You guys set up your own guitars?

[HamishR]

As WS says, always loosen a truss rod nut before tightening. And you usually don't need much movement at the nut to fix things either.

I always had a slightly higher than average action because i hate buzzing strings but also the way frets can rob you of sustain even if they're not actually buzzing. But I'm mainly playing newer Gretsches made in Japan right now and I'm finding I can get a lower action than I'm used to with them without losing anything.

But if I buy a new guitar I inevitably have to raise the action.

With Gibsons I used to have to always cut the nut slots a little lower too, but the last few have been pretty much perfect so I don't have to do anything other than gently open the slots up a little bit to let the strings move without catching - something every guitar seems to need. And maybe because of where I live it seems that every single guitar I get needs the truss rod loosened a tiny bit.

 

[PapaBear]

My Alvarez acoustic from the 70's had run out of adustment for the truss rod, after reading a stew mac article or two I took it out completely and added several washers put it back in and that's given it new life, having played mostly acoustic for years I don't mind the action on my electrics being a tad high, when I think back to when I first started playing and the effort it took to fret a clean note and how much more effortless it seems now I feel like I've gotten somewhere, not sure where that is, but it's definetly somewhere I wasn't before

 

[Dan0h]

My Alvarez acoustic from the 70's had run out of adustment for the truss rod, after reading a stew mac article or two I took it out completely and added several washers put it back in and that's given it new life, having played mostly acoustic for years I don't mind the action on my electrics being a tad high, when I think back to when I first started playing and the effort it took to fret a clean note and how much more effortless it seems now I feel like I've gotten somewhere, not sure where that is, but it's definetly somewhere I wasn't before

I agree with you Barry. Playing my acoustic every night makes my electrics feel like butter as far as how easily notes are fretted.

 

[Mike McLane]

I do my own setups, BUT Peccary is EXACTLY right. Its possible your truss rod is max'd out. its not unusual for modern Strats/Teles. If it is max'd out or siezed up its easy to round out that 1/8" hex nut. Then you have to drill it out and replace it. A good tech can get you in shape for around $50 (+/-) unless you have some serious issues and avoid that costly misque. Once that's done its pretty easy for you to keep it in spec. As mentioned the relief specs (.008" or so at the 9th fret) are on the Fender web site.

 

[andare]

How do you guys set your action? I have always noticed people are very particular and always seem to have slight issues with buzz and intonation and i seem to get around it because I enjoy higher action.

Fender specs work for me on both guitar and bass. I play 7.25" radius fretboards so 12/1000" relief is good for me. I also play flats so I could get away with a lower action but I keep it average-to-high because I'm heavy handed, especially live. Highish action is where it's at for my needs. There's also more tone on tap.

 

[andare]

I believe my LP and Strat are both around 2/32” on the e string and about 3/32” on the E string.

So fairly high.

Yep, that's a bass action right there.
Which reminds me, my Strat needs a new setup after the summer, the strings are choking all over the frets. PITA with the truss rod nut at the heel

 

[jeffwhitfield]

I'm an avid cyclist and when I got my first road bike I was damn determined to learn how to fix it on my own without having to resort to taking it into a bike shop everytime something happened to it. That led me to completely remodeling the bike...a complete rebuild with new components. I also bought another frame and built a second bike from scratch. Totally custom.

So, when I decided to get back into playing guitar, I bought a 5-string bass and, like the bikes, was damn determined to make my own adjustments. Three more guitars added and, yeah, I definitely prefer customizing my own guitars. I do my best not to bug a luthier at a guitar shop if I don't have to. Knock on wood, that has yet to be the case. Been able to solve virtually every problem with my guitars on my own.

Case point, I recently purchased a Les Trem tremolo bar to put on my Gretsch Electromatic. Guy I bought it from was nice enough to give me the right bridge to use on it. Installation was much easier than I thought it would be. Plus, I was able to avoid putting a different nut on the neck. I was super concerned that it wouldn't stay in tune. It was already having that problem. Adding a tremolo would only make it worse. The solution? Lube baby! Lube that nut with the right stuff prior to reinstalling the strings. Once I did that it stays in tune much, much better.

The tremolo works beautifully but definitely required some adjustment. Had to lower the bridge quite a bit to get the string height just right. That and the intonation, which didn't take too long to dial it. Yeah, definitely a learning experience but soooooo worth it!