Need some help. Setting the action on my strat.

[The Norwegian Guy]

I haven't done a proper setup on my W strat yet. (believe it or not)
As some of you may know, it has a floyd rose.

The action is very high. About 5mm (0.19 inches).
I don't know how to adjust the truss rod. I have tried to google it, and I have watched some youtube videos. I have the Warmoth Pro neck, which features the double expanding truss rod.
I don't have balls to try this unless I'm 110% sure that I'm not F'in it up.

I have set the floyd base plate level to the body, and if I decrease the hight of it, I'll get fretbuzz on lower strings and the E and B strings cant be bent above the 16th string, because they touch higher frets, causing the string to mute itself.

I'm sorry for the noob-question, but I had to ask.
Could anybody please tell me how to fix this?

-AndreasM

 

[Cagey]

You need a straight edge and a set of feeler gauges. Loosen the strings, and lay the straightedge on the frets. Measure the gap about midpoint between the ends of the ruler, and adjust the truss rod until there's zero clearance.

Tune the thing up, and measure again. Adjust the truss rod again until you have about .010" - .012" clearance midway. You shouldn't have to move the adjustment more than a quarter turn to do this. Any more than that, and there's something wrong.

Adjust the bridge height until you have about .020" clearance on the D/G strings.

Now you get to play with saddle height. Adjust the rest of the saddles until the fretboard clearance is about the same for all six strings.

All the while, make sure the open tuning of the strings is correct. This is a pain in the ass, because nearly anything you do is going to put it out of tune.

One the clearance is uniform, start checking to see if you have any buzzes/frets-outs/dead strings. If so, raise the bridge a tad.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

If this ends up leaving you with strings that are too high, it's likely your frets need levelling.

 

[rockskate4x]

What is the neck radius, and which Floyd are you using?

I ask because the Original Floyd Rose is made for a 10 inch radius and the Schaller Floyd is made for a 12 inch. If your neck has a flatter radius or the Warmoth compound radius that could explain why the buzzing only happens on certain strings. The locking nuts are all set to 10 inches which is fine for the compound radius necks, but the bridge saddles will have to be shimmed in most cases.

 

[Funky Phil]

There are a few things to consider when setting up a guitar...

Truss rod adjustment
Nut slots (overall nut height on a Floyd locking nut, adjusted by adding or removing shims) i.e. the action at the 1st fret
Action measured at the 12 the fret for each string, and adjusted by raising or lowering the bridge and or sadlles.

It's best to do these in the order listed above.
On nearly every guitar with a Floyd (Warmoth included) I've worked on (probably hudreds!), the locking nut has been too high with no shims.
Some wood then needs to be removed, so that the nut can be lowered.

 

[The Norwegian Guy]

This sounds too tricky and advanced! I'm bound to screw something up!

I have to remove the pickguard to adjust the trussrod... or could I just use the one on the side of the pro neck?

 

[rockskate4x]

This sounds too tricky and advanced! I'm bound to screw something up!

I have to remove the pickguard to adjust the trussrod... or could I just use the one on the side of the pro neck?

That depends on how much of an adjustment you need to make. Get a straight edge and see how close you are to the sweet spot (almost straight with a slight amount of relief). If you aren't far off, you shouldn't have to remove the neck or the pickguard. Just use the side adjuster.

 

[Cagey]

This sounds too tricky and advanced! I'm bound to screw something up!

I have to remove the pickguard to adjust the trussrod... or could I just use the one on the side of the pro neck?

It is as rockskate4x says - if it's not too far off, that's what the side adjuster is for - so you don't have to remove the neck. Actually, if it's fairly close, you may not want or need to adjust it at all, depending on how tight you want things to be. Not everybody wants or can have their strings practically laying on the neck.

It's not as tough as it sounds. The whole procedure is actually pretty easy. The frustrating part is that some of it is repetitive because it's largely a balancing act. One adjustment will effect another. Keep in mind the geometry of the thing, be patient, and it'll all work out.

 

[The Norwegian Guy]

I see.

What is the chance of F'ing things up with the double expanding truss rod?

 

[nexrex]

Always found this website to be very helpful.
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/pro1.htm

 

[Alfang]

You shouldn't need more than a 1/4 turn on the truss rod to get some movement, provided the truss rod is already tight enough to be influencing the neck.

But don't be afraid to go more, slowly every couple hours or even days till your neck is straight. It all depends on the wood, weather etc...  I had a neck that was so stubborn it took me a week and a couple turns on the truss rod to get straight.

Usually high action and still buzzing and fretting out is solved by straightening the neck, then of course saddle height

 

[Strat Avenger]

It's really NOT complicated. You just have to know what you are adjusting it for.  You don't even need a straight-edge or feeler gauges, but a good machinist ruler is very helpful.

For Electric Guitar:  

Fret (or capo) the low E at 1st fret and at the fret where the neck joins the body (usually about the 17th fret). While doing this, observe the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 8th fret (which would be the half-way distance between the two fretted points.

There should be a slight gap (but only slight). If the string is laying on the fret with no gap whatsoever, there is not any neck relief (forward "bow").

Loosening the truss rod (counter-clockwise) will increase the forward bow, while tightening (clockwise) will straighten or reduce forward bow. I have adjusted guitars that needed as much as a1/2 turn. Don't be afraid of this. Go in 1/8 turn increments though.

You need some forward bow, or you will have fret buzz. If you have too much forward bow, the action will be high, especially between the 7th and 15th frets. You can use feeler gauges, or just eyeball it. AFTER the truss rod is adjusted properly, you then need to adjust your bridge height so that there is 5/64 inch between the low E and the top of the 12th fret, and 1/16 inch (4/64") between the high E and the top of the 12th fret. After doing this, if your guitar has frets that are properly leveled and crowned, it should play like a dream, with no fret buzz coming through the amp.

Edit: If you have a twisted (warped) neck, no amount of truss rod adjusting is going to correct the problem.