dbw said:
-CB- said:
1. If you discuss things like this with your wife, and she is already telling you garbage like that, consider telling her to take a long walk off a short pier. You're doomed, and so is your marriage.
Harsh, CB.
JohninSC said:
1. If you talk badly about my wife, i will hunt you down, rip off your leg, and then beat you with it.
Also harsh.
John, if you are worried (or your wife is, whatever), just take it to a pro and have them do it... you can probably watch and learn. It won't cost you much. I'm not an expert myself, but even if I were, I don't think there's a good way to explain it over the internet. Personally, I just turn the damn thing until the neck is straight, and then string it up which gives it a little relief. This is an amateur method I'm sure, and anyway I always have to think for like half an hour to remember which way I need to turn it. :doh: I don't do this to my Warmoth, only my beaters
i do this to start and it usually works well enough. the adjustment is most critical for low strings. i like them alittle high and stiff sometimes to avoid buzzing under heavy picking that can mess with sustain.
to be perfectly clear, and this is not meant to be offensive in any way, i just don't like to leave room for questions and have no idea of your level of mechanical knowledge, clockwise will tighten the rod and pull against the strings, too tight and you back bow the neck possibly causing permanent damage.
too much relief will cause the strings to be higher around the 12th fret than at the 21st, attempting to get low action will give you a decent playing guitar to maybe the 14th fret the you'll have buzzing or dead notes from there on up, especially when bending.
a perfectly strait neck can play pretty decent but usually has some buzzing. since the strings vibration gives it an eliptical shape some relief helps give clearance where needed, so by having some relief you can get the strings lower as long as the height at the 12th fret is not higher than at the 21st/22nd.
if you have a "strait radius" (now that's an oxymoron if i've ever heard one) that is the radius is the same at all frets, slightly more relief is needed. this is because the strings taper down twords the nut. they are at a slight angle. if you were to pull a string across a cylinder diagnally you will find that it is not strait, there will be a hump in the middle, some relief is necessary to compensate.
if you have a warmoth compound radius the fretboard is a conical shape and the strings follow the surface to a common theoretical point. so you can get away with slightly less relief and lower strings.
as for what CB said .005-.010" is a good range if you don't want to spend days experimenting to get the "perfect setup". and it will take days or longer as the neck can take time to set in so the setup will change as the guitar sits. the measurement should be taken with a feeler gauge set at the 8th-9th fret with a strait edge down the center of the neck.
the string can also be used as a strait edge, tune to pitch and depress the string at the first fret and after the last one. this works ok if you don't have a strait edge. with a strait radius the E strings will have slightly less that the D and G so you may want to set them on the low side. this method takes a little practice as the string isn't very rigid and it can be difficult to get a good feel for the measurement. also pressing too hard on the string at the first and last fret will cause it to bow up slightly giving an erroneous measurement.
hope this is clear enough.