The thing my friends complain the most about my guitar is the string height, which is way too high. Im too cheap to go pay to have it done, and rather do it myself, so can anyone help me? I have a liscenced flyod rose tremelo btw.
Help With String Hieghts
- Thread starter makethestringscry
- Start date
Sunbane
Metalistic Madman
Allright, first thing you'd want to do, is check so the neck is fairly straight. A straighter neck will allow for lower, smoother action, but can also cause string buss and loss of sustain. Hold your guitar upright and sight down the neck (sort of aiming it, like a rifle). You should be able to determine by looking at the edge of the fretboard if the neck has a bow, is straight, or has a back-bow. What you typically want, is a neck that is almost straight, with a tiny amount of forward bow. If it has back-bow or a considerable amount of forward bow, the neck needs to be adjusted via the truss rod nut. Adjusting it can be tricky, but generally: loosening the truss rod nut introduces more bow, while tightening it introduces more back-bow (or straightening it). Put a mark on the truss rod nut so you keep track of where you had it. Then, using the correct wrench, turn it about a quarter of a turn in the appropriate direction - not more. Now, retune the guitar and let it sit for 15-20 minutes and check the neck bow again. Repeat this as many times as nescessary. Note: Keep track of how many times you adjusted the truss rod, how far you turned the nut each time (and in which direction). This is very important if you decide you want to go back to your old setup. Also important: If the truss rod nut becomes hard to turn: Stop. You shouldn't have to force it.
Btw, some experts say you should do all truss rod adjustment while the guitar is strung up and tuned, while others say you should always detune the guitar first. I don't know which is right, but I would do it with the guitar tuned. If you prefer to detune it first, do so. Whichever way you do it, just make sure to retune it between each adjustment, so you get the correct tension over the neck.
Once you're satisfied with the neck bow, move on to adjusting the bridge or saddles. For a floyd, you need to adjust the height of the pivot posts (trem posts). These can be screwed in and out of the guitar body. Screw them in and you lower the action, unscrew them and you make the action higher.
IMPORTANT: If your floyd is a "licenced" copy, chances are high that it's made of cheap P.O.S. metal. If this is the case, you can ruin the knife edges or the pivot posts by adjusting the bridge while the guitar is strung up. I have personally ruined a licenced floyd copy this way. So my advice is: Don't adjust the trem posts while the guitar is strung up. First, try to figure out how much you'd have to lower the bridge. Use a ruler. Then detune the strings until they flap, unhook the trem springs (in the back of the guitar) from the floyd, and remove the floyd entirely (you don't have to take the strings off). Now you can adjust the trem posts to your heart's content without ruining anything. Use the ruler to see that the posts end up at a reasonable height. Then put the floyd back in (make sure it's seated properly against the posts), hook the trem springs back into the block and retune the guitar. Test play.
If you get string buzz and dead spots on the fretboard, you have put the bridge too low. Also check to see so the neck doesn't have a back-bow. Remember that you want a slight forward bow in the neck.
Btw, what guitar is it? I'm asking because guitars with rather rounded fretboard profiles (such as Fenders), tend to require more neck bow than guitars with a flatter fretboard profile - so you may want to keep that in mind.
Btw, some experts say you should do all truss rod adjustment while the guitar is strung up and tuned, while others say you should always detune the guitar first. I don't know which is right, but I would do it with the guitar tuned. If you prefer to detune it first, do so. Whichever way you do it, just make sure to retune it between each adjustment, so you get the correct tension over the neck.
Once you're satisfied with the neck bow, move on to adjusting the bridge or saddles. For a floyd, you need to adjust the height of the pivot posts (trem posts). These can be screwed in and out of the guitar body. Screw them in and you lower the action, unscrew them and you make the action higher.
IMPORTANT: If your floyd is a "licenced" copy, chances are high that it's made of cheap P.O.S. metal. If this is the case, you can ruin the knife edges or the pivot posts by adjusting the bridge while the guitar is strung up. I have personally ruined a licenced floyd copy this way. So my advice is: Don't adjust the trem posts while the guitar is strung up. First, try to figure out how much you'd have to lower the bridge. Use a ruler. Then detune the strings until they flap, unhook the trem springs (in the back of the guitar) from the floyd, and remove the floyd entirely (you don't have to take the strings off). Now you can adjust the trem posts to your heart's content without ruining anything. Use the ruler to see that the posts end up at a reasonable height. Then put the floyd back in (make sure it's seated properly against the posts), hook the trem springs back into the block and retune the guitar. Test play.
If you get string buzz and dead spots on the fretboard, you have put the bridge too low. Also check to see so the neck doesn't have a back-bow. Remember that you want a slight forward bow in the neck.
Btw, what guitar is it? I'm asking because guitars with rather rounded fretboard profiles (such as Fenders), tend to require more neck bow than guitars with a flatter fretboard profile - so you may want to keep that in mind.
USMC0341
Dead Cold Day
One other bit of advice...it is always good to know how to work on your rig, but until you are really comfortable doing it - have a pro do it at least once...you won't believe the difference it will make in the feel and playability of your axe...
xenophobe
Active Member
I think he has this backwards... the middle frets (like the 12th) should be a little lower than the 1st or 22/24th fret... if you put a straight edge ruler from the first fret to the last, you should see some space between the 12th fret and the straight edge... that's proper bow...sunbane said:
If the 12th fret is higher (front bow* your action will buzz like crazy if you try to play on the first few frets, and you'll need to adjust your string height higher).
I like my necks almost flat... I get a lower overall action, though there is some slight buzz on the first few frets... but I usually only use my bridge pickup through my distorted channel on my Mesa, so it doesn't really matter to me so much.
There is always a compromise though, and you need to get the action and the bow just right for the lowest action, and that's when necks can get finicky. Also, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a day for a truss rod adjustment to "settle" properly. Make an adjustments that you find acceptable and leave the guitar sit for an hour or two... then come back and see if everything is the way you want it.
Best thing to do is take it to a guitar tech and spend the $40, especially if you've never performed any serious maintenance.
USMC0341
Dead Cold Day
And one other note - humidity will wreak havok on your action and the neck of your guitar is you keep it out of the case for extended periods of time. I always keep a deumidifier in the room where my gear is stored, and in the summer I keep the AC automated to 60 or 65 degrees, depending on that weather...
Sunbane
Metalistic Madman
Well, that's exactly what I was saying. The syndrom you described - 12th fret higher than 1st and 24th - is commonly called "back-bow", is it not? ...the neck is bowing back. Thus, shouldn't the opposite be called forward bow?xenophobe said:
xenophobe
Active Member
Seeing how the perspective is measurable from the face of the guitar... proper bow should be some slight backbow.... concave bow, as opposed to convex. 
But I figured we're just interpreting the terms incorrectly. Your advice is always solid, I just figured we were mixing up the terms.
But I figured we're just interpreting the terms incorrectly. Your advice is always solid, I just figured we were mixing up the terms.
MajestikMøøse
Membrum virile
If I were you, I'd just break down and let a tech/luthier do it. Doing stuff on your axe without knowing exactly what you're doing is a great way fuck things up and make it worse.
