Guitar Setup Tips and Advice needed.

Arktik83

Now I've been having a go at setting my guitars up myself recently and there's so much varying degrees of information such as people say that there should be little to no relief like 0.08mm and others saying you should have about a credit cards worth of relief which is like 0.5mm which is more than a lot of factories recommend.

Also, what kind of action is considered high/medium/low etc?  I have four electric guitars ranging from a 7.25" radius, a 10" radius and a 12" radius.  I play with quite a heavy hand and I'm struggling to work out if it's fret buzz or just some string rattle, it's buzzing in middle of the neck and it's predominantly D & G strings and it's like short bursts of buzzing, the notes don't cut out and it's more the harder I hit the strings the more pronounced it is.

Action wise I like it kinda high, like 2mm and above.  I like the acoustic resonance of a highish action, I'm moving up to 11 gauge strings and maybe beyond so I don't mind a bit of a fight!

I know people say "If you can hear it through the amp" but I'm pretty much a home player so sometimes the acoustics of the guitar kind of cloud my judgment as to whether it's buzz.  I know it's probably down to technique but reading so many "this is the exact way it should be" etc.  It's hard not to feel overwhelmed and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and I end up getting a bit frustrated.

Any advice, experiences and reference would be great!

robgilmo

Use headphones on the amp, what tools do you have? Feeler gauges in MM are very useful, so is a 'third hand' magnifying glass if your eyesight is shot like mine is, or even better one of those magnifying glass lamp thingys..

WezV

Everyone plays a bit different, that’s why setups vary so much.

string height at the nut has a definite right or wrong setting for 95% of players.  

Relief and action are a lot more personal

guitars4you

WezV said:

Everyone plays a bit different, that’s why setups vary so much.

string height at the nut has a definite right or wrong setting for 95% of players.  

Relief and action are a lot more personal

just about agree with that - string gauge, slick action or high, how hard/soft you play all come into the equation

With out seeing the guitar in the flesh and you play @Arktik83 my suspicion is string rattle - The initial attack when you first hit the strings - With a heavy touch this is more pronounced - Don't see anything wrong with 11's, especially for a heavy player - Option 1) is accept it -  option 2) is raise the action as required  option 3) is be less 'heavy' on your picking

You can check the relief - heavy player might need more - Fret on the Low E both first and last fret and look for a gap at the 12th fret - If you can't see the gap then clearly not enough relief - I never measure it, just touch and experience but suggest to a heavy player around .1 or .2 m at least

Arktik83

Thanks guys, when I use a heavier pick it accentuates the buzz so I think it is string rattle to be honest. 

It's just I wanted to make sure that I wasn't like making extreme adjustments that would cause long-term issues because you could see one video says having a relief of 0.08mm and another says using a credit cards worth of relief and I can see now neither of them is right or wrong it's just what's best for the player of that guitar.  

Also, any recommendations on what relief a PRS DGT should have?  I bought mine second hand and it had tens on it, PRS say 0.10mm for their core models it seems but I know the DGT is it's own beast so wondered if there was different ballpark figure.

Ta!

richardhomer

Arktik83 said:

Also, any recommendations on what relief a PRS DGT should have?  I bought mine second hand and it had tens on it, PRS say 0.10mm for their core models it seems but I know the DGT is it's own beast so wondered if there was different ballpark figure.

Ta!

I have 10s on mine and have slightly less relief than PRS’s recommended figure of 0.010” . I also have the action set slightly lower than factory spec - but I don’t have a heavy right hand. 

guitars4you

On a PRS I almost have no relief at all - But I stroke the strings with little attack - So the min you can have but see it with a naked eye should be okay - add a touch more if required - Again fret Low E 1st + 22nd fret and look at the gap at the 12th fret

Voxman

guitars4you said:

WezV said:

Everyone plays a bit different, that’s why setups vary so much.

string height at the nut has a definite right or wrong setting for 95% of players.  

Relief and action are a lot more personal

just about agree with that - string gauge, slick action or high, how hard/soft you play all come into the equation

With out seeing the guitar in the flesh and you play @Arktik83 my suspicion is string rattle - The initial attack when you first hit the strings - With a heavy touch this is more pronounced - Don't see anything wrong with 11's, especially for a heavy player - Option 1) is accept it -  option 2) is raise the action as required  option 3) is be less 'heavy' on your picking

You can check the relief - heavy player might need more - Fret on the Low E both first and last fret and look for a gap at the 12th fret - If you can't see the gap then clearly not enough relief - I never measure it, just touch and experience but suggest to a heavy player around .1 or .2 m at least

All good stuff & I completely concur.  I just re-set up my Yamaha Pacifica 611VFM that I'd originally set up with a very low action, but I was finding that my pick attack was causing the strings to rattle/buzz a little bit and I realised (I use D'Addario 9-42's) that the set-up wasn't allowing the strings to vibrate properly.  So, I adjusted the relief (increased it a little) and action accordingly so that it's a fraction higher but now there is no fret buzz at all and the strings can resonate cleanly. This actually makes the guitar not only sound better with the strings resonating properly, but it's now easier to play re bends because I can get 'under' the string more easily.   

So the moral of all this is that it's very much trial & error to find the right balance for the way you play, and that aiming for the lowest possible action may not always be the best or most 'playable' set-up if you're doing more than just gently stroking the strings. 

guitars4you

Voxman said:

guitars4you said:

WezV said:

Everyone plays a bit different, that’s why setups vary so much.

string height at the nut has a definite right or wrong setting for 95% of players.  

Relief and action are a lot more personal

just about agree with that - string gauge, slick action or high, how hard/soft you play all come into the equation

With out seeing the guitar in the flesh and you play @Arktik83 my suspicion is string rattle - The initial attack when you first hit the strings - With a heavy touch this is more pronounced - Don't see anything wrong with 11's, especially for a heavy player - Option 1) is accept it -  option 2) is raise the action as required  option 3) is be less 'heavy' on your picking

You can check the relief - heavy player might need more - Fret on the Low E both first and last fret and look for a gap at the 12th fret - If you can't see the gap then clearly not enough relief - I never measure it, just touch and experience but suggest to a heavy player around .1 or .2 m at least

All good stuff & I completely concur.  I just re-set up my Yamaha Pacifica 611VFM that I'd originally set up with a very low action, but I was finding that my pick attack was causing the strings to rattle/buzz a little bit and I realised (I use D'Addario 9-42's) that the set-up wasn't allowing the strings to vibrate properly.  So, I adjusted the relief (increased it a little) and action accordingly so that it's a fraction higher but now there is no fret buzz at all and the strings can resonate cleanly. This actually makes the guitar not only sound better with the strings resonating properly, but it's now easier to play re bends because I can get 'under' the string more easily.   

So the moral of all this is that it's very much trial & error to find the right balance for the way you play, and that aiming for the lowest possible action may not always be the best or most 'playable' set-up if you're doing more than just gently stroking the strings. 

the last sentence is correct - find a balance that works for you