Do you have a copy of the Dan Erlewine guitar repair guide? The book is a wealth of info.

ICBM · September 2017

adamm82 said:

I look down the neck and I have no idea if it looks right.

Although it looks like "casting an expert eye over it", this is the wrong thing to do and unless it's truly terrible it won't tell you anything useful - it's actually quite hard to focus along the length of the neck. Even if you can tell it's not straight, holding the guitar in any position other than the proper playing one will change the relief anyway, because the weight of the neck will move it, even against the string tension.

The right way to do it is to hold the guitar in the normal playing position, and fret the G string at the first fret and the first one that's over the body (usually about 17 on an electric), using both hands. Then look at the gap between the G string and the 7th and 8th frets. It should be less than the diameter of the string, and preferably less than about half that, but there must be a gap. It can help to tap it up and down onto the fret with your left-hand 4th finger if you can't see it easily. Don't worry about feeler gauges or any other fancy measuring gadgets, they aren't necessary. You can check for a neck twist by doing the same thing with the E strings, but it usually isn't necessary.

Next have a look at the nut in the same sort of way - fret each string at the third fret, so it's also firmly on the second, and look at the gap between the string and the first fret. It should be less than about a quarter of the string diameter, down to as little as a tenth - ie tiny. Again, there must be a gap, but it can be only just detectable by tapping the string onto the fret and it's still OK. (The only problem with nut height is that if it does need work, you may be best taking it to a professinal - it's easy to mess it up if you aren't experienced.)

Then check the bridge action - play a note above the 12th fret on the top string and bend it up at least a tone. Play hard and see if it chokes out - if it does, the bridge is too low. If it doesn't it can probably come down a bit. Repeat for the other strings. If there are individual saddles, set them into a gentle curve when you look across the strings. You don't need to accurately 'match' them to the fingerboard radius.

Check the intonation by tuning each pair of strings (E/B, G/D, A/E) to perfect fourths using the 5th/7th fret harmonics, so each is then a reference for the other. Compare the 14th fret note on the higher string to the 19th-fret harmonic on the lower, and the 17th fret note on the lower string to the 12th-fret harmonic on the higher. If the fretted note is flat, move the saddle forward towards the pickups, and if it's sharp move it backwards. (Slacken the tension a bit to do this.) Tune normally afterwards.

That will get you to within about 90% of a perfect setup with no measuring tools - nothing other than your fingers, eyes and ears.

I normally do the nut before the relief by the way - but it doesn't matter which way round these two are done. Doing both before the bridge action is best, but you can come back to earlier adjustments and tweak them later if you need to. Always do the intonation last, since it's dependent on all the others.

adamm82 · September 2017

thanks for the advice everyone. I will look into this further and will give it a try.

Alegree · September 2017

Hold a string down at the 1st and last fret. Look for gaps under the string. If there are none, push the string down at the last fret slowly to see if it touches the other frets before it's fully down. Use that to adjust the truss rod.

That method has never failed me.

WezV · September 2017

ICBM said:

Next have a look at the nut in the same sort of way - fret each string at the third fret, so it's also firmly on the second, and look at the gap between the string and the first fret. It should be less than about a quarter of the string diameter, down to as little as a tenth - ie tiny. Again, there must be a gap, but it can be only just detectable by tapping the string onto the fret and it's still OK. (The only problem with nut height is that if it does need work, you may be best taking it to a professinal - it's easy to mess it up if you aren't experienced.)

I think most can still use it as a worthwhile diagnostic test to pin down the cause of buzzing, even if most should avoid adjusting it themselves until they are more experienced with how all the other adjustments work.

Alegree said:

Hold a string down at the 1st and last fret. Look for gaps under the string. If there are none, push the string down at the last fret slowly to see if it touches the other frets before it's fully down. Use that to adjust the truss rod.

That method has never failed me.

I go 1st to body join rather than 1st to last when setting relief. This avoids the body end humps or fall away which exist on many guitars, and means you are focused on the adjustable portion of the neck. It reduces some of the other variables

....

I can't sight a neck very effectively any more, certainly not to judge neck straightness. I only do it when checking the quality of a fret job. I look at the reflections of light on top of the frets from a very low angle whilst rolling the neck to see those reflection move along the fret.

AlexC · September 2017

As a general rule stay away from the truss rod unless you are a guitar luthier or have a ton of experience. I've been playing for for over 30 yrs and have never ever bought a guitar that needed truss rod adjustment - new or second hand. When most people talk about setting up a guitar they mean adjusting the action for personal preference and maybe changing the machine heads. And maybe faffing about with the trem system a bit! However, that's just me - these guys ^^^^ know what they're talking about.

ICBM · September 2017

AlexC said:

As a general rule stay away from the truss rod unless you are a guitar luthier or have a ton of experience. I've been playing for for over 30 yrs and have never ever bought a guitar that needed truss rod adjustment - new or second hand. When most people talk about setting up a guitar they mean adjusting the action for personal preference and maybe changing the machine heads. And maybe faffing about with the trem system a bit! However, that's just me - these guys ^^^^ know what they're talking about.

Adjusting the truss rod is nothing to be afraid of if you're capable of adjusting bridge saddles. I would *always* include it in any description of setting up, since it's pointless otherwise. (Unless you're lucky and it happens to be right already.)

If anything it's precisely because too many people are scared to adjust the truss rod that most guitars are badly set up, with too much relief and the bridge too low, so they're hard to play in the middle of the neck but choke out at the top.

There are a *very few* guitars which need extra knowledge and care when adjusting the truss rod - pre-1985 Rickenbackers are the most common. Probably 99% of guitars are straightforward.

The only part of setting up that isn't within the scope of anyone who can handle basic tools is the nut, and the good thing about that is that once cut correctly in the first place, it doesn't then need further adjustment.

Alegree · September 2017

WezV said:

ICBM said:

Next have a look at the nut in the same sort of way - fret each string at the third fret, so it's also firmly on the second, and look at the gap between the string and the first fret. It should be less than about a quarter of the string diameter, down to as little as a tenth - ie tiny. Again, there must be a gap, but it can be only just detectable by tapping the string onto the fret and it's still OK. (The only problem with nut height is that if it does need work, you may be best taking it to a professinal - it's easy to mess it up if you aren't experienced.)
I think most can still use it as a worthwhile diagnostic test to pin down the cause of buzzing, even if most should avoid adjusting it themselves until they are more experienced with how all the other adjustments work.

Alegree said:

Hold a string down at the 1st and last fret. Look for gaps under the string. If there are none, push the string down at the last fret slowly to see if it touches the other frets before it's fully down. Use that to adjust the truss rod.

That method has never failed me.

I go 1st to body join rather than 1st to last when setting relief. This avoids the body end humps or fall away which exist on many guitars, and means you are focused on the adjustable portion of the neck. It reduces some of the other variables

....
I can't sight a neck very effectively any more, certainly not to judge neck straightness. I only do it when checking the quality of a fret job. I look at the reflections of light on top of the frets from a very low angle whilst rolling the neck to see those reflection move along the fret.

Yeah good shout. None of my guitars have fret fall away, so I just use the last fret, but doing that on one that does would be very problematic!

bobliefeld · September 2017

AlexC said:

As a general rule stay away from the truss rod unless you are a guitar luthier or have a ton of experience. I've been playing for for over 30 yrs and have never ever bought a guitar that needed truss rod adjustment - new or second hand. When most people talk about setting up a guitar they mean adjusting the action for personal preference and maybe changing the machine heads. And maybe faffing about with the trem system a bit! However, that's just me - these guys ^^^^ know what they're talking about.

No way. I've been playing maybe 20 years and for most of that never the truss rod. Very scary. I got brave a year or so ago and now I'm a tweakaholic. It's not hard to do or dangerous. Most guitars come needing the rod tweaked a bit for sure and there's no real "perfect" amount of relief, it's definitely a preference thing and can change the feel of your guitar quite dramatically. It's an amazing thing to spend a bit of time dialling in the right action and feel for you.

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I am useless at setting up or adjusting guitars,

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