setting up my sg

[clare_bear]

Hi All

I'm thinking that maybe I should get a professional set up on my SG, but tbh I have no real idea of what that means! Well....I have a vague idea...but what are my options.

I know it's all personal preference, but what can I change and what differences might that make?

Having had a little mess around with the intonation, I suspect I may need some pro adjustments as I can't get it quite perfect for all the strings...could this be more serious, such as a 'nut job' [] I actually have the Dan Erlewine setting up guitar book, but I'm not sure I know enough to make good use of it...if that makes any sense!

Any advice and pointers would be luvverly.

Cheers

[imported_timmyo]

The basic variables that you can tinker with to alter the feel are truss rod relief (Dan's book does a better job that I would do here of outlining what this does to action - and you can see from the section at the back that some players like zero relief, others like a little bit, and it's easy to see how you are set by capo-ing at the first fret, pressing an E string down at the last fret (hold it down out over the pickup so it touches the last fret) and measuring clearance at the 8th fret - a rule of thumb that seems to work is that you want to be able to get a fag paper/top e string kind of clearance there, and no more)

then obviously overall action (height above the frets). Leave the capo on and measure the gap (thick feeler gauge or eyeball and rule marked in 1/32s of an inch) at 17th fret - see the book for what is considered low/medium/high. The benefits of high are that things seem to ring out louder and clearer, the downside being that fretting is a bit harder and you need to be a bit more on your game to actually play! Personally because I do far too much note bending (!) I find a very low action hard work, because you can't really get a hold of a very low string to bend it under control (imo)

Saddles : get them following the neck camber (use the radius gauges in the Dan E book)

All this assumes you don't have any faults (the book covers them) like neck twist, excessive fret wear, uneven frets etc which need remedying first.

Does that help at all ? lol

[clare_bear]

Helps a lot, thanks, Tim.

I don't think there are any major faults, although I am slightly suspicious of the intonation issue - but equally that could just be down to other aspects of set up I haven't looked at yet.

I don't think I'll mess with the truss rod (I know I can do damage with that!), but would you then do it in the order you describe, Tim - action, then saddles? I do periodically mess with the action a bit, but it's in isolation rather than as part of the whole setup business.

Cheers

[Gojirosan]

Bigsby first, then set-up.

[JonEve]

Originally Posted by clare_bear

Helps a lot, thanks, Tim.

I don't think there are any major faults, although I am slightly suspicious of the intonation issue - but equally that could just be down to other aspects of set up I haven't looked at yet.

I don't think I'll mess with the truss rod (I know I can do damage with that!), but would you then do it in the order you describe, Tim - action, then saddles? I do periodically mess with the action a bit, but it's in isolation rather than as part of the whole setup business.

Cheers

This isn't as scary as everyone makes out. Yes it can do alot of damage, but if you adjust small bits at a time it can really benefit. I do it to my acoustic all the time to get a lower action.

Dan Erlwhine's book is teh roxxorz...And as Tim has stated use it to go through the things he has pointed out. The trouble with the book is that there's *too much* information in there and it can be overwhelming....But if you look at the things Tim has mentioned you'll not go far wrong.

[shugz]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Bigsby first, then set-up.

[imported_timmyo]

actually thinking about it I'm not sure if you can change the saddle camber on your bridge - it might already be fixed to the correct neck camber.

In any case I'd do that first, then use the bridge posts to set overall bridge height so something that feels right (by definition you might have to get too low, and too high to judge what is 'right' is for you, then check the neck relief. if the neck relief does seem to be off then you can adjust it yourself, just read carefully, and only make very small adjustments (say, 1/4 turn, and if you want to be super safe only 1 or 2 of them - if not sorted then then by all means get a pro to look at it) - I was very wary about it, but when I'd had my Morgan a few months and it had all settled down I gave it a very small tweak and it was fine.

As for intonation - the rule of thumb is start with top E set at a measured double-the distance-between-nut-and-12th-fret, then B string a string-above-gauge-thickness back (eg 0.010" back), G saddle a B string thickness back , D saddle level with top E saddle, A saddle a D gauge back, E saddle an A gauge back - this should get you in the ballpark and not need excessive saddle adjustment once the strings are on. Again this assumes no issues and that the bridge is accurately placed. On Gibson-type bridge is you run out of intonation travel on the saddle, you can flip the saddle piece itself around to get more travel on the fulcrum point - take a look you'll see what I mean (on my LP the low 3 saddles are one way, the top 3 the other for this reason - it's a common 'trick')

Pickup height is another variable - again see the book for typical heights - I err on the lower and turn the amp amp On the Kinman website he calls the pickup height adjustment screws the most effective tone controls for your guitar.

[clare_bear]

Originally Posted by imported_timmyo

On Gibson-type bridge is you run out of intonation travel on the saddle, you can flip the saddle piece itself around to get more travel on the fulcrum point - take a look you'll see what I mean (on my LP the low 3 saddles are one way, the top 3 the other for this reason - it's a common 'trick')

Ahhh...and there we might have the intonation issue fix...I do indeed run out of travel. Thank you very much, Tim. I need to stop being a baby and get on with it all.

Thanks Jon too, for saying truss ros adjustment is not as scary as it's made out to be...as long as caution is exercised! And I think it is that there's too much info in that book - I start with good intentions, get confused (easily done) and overwhelmed, then just fiddle briefly with the intonation, and ignore it!

Goji - no!

[clare_bear]

Originally Posted by frankus

You can use fret files to adjust it but it's not a great idea unless you know exactly what you need

Yeah, might just leave that.

And I don't think I can adjust it otherwise, so 1 less thing to worry about

[imported_timmyo]

this shows what I mean - see the saddles are flipped around - 3 one way, 3 the other