Tone deaf
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
- Messages
- 37,950
- Reaction score
- 90,840
This subject pops up all the time, in one form or another (need a set up, buzzing strings, etc.), so I figured I would throw out my two cents on what I do, when I need a little more than a new set of strings.
Most of this stuff I learned from reading Dan Erlwine's repair books and from other guitarists. It may not be perfectly scientific but I have been able to get pretty good results. Even though I have done this many times, I refer to Dan's books often and recommend that anyone that doesn't have at least one of them, should get one.
Some basic stuff to do your own set up:
Get a few tools (not expensive):
Go to your local home improvement store and pick up a couple tools, like these:
Drywall Hand Sander-DRHS-008 at The Home Depot
Oxygen-Acetylene Torch Tip Cleaner Kit-KH575 at The Home Depot
While you are there (or at your local office supply store) pick up a metal straight edge ruler (18" minimum length, 24" is better, for your first one, you'll have assorted lengths before long). Get the shortest one you can find, too (probably 6").
Go to your local auto parts store and pick up some wet/dry sand paper (800 or 1000 grit will do). Get sheets of sandpaper that are long enough to fit on the hand sander (you'll cut the width to fit). See if they have a 'feeler' gauge (allows you to measure the width of gaps). If you cant find a feeler gauge locally, order one on Amazon and wait until it arrives, before proceeding (it will save you loads of guess work and having to do things twice).
At the grocery store, buy a small bottle of lighter fluid (liquid naphtha, not gaseous butane).
Clear off the kitchen table (actually, youre better off if you can set up a clean work space where you can leave your stuff for a while, so maybe not the kitchen) and put a beach towel on it to protect the guitar.
Check the relief:
Sit with the guitar in your lap like you are going to play it (strings still on) and put a capo at the first fret. Fret the string at the last fret and check the gap between the string and the top of the 7th fret. You can also use the long straight edge spanning from first to last fret. Check both the high and low sides of the fingerboard. If things are in relative good order, the straight edge (or capo/fretted string) should rest on the first and last frets. The little gap, between the straight edge and the frets (in the middle) is the 'relief' (i.e. the bend in the neck, which is generally controlled by the truss rod). The factory specs for relief at the 7th fret is .012" (for LPs).
If you don't have the feeler gauge, you can eyeball it with the new B string, you'll be putting on the guitar, later. It should be about .013" in diameter (guessing for a set of 10s) and should be the approximate width of the gap. If there is very little or no gap or a really big gap, you'll need to adjust the truss rod (only adjust a truss rod in small increments 1/4 turns or so). Clockwise (tightening) will flatten the neck while counterclockwise (loosen) will bow the neck (i.e. add more relief). If it is fairly close, just leave it, we'll deal with it later, if need be.
You can probably eliminate most fret buzzes by putting more relief into the neck. However, that isn't where to start (at least in my book). I would start with the relief at or below (flatter than) the factory specs. Once I get everything else set up, I can add relief, if warranted.
Check the nut slots and saddles:
Pop the strings off, don't let the tail piece or saddle fall onto the finish of the guitar, when they become free to fall off. While you are taking the strings off, slide them north-south through their respective nut slots. They should slide easily through the slots. Make a note of any that do not. Check each of the saddles to make sure that there arent any burrs or defects that might impact the strings. If there are any burrs, use the sandpaper to remove them.
Level the frets:
Inspect all the frets for flat spots, dents, etc. If the frets are really worn or banged up, you probably need to dress and crown them. Here, I am just talking about a quick leveling of the frets. Take the short ruler and starting with the first fret, lay it across a couple frets and look for ones that are out of whack. With the short straight edge, they should all appear to be the same height (relative to their neighbors). You need the short ruler to eliminate the effect of the relief (discussed above). Imagine the side view of the neck (with a slight bow/relief), the string is suspended at its extremes by the nut and the bridge and the frets stick up off the fingerboard. If, when you fret the string at any fret, there is another fret (between your finger and the bridge) that is taller, it will likely cause the string to buzz. That is what we are trying to eliminate.
Most of the wear (at least on my guitars) occurs on the treble strings between the nut and the 7th fret and again on around the 12th through the 15th ('cause I can only play one song
). If the frets are level, the straight edge should sit nicely across the frets and should not rock. If you find rocking, identify the tall fret (you can put a little crayon or grease pencil on the high spots). Make sure you check the high E and low E parts of the frets, not just the middle.
Use a file, or take a piece of the sandpaper and put it around a small block of wood (so that it is only an inch or so wide and maybe 4 long). Start with the high spots that you marked and working across the fret (low E to high E), gently (with smooth strokes with the long side of the sanding block in line with the fret) slide the sanding block back and forth, reducing the height of the high spot. Keep checking with your straight edge to get and idea of when you have it in line with its neighbors. If only part of the fret is too tall, just work that area (don't make the other parts too low). Remember to work with the radius. Take care not to sand the fingerboard. If you dont have reasonably steady hands, put some masking tape on the fingerboard on either side of the tall frets.
When you have the tall frets whipped into shape, put the sandpaper in the drywall hand sander (above). Keep in mind that the frets, fingerboard and bridge are supposed to be curved (radius), so dont flatten it. Id start with the formerly high frets and going in the low E-high E (and vice versa) direction; gently sand the formerly high fret and its two neighbors, at the same time. Work with the radius, dont just sand parallel across the frets. Once you have done this for all of the high spots, I go (gently) in a north south direction (first fret to last fret) and work all the frets over. To account for the radius, I work the low E & A area north-south, then the D & G, then the B & E. Take the short ruler to the frets again and make sure that they are all level.
Clean the fingerboard:
Put a little naphtha on a rag and clean off the frets and fingerboard. If there is any dirt or crud on the fingerboard, now is a good time to remove it. The rag, naphtha and your fingernails should be enough to remove all but the most baked-on crud.
Prepare the Nut:
The nut is there to create one of the two suspension spots used to define the length of the string. The slots are there to keep the strings from moving out of position (across the fingerboard E to E). The nut is not where the strings are fastened to the guitar and, other than preventing the E to E movement of the strings, the nut should not restrict the strings. There are three basic measurements regarding the nut slots, depth, width and height. The depth of the slots, ideally will approximately equal to the radius of your favorite strings. The ideal width of the slot is a whisker (technical term) wider than your favorite string. The height of the nut slot is the distance from the fingerboard to bottom of the string, which has factory spec but also needs to be considered in relation to fret height.
Inspect the nut slots. The factory specs for the height of the nut slot (i.e the distance from the fingerboard to the bottom of the nut slot), for Gibby LPs are .030 for both the low E and A. The high E is .015 Keep in mind that if the nut slot is the same height (or lower) as the first fret (or any other for that matter), youll likely have issues. Make a note of any major discrepancies. If any of the nut slots are too low, when you string it put a tiny piece of paper or thin cardboard in the slot (just for now). Keep fiddling with the shims until you get in the ball park of the factory specs. If any were binding, when you checked them, earlier, or are too high, take the acetylene torch cleaner and find the little round file that is closest to the width of the slot. When using it to widen make sure you just widen (not deepen) the slot and vice versa (a potential danger of a round file). Tune the strings and check the height again.
With a knife, shave the graphite, from a pencil onto a piece of paper. Put copious amounts of the graphite shavings into each slot. If you think that you used too much, you probably have the correct amount.
Check things out:
String up the guitar. Pre-bend the hell out of the strings. Tune it up. Bend the strings some more and re-tune.
With the guitar in your lap (playing position):
- Check the relief again (long straight edge or capo/fretted) at the 7th fret,
- Measure the height of the low and high E strings at the 12th fret (should be 5/64ths and 3/64ths, respectively). Adjust the bridge height to get the string height correct,
- When the string height is dialed-in, check the pup height (factory specs 3/32 for the neck and 1/16 for the bridge) from the top of the pole to the bottom of the string, while fretting the string at the last fret. Adjust them accordingly. If the pups are too close to the strings, the magnetic pull can distort the elliptical pattern of the string vibration.
Now, lets play. Check for any buzzing or other problems, all over the fingerboard. Assuming things are generally OK (well work out the kinks as we go), well intonate, with a good electronic tuner (the more accurate, the better). The string, played at the 12th fret, should be exactly one octave higher than the open string. Tune the open string, check it at the 12th. If it is sharp (at the 12th) you want to lengthen the string between the 12th and the bridge, so move the saddle away from the nut, a little at a time until it is spot on. If the string is flat (at the 12th), move the saddle toward the nut.
Now, lets play some more. Check for any buzzing or other problems, all over the fingerboard.
String tension:
Is anything buzzing? If there is some slight buzzing *particularly from the 12th to the last fret), tighten the stop tail piece a little at a time to see if that will eliminate the buzzing.
Do open chords sound good or out of tune? If they dont sound good, look for problems with the tuner, check the open string and the fret at the 1st, it should be exactly one half step higher, then the 2nd, 3rd and so forth. When I have encountered this problem in the past (spot-on intonation but out of tune lower frets), I have been able to solve the problem by tweaking the string tension (usually by raising the stop tail piece). If you cant find a string tension that eliminates the buzz and keeps all the positions in tune, get it to a spot where everything is in tune (more important in my book) and well fix the buzz through other methods.
More buzzing:
Identify where the buzzing is. If it is towards the higher register, raising the bridge should fix it. Raise the bridge a little at a time until the buzzing stops. If it is buzzing all over, try the bridge first, but it may be indicative of a need for more relief (i.e. the fingerboard is too flat). If it is at the lower end of the register, again, try the bridge first but it might also be a sign that it needs more relief. If the open strings buzz, but they dont buzz when fretted, the nut slots are likely culprits. If you add more relief (remember just a little at a time and never force the truss rod nut), you may want to lower the bridge (a little). Youll have to play with it to get it right.
My objective, when going through these procedures is to get the guitar pretty close, using the factory specs, with the neck as flat as possible. Then the fine tuning is more art than science. Every guitar is different. Some will not play well without more relief than the factory specs, some play great with a neck that appears to be too flat. So, get it pretty close and then play with the variables until you get it right.
Please feel free to add to this or correct it (like I said, I can't take credit for developing any of this stuff), we can put together a compilation of thoughts and advice.
Most of this stuff I learned from reading Dan Erlwine's repair books and from other guitarists. It may not be perfectly scientific but I have been able to get pretty good results. Even though I have done this many times, I refer to Dan's books often and recommend that anyone that doesn't have at least one of them, should get one.
Some basic stuff to do your own set up:
Get a few tools (not expensive):
Go to your local home improvement store and pick up a couple tools, like these:
Drywall Hand Sander-DRHS-008 at The Home Depot
Oxygen-Acetylene Torch Tip Cleaner Kit-KH575 at The Home Depot
While you are there (or at your local office supply store) pick up a metal straight edge ruler (18" minimum length, 24" is better, for your first one, you'll have assorted lengths before long). Get the shortest one you can find, too (probably 6").
Go to your local auto parts store and pick up some wet/dry sand paper (800 or 1000 grit will do). Get sheets of sandpaper that are long enough to fit on the hand sander (you'll cut the width to fit). See if they have a 'feeler' gauge (allows you to measure the width of gaps). If you cant find a feeler gauge locally, order one on Amazon and wait until it arrives, before proceeding (it will save you loads of guess work and having to do things twice).
At the grocery store, buy a small bottle of lighter fluid (liquid naphtha, not gaseous butane).
Clear off the kitchen table (actually, youre better off if you can set up a clean work space where you can leave your stuff for a while, so maybe not the kitchen) and put a beach towel on it to protect the guitar.
Check the relief:
Sit with the guitar in your lap like you are going to play it (strings still on) and put a capo at the first fret. Fret the string at the last fret and check the gap between the string and the top of the 7th fret. You can also use the long straight edge spanning from first to last fret. Check both the high and low sides of the fingerboard. If things are in relative good order, the straight edge (or capo/fretted string) should rest on the first and last frets. The little gap, between the straight edge and the frets (in the middle) is the 'relief' (i.e. the bend in the neck, which is generally controlled by the truss rod). The factory specs for relief at the 7th fret is .012" (for LPs).
If you don't have the feeler gauge, you can eyeball it with the new B string, you'll be putting on the guitar, later. It should be about .013" in diameter (guessing for a set of 10s) and should be the approximate width of the gap. If there is very little or no gap or a really big gap, you'll need to adjust the truss rod (only adjust a truss rod in small increments 1/4 turns or so). Clockwise (tightening) will flatten the neck while counterclockwise (loosen) will bow the neck (i.e. add more relief). If it is fairly close, just leave it, we'll deal with it later, if need be.
You can probably eliminate most fret buzzes by putting more relief into the neck. However, that isn't where to start (at least in my book). I would start with the relief at or below (flatter than) the factory specs. Once I get everything else set up, I can add relief, if warranted.
Check the nut slots and saddles:
Pop the strings off, don't let the tail piece or saddle fall onto the finish of the guitar, when they become free to fall off. While you are taking the strings off, slide them north-south through their respective nut slots. They should slide easily through the slots. Make a note of any that do not. Check each of the saddles to make sure that there arent any burrs or defects that might impact the strings. If there are any burrs, use the sandpaper to remove them.
Level the frets:
Inspect all the frets for flat spots, dents, etc. If the frets are really worn or banged up, you probably need to dress and crown them. Here, I am just talking about a quick leveling of the frets. Take the short ruler and starting with the first fret, lay it across a couple frets and look for ones that are out of whack. With the short straight edge, they should all appear to be the same height (relative to their neighbors). You need the short ruler to eliminate the effect of the relief (discussed above). Imagine the side view of the neck (with a slight bow/relief), the string is suspended at its extremes by the nut and the bridge and the frets stick up off the fingerboard. If, when you fret the string at any fret, there is another fret (between your finger and the bridge) that is taller, it will likely cause the string to buzz. That is what we are trying to eliminate.
Most of the wear (at least on my guitars) occurs on the treble strings between the nut and the 7th fret and again on around the 12th through the 15th ('cause I can only play one song
). If the frets are level, the straight edge should sit nicely across the frets and should not rock. If you find rocking, identify the tall fret (you can put a little crayon or grease pencil on the high spots). Make sure you check the high E and low E parts of the frets, not just the middle.Use a file, or take a piece of the sandpaper and put it around a small block of wood (so that it is only an inch or so wide and maybe 4 long). Start with the high spots that you marked and working across the fret (low E to high E), gently (with smooth strokes with the long side of the sanding block in line with the fret) slide the sanding block back and forth, reducing the height of the high spot. Keep checking with your straight edge to get and idea of when you have it in line with its neighbors. If only part of the fret is too tall, just work that area (don't make the other parts too low). Remember to work with the radius. Take care not to sand the fingerboard. If you dont have reasonably steady hands, put some masking tape on the fingerboard on either side of the tall frets.
When you have the tall frets whipped into shape, put the sandpaper in the drywall hand sander (above). Keep in mind that the frets, fingerboard and bridge are supposed to be curved (radius), so dont flatten it. Id start with the formerly high frets and going in the low E-high E (and vice versa) direction; gently sand the formerly high fret and its two neighbors, at the same time. Work with the radius, dont just sand parallel across the frets. Once you have done this for all of the high spots, I go (gently) in a north south direction (first fret to last fret) and work all the frets over. To account for the radius, I work the low E & A area north-south, then the D & G, then the B & E. Take the short ruler to the frets again and make sure that they are all level.
Clean the fingerboard:
Put a little naphtha on a rag and clean off the frets and fingerboard. If there is any dirt or crud on the fingerboard, now is a good time to remove it. The rag, naphtha and your fingernails should be enough to remove all but the most baked-on crud.
Prepare the Nut:
The nut is there to create one of the two suspension spots used to define the length of the string. The slots are there to keep the strings from moving out of position (across the fingerboard E to E). The nut is not where the strings are fastened to the guitar and, other than preventing the E to E movement of the strings, the nut should not restrict the strings. There are three basic measurements regarding the nut slots, depth, width and height. The depth of the slots, ideally will approximately equal to the radius of your favorite strings. The ideal width of the slot is a whisker (technical term) wider than your favorite string. The height of the nut slot is the distance from the fingerboard to bottom of the string, which has factory spec but also needs to be considered in relation to fret height.
Inspect the nut slots. The factory specs for the height of the nut slot (i.e the distance from the fingerboard to the bottom of the nut slot), for Gibby LPs are .030 for both the low E and A. The high E is .015 Keep in mind that if the nut slot is the same height (or lower) as the first fret (or any other for that matter), youll likely have issues. Make a note of any major discrepancies. If any of the nut slots are too low, when you string it put a tiny piece of paper or thin cardboard in the slot (just for now). Keep fiddling with the shims until you get in the ball park of the factory specs. If any were binding, when you checked them, earlier, or are too high, take the acetylene torch cleaner and find the little round file that is closest to the width of the slot. When using it to widen make sure you just widen (not deepen) the slot and vice versa (a potential danger of a round file). Tune the strings and check the height again.
With a knife, shave the graphite, from a pencil onto a piece of paper. Put copious amounts of the graphite shavings into each slot. If you think that you used too much, you probably have the correct amount.
Check things out:
String up the guitar. Pre-bend the hell out of the strings. Tune it up. Bend the strings some more and re-tune.
With the guitar in your lap (playing position):
- Check the relief again (long straight edge or capo/fretted) at the 7th fret,
- Measure the height of the low and high E strings at the 12th fret (should be 5/64ths and 3/64ths, respectively). Adjust the bridge height to get the string height correct,
- When the string height is dialed-in, check the pup height (factory specs 3/32 for the neck and 1/16 for the bridge) from the top of the pole to the bottom of the string, while fretting the string at the last fret. Adjust them accordingly. If the pups are too close to the strings, the magnetic pull can distort the elliptical pattern of the string vibration.
Now, lets play. Check for any buzzing or other problems, all over the fingerboard. Assuming things are generally OK (well work out the kinks as we go), well intonate, with a good electronic tuner (the more accurate, the better). The string, played at the 12th fret, should be exactly one octave higher than the open string. Tune the open string, check it at the 12th. If it is sharp (at the 12th) you want to lengthen the string between the 12th and the bridge, so move the saddle away from the nut, a little at a time until it is spot on. If the string is flat (at the 12th), move the saddle toward the nut.
Now, lets play some more. Check for any buzzing or other problems, all over the fingerboard.
String tension:
Is anything buzzing? If there is some slight buzzing *particularly from the 12th to the last fret), tighten the stop tail piece a little at a time to see if that will eliminate the buzzing.
Do open chords sound good or out of tune? If they dont sound good, look for problems with the tuner, check the open string and the fret at the 1st, it should be exactly one half step higher, then the 2nd, 3rd and so forth. When I have encountered this problem in the past (spot-on intonation but out of tune lower frets), I have been able to solve the problem by tweaking the string tension (usually by raising the stop tail piece). If you cant find a string tension that eliminates the buzz and keeps all the positions in tune, get it to a spot where everything is in tune (more important in my book) and well fix the buzz through other methods.
More buzzing:
Identify where the buzzing is. If it is towards the higher register, raising the bridge should fix it. Raise the bridge a little at a time until the buzzing stops. If it is buzzing all over, try the bridge first, but it may be indicative of a need for more relief (i.e. the fingerboard is too flat). If it is at the lower end of the register, again, try the bridge first but it might also be a sign that it needs more relief. If the open strings buzz, but they dont buzz when fretted, the nut slots are likely culprits. If you add more relief (remember just a little at a time and never force the truss rod nut), you may want to lower the bridge (a little). Youll have to play with it to get it right.
My objective, when going through these procedures is to get the guitar pretty close, using the factory specs, with the neck as flat as possible. Then the fine tuning is more art than science. Every guitar is different. Some will not play well without more relief than the factory specs, some play great with a neck that appears to be too flat. So, get it pretty close and then play with the variables until you get it right.
Please feel free to add to this or correct it (like I said, I can't take credit for developing any of this stuff), we can put together a compilation of thoughts and advice.
