Action on a Non Recessed Floyd

[Raidogen]

So, I got that Floyd I've been talking about. I got the thing intonated and professionally setup by the best tech in town. It plays amazing and well, theres really not much more you could ask for. But....I really want to get the action lower. The problem is that I do a lot of legato style and sweep picking, the action is currently too high. But if I lower it a tad, the whole thing sounds buzzy on the higher frets. What do you guys think is the problem?

[Raidogen]

Also, on My kelly (JAP), the guitar sounds bright and crisp...but on My soloist (USA) the tone is muddier and smoother. Could this be due to the Jackson stinglock=nut?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Buzzy on the high frets I would suspect too much relief. You would need to hold down the high E at the 1st fret and use the other hand to check the last fret (or 22nd fret, or some people do it with the first fret on the body) and then use your third hand to measure the gap at around the 8th fret.

Don't have a 3rd hand? Use a capo at the 1st.

But you can just eyeball it, it's a preference thing but if you want really low action you probably don't want much relief. You want to make sure you don't back-bow the neck or it will play pretty crappy (buzzy) below the 5th fret or so.

[Raidogen]

Truss rod has been setup By a Pro. I don't think that's the problem. It's at the 18th fret on the high E when I bend, the note goes dead. (consequently making the bohemian rhapsody solo impossible Lmao)

[tgreensl1]

High fret? I prefer almost no relief on my guitars. You might check the relief anyways

[Axewielder]

Buzzy on high frets usually indicates "rising tongue". You'll need a full or partial fret dress on just the high frets if that is the case.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Truss rod has been setup By a Pro. I don't think that's the problem. It's at the 18th fret on the high E when I bend, the note goes dead. (consequently making the bohemian rhapsody solo impossible Lmao)

You said the notes sounded buzzy on the upper frets before, and now you say it's at the 18th fret when you bend. I've never heard of a note going dead when bent referred to as being "buzzy."

So, what is the problem exactly? :think:

If your current description is accurate then you probably do have a high fret.

You might as well take it back to your tech because you have already screwed up the intonation you paid for when you changed the action. Make your expectations clear regarding the action and tell him you're willing to pay him to fix the high fret(s) so that it can be as low as you want it.

If you're really nice, maybe he won't charge you to set the intonation a second time.

[dannyr]

Sounds like a crappy set up!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Sounds like a crappy set up!

Nah, the guy is a pro! Not even worth bothering to check the truss rod!

[tgreensl1]

If you trust your tech why even post up?

[Raidogen]

Not to jump to conclusions here, but you guys are coming off as condescending and rude(especially "Makeajazznoisehere"). Maybe I had some conflicting descriptions. I was advised to adjust the action myself ( I didn't know that would affect my intonation ) by the tech, in order to make things to my preference.

It's a neck-through so adjusting the truss-rod wouldn't help at all in terms of fixing 1 (singular in case you feel the need to ignore this and ramble on about another inconsistency) note on the High E (only when bending might I add). What I was told was that the wood had shifted and it needs an entire fret re-leveling. The reason I posted was to see if you guys would come to the same conclusion.

Whatever the case may be, I came here for some form of support, not sassy mockery. I never said that it wasn't worth it to examine the truss rod. What I meant to say is that, while I appreciate your suggestion of checking it, I feel it to be unnecessary due to the fact that I don't believe it's truss rod related. The neck curvature is fine and after setup it played better, but the whole time I've owned this guitar that one fret has been a nuisance.

[Raidogen]

Remember this is a Non-recessed trem. I realize you can only get the action so low. But this was definitely not a crappy setup. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the South-East Michigan area but Mike Koontz is definitely no wanna-be GC tech. The guy does quality work and is respected locally as the best around.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Moi?

Condescending and rude?

NEVER.

If you had said it was 1 note on the high E only when bending at the 18th fret from the get-go I wouldn't have suggested the truss rod, but it is true that low fret buzz comes from a back-bow and high fret buzz comes from too much relief, in general, so if you give a poor description of the problem don't blame me when I get pissy that I gave an answer you said you didn't think it was "worth checking out."

Understand that my sassy mockery comes from the fact I'm a little annoyed I took the time to type out a first course of action, how to do it, what to look for, etc. and your response was "Well the guy is a pro, so I don't think that is the problem."

In any case as I said based on the more accurate description I think you have a high fret in the 19 - 22 area. He could probably just do a spot level or level from 12 up but if he says the whole thing needs done, well, the guy is a pro.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Oh two other things while I'm being condescending and rude.

The non-recessed tremolo doesn't really have anything to do with how low you can get the action, unless the tremolo is so low that it is colliding with the body in some way. In other words, it's not causing this problem, so forget about that, if that is what you were thinking.

And about the soloist tone in general, I don't know what your kelly is, but if we're talking bolt-on (Kelly) vs. neck-through (Soloist) then that would account for some of the difference. Also you will find a lot of the times they use a 250K tone pot on the Soloist to tame the JB's highs a little and that will make it sound overall very thick and smooth and not exactly what you're expecting from a JB.

Of course I have no idea what models of guitar you have or what pickups they might have or anything, because you haven't really told us anything about them, so I'm sure that's not the problem.

[Raidogen]

Hey, I appreciate your honesty! Acoustically, my Soloist (sl1) sounds muddy and rounded. It's an '87 "custom shop". While plugged in, the thing screams! On the other hand, my Ke3 is acoustically very bright and brilliant. Could this be due to the fact my Sl1 has the Jackson stringlock while my Ke3 has a licensed Locking nut?