guitar setup

[ewright]

yep i think so too

hmm also, whats gonna happen with the floyd rose? will it still be paralel to the body after trussrod adjustment?

Even if its not, thats one of the easiest things to adjust, although they SHOULD do it themselves. But it only takes 5 minutes to remove the cover plate on the back of the guitar, turn the 2 screws, and retune. I learned how to do that after paying for my last "pro setup".

[Bengal65]

Be a "Pro". Get Dan's book and experiment. It's well worth it. Especially for JCF members who have quite a collection of guitars! Just think at the end of the year, you will have saved enough to buy a new guitar!

[MichaelLitvak]

i wanna experiment but im just scared to screw up the guitar and then i'll have 2 pay lots of money 2 get it fixed.. that is if i dont mess up the neck completely and need to buy a new one

[Bengal65]

i wanna experiment but im just scared to screw up the guitar and then i'll have 2 pay lots of money 2 get it fixed.. that is if i dont mess up the neck completely and need to buy a new one

I should have been more specific when I said experiment. I would experiment on an older cheaper guitar and not on your main player.

[MichaelLitvak]

I should have been more specific when I said experiment. I would experiment on an older cheaper guitar and not on your main player.

thats what i was thinking. try to strighten the neck on the les paul copy
are there any good sites that explain it? its much easier on that guitar because of the fixed bridge and not floyd rose


my teacher taught me abit... he said do not move the truss rod alot, move it a bit, retune and see if its fine, then repeat that step untill it is fine..

the thing is.. how do i know if the neck needs to curve in or out? i can not really see it

[Bengal65]

Here's a start here: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/trussadjust.htm

This site has many good topics.

[MichaelLitvak]

ok dudes..

so i went to the store.. hoping their setup wont ruin anything..

as i said the action on 12th fret was 5mm high...
i go to them.. the guy was nice he said no prob.. he said the neck was pretty stright.. not completely so he adjusted the truss rod
i asked him if i can get that low action of 1mm high.. he said its impossible.. well he said he can do it but there will be serious fret buzz so nothing basically changed.

well since the neck is stright now.. i took an allen key and lowered the action to about 2mm high at 12th fret and it feels pretty awesome right now.. with little buzz in the lower frets but that doesnt bother me

atleast it cost 0 bux :P

[dg]

The original problem was that you had fret buzz in the lower frets. The most common solution for this is to loosen the trussrod a little to create relief (a slight bow) in the neck. Judging by the fact that you still have buzzing in the lower frets, I think your trussrod still needs to be loosened a bit. Once the correct amount of relief is in the neck on a DK2, you should be able to lower your bridge to get the action lower than 2mm at the 12th fret with little to no buzz anywhere on the neck, imo.

[MichaelLitvak]

The original problem was that you had fret buzz in the lower frets. The most common solution for this is to loosen the trussrod a little to create relief (a slight bow) in the neck. Judging by the fact that you still have buzzing in the lower frets, I think your trussrod still needs to be loosened a bit. Once the correct amount of relief is in the neck on a DK2, you should be able to lower your bridge to get the action lower than 2mm at the 12th fret with little to no buzz anywhere on the neck, imo.

ok thanks for that info i'll try to do this myself .. so which way do i turn the rod to loosen it? close wise or counter clock wise.

also? do i losen the strings before doing that? and how much to loosen? untill they are all down or just a bit?

also, the neck is stright now, so how much do i need to turn in order to get that slight bow?

[straycat]

To give relief to the neck turn the truss rod wrench to the left(looking down the neck from the headstock) that will loosen it.1/4 turn to start with then let it rest for just a minute then tune again.Have the guitar tuned to pitch before adjusting the truss rod.Jackson suggests getting the neck as straight as possible.I set all my Jacksons this way no relief.But in your case you may need a little relief.
I don't think it will take much at all to get it where you have a little relief.Capo at the first fret and fret it at the 22nd fret and check your string height at the 7th or 8th fret and see what you have.

[Postal]

.. he said the neck was pretty stright.. not completely so he adjusted the truss rod
:P

Yup, That's the problem right there...... The other guys are right, you need to loosen the rod to get a slight forward bow. That setup guy is a moron... set the neck to dead straight, and anyone with ANY idea how to really setup a guitar knows it needs a slight amount of relief or "forward bow".

Don't loosen the strings. Just loosen the nut about 1/8 of a turn, and check. Most truss rods are very sensitive, and take very small turns to affect big neck changes. Follow the instructions on the project guitar site.

This will raise the action very slightly at the lower frets, mainly around 3-5/6 but allow a lower action all around and eliminate the buzz on the upper frets.

It sounds to me like it is above your experience level, but the GREAT setup guys - when levelling frets, will sometimes grind the upper frets (-about 17/18 up) just a tad lower than the rest of the frets- only takes a few thousandths- This prevents fret buzz on the upper frets with a very low action, and also prevents string bends from choking out on tighter radius boards.

A decent setup, will probably be about 2mm high... it takes a really good setup wizard to get lower than that, and few people know how to do it.

[straycat]

From his discription I think some relief would help.Its possible some of the upper frets have raised or popped up a little over time/seasons.You need to be sure the frets are seated all the way down.It is really hard to know with out seeing the guitar in person.99% of the Jacksons I've done the neck needed almost no relief to play well with out buzzing on the upper frets and I mean very low action.

[zeegler]

Ok first off, why do people think the truss rod is used to raise and lower the action on a guitar? It's not!! Smarten up. The truss rod is used to straighten the neck. If you sight down the neck of your guitar, it should be almost straight, with a very slight forward bow. If it's not, regardless of how high your action is, it needs adjusting. As long as the truss rod is adjusted correctly, and the frets are level, you can adjust the bridge height to achieve your desired action.

Adjusting the truss rod will also have little or no effect on the angle of the Floyd.

You know, I don't know how many guitars I have seen that have been fucked up by people messing with the truss rod when they didn't have a damn clue what they were doing. I'm talking about permanently warped necks, stripped truss rod nuts, and even broken rods. I'm all for people trying new things, but if you're not sure, don't touch the damn truss rod!!!

[surfreak]

Michael, I do not mean to disrespect you, but from the tone of your questions, it seems that you are not familiar at all with guitar setups and repairs.

Also, without disrespect to any of the fellow forumites who gave you their advice, I recommend you should ignore it, at least until you feel competent enough to be critical about what's been said so far.

Instead, invest in a real, professional setup job performed by a competent technician.

It may cost you more, it may mean that you have to travel a bit farther and be without your guitar for a bit longer, but it is an investment that will pay for itself.

[dg]

Ok first off, why do people think the truss rod is used to raise and lower the action on a guitar? It's not!! Smarten up. The truss rod is used to straighten the neck. If you sight down the neck of your guitar, it should be almost straight, with a very slight forward bow. If it's not, regardless of how high your action is, it needs adjusting. As long as the truss rod is adjusted correctly, and the frets are level, you can adjust the bridge height to achieve your desired action.

Adjusting the truss rod will also have little or no effect on the angle of the Floyd.

You know, I don't know how many guitars I have seen that have been fucked up by people messing with the truss rod when they didn't have a damn clue what they were doing. I'm talking about permanently warped necks, stripped truss rod nuts, and even broken rods. I'm all for people trying new things, but if you're not sure, don't touch the damn truss rod!!!

Excellent point, and a very important one. In this particular case, though, it seems like almost the opposite is what happened. Someone tried to get rid of fret buzz strictly by raising the bridge, which doesn't help at all when the buzz is at the nut end of the neck. That's why the action was 5mm and he still had buzz. The tech helped some, but it still sounds like he needs a little more relief. Should he tackle it by himself? Hard to say, but we can try to point him in the right direction. My gut says he probably should take this one to another tech, since there may be some issue we're missing by not actually having the axe in front of us. Then he can practice setups on a beater to get his feet under him.