Help! (adjustments)

[ThomJohn]

I've had this Les Paul Special w/Humbuckers for a while now. I'm definitely a tinkerer, and relish every opportunity to tweak something on it. I even see bad decisions as having good worth cuz of whatever I learn. Of course I try to avoid them.

I've got a few issues that are currently stumping me. I've even been searching through the Erlewine's "How to make your Electric Guitar Play Great" book and I'm still confused as to what I should do. So I'll describe my LP's current status:

The action is a bit on the higher side, because 1) I tend to prefer that on electrics in general and 2) because there is a buzz in the low E string that is minimized (yet not eliminated) by the higher action. I think if I didn't have that buzz that I'd have my action slightly lower... but not a lot. It doesn't buzz when played open, but on a majority of the fretted notes you can hear it. It's not a problem plugged in really, but I play a lot at night without an amp when others are sleeping and its a real pest. Plus I'm a perfectionist.

Next: While the action of the Low E string and the High E string at the 12th fret are approx. the same distance, the positions of the dials underneath the Tune-o-Matic necessary for the action to be that way are crazy. The bass side is pretty far up yet on the treble side it's almost touching the body of the guitar.

Thirdly: Ever since I've had it, in order for the intonation to be right, all 6 saddles had to be pushed all the way back towards the tailpiece. Even then 2 or 3 of them needed more but it was impossible. My dad suggested that I take it apart and turn them around to get them to go a tad further. So I did that, but not until after I bought some Tusq saddles... just wanted to try them out. Partly for sound, and partly because I think they look nice.
Anyway, turning the Tusq ones the other way seemed to improve a little, but still didn't solve the problem. I still have some strings that are out of intonation.

I've tinkered quite a bit... and I am dreading the idea of adjusting the truss rod cuz I've never done that before and I don't even know if that would help to be honest. I know I should probably take it to a guitar tech, and I may yet, but I'm a poor college student and I figured I should at least try posting here for help first.

My guitar plays pretty good for me... but not awesome like some LP's and some other guitars I've played but not owned. I do a lotta bluesy bends and whatnot. But I was playing it earlier today and I realized that even mine had been better a while ago, but maybe I did a little to much tinkering here and there and gradually over time it got worse without me really noticing. Help anyone?!

Oh and my strings are D'Addario Half Rounds: 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49 if that helps. And here are some pics taken with my phone:

[3dmac]

Hi ThomJohn,
11's are kinda big !
Do you play with a kungfu grip ? These are like a Zakk size set which will req. a higher bridge setting and pull the neck into more relief when tuned.
9 or 10 will let you get lower action, esp low e with less or no buzzing. Thicker the wound strings, the larger the vibration radius. Intonation will also improve .
Just my 2 cents.

Peace

[ThomJohn]

Haha yeah my grip is pretty intense. But I have considered switching to 10's. Anything below that though I can't stand.
Thats not the main problem though is it?

[Rico]

I usually do my own set-up as far as action and intonation, but it's hard to tell from the pictures what's wrong. The buzzing on your high e could be do to the nut or the neck could have a slight twist or you need to have some, one or all the frets dressed. You just might have to take it to a proper guitar tech or Luther for service. Here is an link to a PDF file. It's an owners manual for ESP guitars, but the info provided applies to most guitars.

http://www.espguitars.com/ESP_Owners_Manual.pdf

[Scooter2112]

How is your intonation?? That bridge doesn't look like it's been set.

[ThomJohn]

Originally Posted by Scooter2112

How is your intonation?? That bridge doesn't look like it's been set.

My intonation is closer than it was, but as one can see from the pics, all of the saddles are pushed all the way back and still some of them could use more if possible. All except for the D string... not sure why its different.

What do you mean by "set"? Do you mean its been put in the wrong place on the face of the guitar and that it could be changed?

[ThomJohn]

Originally Posted by Rico

I usually do my own set-up as far as action and intonation, but it's hard to tell from the pictures what's wrong. The buzzing on your high e could be do to the nut or the neck could have a slight twist or you need to have some, one or all the frets dressed. You just might have to take it to a proper guitar tech or Luther for service. Here is an link to a PDF file. It's an owners manual for ESP guitars, but the info provided applies to most guitars.

http://www.espguitars.com/ESP_Owners_Manual.pdf

It's the low E that buzzes, not the high E. If there is a twist, how major of a problem is that? The closest guitar "tech" (a store owner) to me looked at it in the past and fed me a bunch of crap about how those type of issues I should overlook. I then proceeded to notice he had a shop full of guitars under $400. Nice guy, but I just might know more than him just from reading the books I have.

Oh yeah and the face of this type of LP is flat not carved.

[3dmac]

Hi thomjohn,
With the action at the 12th set high (normal L5/32 H3/32 ) intonation will be hard to set if not impossible, since the string is stretched a bit when fretted. The pic's show a lot of relief and very high action across the board. The nut also looks worn. 1st fret low and strings sitting deep. Nut also looks wrong (sharp edge not good ! ) Nut to string contact should be about the same as the string width. With a sharp contact edge, string will cut into nut causing premature wear ( lowering 1st fret action ) and will bind and not tune well.
On the 6th string, press it between the 3rd and 2nd fret. There should be a very small clearance were the 1st fret is. (about .006 : thickness of 3 sheets of typing paper)
Here's how it should look :Guitar Nut Removal / How to Replace an Acoustic Electric Guitar Nut:
I would say a new nut is needed and a pro setup done.

hippie:

[eddie_bowers]

I think too much relief is your main problem here (your going to have to touch the truss rod). When you have too much relief and your playing in the middle of the neck and your bridge is low (which is has to be to get decent action because of the large amount of relief) you are creating a situation where the high frets are up hill of the middle frets so the strings don't have enough clearance.

Adjusting the truss rod is really no big deal. Just go slow and take measurements as you go. You have a good book already for reference on how to do this. From that picture however, your first turn could be a half a turn without going to far.

Let us know how it goes.

-Eddie

[ThomJohn]

OK so far I've:

Ordered new strings. 10's.

...and thats all.
I may try adjusting the truss rod a hair when I get back home on wednesday.
Other than that, I'm still wondering... why the difference between the heights of either side of the tune-o-matic? Is this due to the neck being twisted? It doesn't look twisted to me... but then again... my eye isn't trained to see these things.

[captainbraindamage]

The low E side should be set a little higher due to the fact the larger diameter strings travel more distance ( vibrate ) when plucked. I would start with the relief first I set mine at about .008, I think .010 to .012 is what is recommended. Then you can set the string height. If you measure to get an approximate setting, measure from the bottom of the strings to the 12th fret. Gibson says 3/64 on high E and 5/64 low E, but if higher is what you like there shouldn't be any problem. I wouldn't go too excessive though. So if you have a difference of 1/32 (3/64 high E and 5/64 low E) at the 12th fret, which is halfway between the nut and saddle, when the strings reach the saddle there will be an even greater distance. You could kind of think of it as a long skinny triangle.
But I would start with the truss rod. I have bought 2 Epis in the last 6 months. Mine was flat as a pancake, no relief at all. My daughters was .016. IMO that should be the first thing to check