Adjusting String Height and Action Setup
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Adjusting String Height on my guitars
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There's low action. There's high action. Then there's no action. Like what I get.
I hear ya
Oof
Hahaaa
It be like that 😔
At least you don't have to bend your neck...
So simple, so helpful. I’m brand new to guitar, and I had a problem with my high E string, and none of the other videos I found could help, but I kept searching, and then found this, and it was exactly what I needed to know to fix it. Thank you.
"This is how I prefer my guitars being set up, it might not apply to you"...probably the best advice that can be given but virtually never is in most tutorials. Great job man! As a later edit...I cannot play without 1.2mm both sides lol.
I've been playing guitar the majority of my life (40y); I successfully used this video today.
😅 🤷♂️
Thanks, Ola!👌
String height adjustment for a dead note on 14th fret.🤦♂️
More videos like this please! Guitar setups and adjustment are always necessary.
Good tip bro going to try it tonight after work. Cause I set the action by using a card an rubber band an still get a buzz dead note .
Very handy information! Thanks for your time in sharing. I will be saving this for future reference. Thanking you Robbbert from Melbourne Australia.
Glad to see you again Ola
Good stuff Ola. It's nice to see guitar tech how -o on something other than a Fender playing soft rock.
Thank you for the basics and straight to the point. I love you
Thanks man! Im amateur guitarist and these tips are golden for me. Also youre funny guy, love to watch your chanel!
I’m absolutely terrible at these kind of adjustments. Thank you for sharing.
Should I tune the guitar prior to making these adjustments?
Ola with a hex key on a guitar . Can't get more Ikea than that on this channel.
I play my 6-string bass with a straight neck and graduated action measured at the 12th fret: 2.75 mm B string, 2.5 mm E string, 2.25 mm A string, and 2 mm for the rest.
Hi Ola... do you remeber the times we wrote in the Andy Sneap forum ? I enjoy your vids and I wish you the all the best 😉
Of course I do man!
Thanks for the tips, now im a happy new Solar guitar owner! :)
I have a feeling that lots of people are going to be breaking their necks from adjusting their truss rod improperly. When messing with the truss rod, you should only turn it 1/4 of an inch at most at a time (or at least until you know the guitar well and what you are doing). Let it sit and naturally adjust for a minute or two and play a little just to let the neck settle. If it's not set to your liking, rinse and repeat. Just remember that it's wood (the neck and most likely the body) and keep in mind how tension and weather can and will affect it. You can adjust the truss rod and have the neck feel great but the next day it could be very different. I usually let it sit for the night if I'm setting up a new (or horribly setup) guitar to let it settle and acclimate to whatever environment it is in. Keep that in mind as well. Lots of things to take into account like breaking in the strings during a setup and knowing that the guitar will most likely not be the way you had it setup the next day due to basic physics and weather. Even if you only adjust the truss rod, the neck will probably need very fine adjustments the next day. Another thing is don't just fret every string to see if there are dead frets. It could be fine until you bend a string and notice it will fret out at a certain point. So make sure you bend at all frets after you check each one for dead spots. The ones that seem to be snuffed out are usually higher up the fretboard but it can happen anywhere. Good luck and keep on chuggin!!
Great video ola, it really helped me a lot.
for a long time you've always been the guy with sick groovy rhythm playing. lately you started to be a sick shredder too (imo). What exercises did you do to achieve that?
Timo Oertel he fought a swedish cave troll with an axe.
best answer ever.
Excelente sonido amigo te felicito por tus Guitar
I’d love more videos like this!
I love you Ola
very nice, keep this kind of vids comming. but you should totally check the intonation after this . maybe make a video on that?
Hi Ola, great and very useful video, thumbs up! I wanted to ask you, what is the better (safer) way for setting up the truss rod, with strings in tune or we need to loose them first? How do you prefer to do it? Most clips I watched, they say we have to loose strings first. In my case, truss rod is not the same when I loose the strings (it looks pure flat) and when the strings are in tune (I see little curve). Thanks!
Thank you for this!
thank you so much
its all about sting buzz and how hard you pick. If you are an ultra light picker, you can use a sweet low easy to play action. If you do metal chugging, you are going to need to raise it. I use a little bow in my neck because none of my guitars have been professionally fret leveled... so with it straight you get dead notes and buzz
Huh, it's really not complicated as i thought. Thx for explanation
Funny and educational 👌 Top man!!
Thank you very much!
man i totlaly agree. A guitar setup badly puts me off. I've even had luthiers set up a guitar that just didn't feel right. It can be a pretty subjective thing sometimes.
Thank you jesus of guitarist your a life saviour
Deadnote- it's a book a person whose name is written on it shall die in 30sec
I feel the same way 💯
Hey Ola! Great Video! What kind of Monitor do you use on the computer?
idk if it's related, but i recently just setting the high of my strings and make it lower by setting up from the bridge, and now my 3rd and 4th string on the 9, 10, 11, 12 fret sounds off and it won't make a sound when i try to bend it, you think it's related to the string height?
I can't bring down my action .. why is that
I've never got away with lowering the action and not having to reset the intonation...
How do I fix brand spanking new strings lying on the metal frets? 😞😭 I’m in a wheelchair and can’t go out every day
I am still waiting for you to find me!
it looks like its time to "Adjusting String Height on my guitars 2.0. Solar 2.7 tbrm". And this has nothing to do with the fact that I bought this a couple of days ago.
Totally.
And "since you are a good guy" don't forget about "12th fret height between top of fret to bottom of string" for 7th string please.
Okay! Im sitting here and fool around.. Ive played my guitar with insane height for years now, wich have made it hard to keep some chords in tune. This because when adjusting To where I feel its perfect, when playing the lower tones I get this small buzz one second after, and thought this was bad, but when I hear you play now, where I can hear your actual guitar, I can hear your strings slap the neck the same way a eastern father is parenting his son. If you play the wounded strings normally do YOU still hear them buzz for a second?
My brother gives me shit about the action on my guitars all the time because it’s not as low as it can possibly be. I keep mine around 2.5mm high(measured at 12th fret) because I think it sounds better that way.
Good luck Floyd Rose guys!
I like my strings at about 1.5mm at the 12 fret. Straight neck, no baseball bats either.
Chet Atkins played with a high action. It's a bit harder to play, but it sounds noticeably better. Just have to not be a wimp I guess
If you’re scared to touch the truss rod I’d recommend therapy.
Kevin White if you're scared go to church
@@JcastroCFH *truss
If you touch it too much, you'll go blind
That's what she said!
But what if I snap my neck :c
Couple of notes from my experience with a truss rod.
1) make small adjustments and tune the guitar. You also should let the guitar sit for a few hours after adjusting the truss rod. It takes time for the neck to fully adjust to the rod. Adding tension is also best (whether recreating back bow or relief) helps with truss rod movement.
2) A newer guitar or one that has been stored with care should have a truss rod that turns easily. If you have a truss rod that will not turn, be careful. It could be a rusty nut or it could be a bad neck. I posted a video of me cranking a rusty truss rod. Fortunately, i didn't break it.
3) if your frets are in good condition, you should be able to have a relatively flat neck with little to no string buzz. Aside from uneven frets and poor action, I would say the number 1 culprit of string buzz is poor playing.
4)) I have bought and played many used guitars. Number one issue I have seen is crappy set up. I'm with Ola, when I pick up a guitar and the strings are half an inch off the fretboard (talking to you music go round), that guitar goes right back on the rack
5) finally, clip your string tips after you put in new strings. You people that leave your strings unclipped after anstring change are inhumane.
@ognilouD driB but do you leave them just because or do you have a reason?
@eniatsuM evaD You must not care about how clean your sound is, they always wiggle and make noise... Also, I had a friend who sat down at his desk, reached down to turn his amp on, and jammed his eye on one of the uncut strings. I used to always leave mine uncut and keep one set of old strings (in case I broke a string, I could restring an old one easier in a pinch)...theni started doing studio work and a friend almost lost an eye. Don't be stubborn for no reason.
@eniatsuM evaD Just like no one gives a fuck about your personal preference. Or that one blind eye you got from it.
Also always tune your guitar to the target tuning after each adjustment of the trus rod.
How is fret buzz poor playing when I don't even need to play anything to hear fret buzz? If I fret a note it's doesn't sustain because it's so close to the frets that the string can't vibrate it obviously has nothing to do with poor playing.
I did an action adjustment on my Les Paul Classic recently. The tunomatic bridge made it pretty easy.
I think action makes a big impact on ability to play fast leads - particularly on the high frets. I lowered my action quite a bit. No noticeable adverse effects and now I can play a bit more effortlessly.
I'm new to Les Paul's, but I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Thank you for your advice!
I agree, just got my first Les Paul and WOW that bridge made it easy.....I'm used to shredder guitars and what a pain in the ass.
next quick tip on how to setup the height of pickups?
Fret the last fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pickup screw. Bass side: 4/32. Treble side 3/32.
John Dick in mm?
That's up to preference. I like high gain but a clear clean tone. So I set the bridge pick-up as close as it sounds clear when I pick hard. Then set the neck pick-up to match volume.
Thanks M. Dick!
TwohornedPuppet i take the same approach!
I have a tip that involves Thomann mic stands and Gaff Tape.
Ok, ok, that's going to be the last one, I promise, no more mic stand's jokes :)
"DELETE THIS" - Thomann
Pls explain?
Mark yes pls
Ola, if I may be so bold. I was once taught by a very experienced luthier that you should only set your intonation, string height and tuning if your guitar is in the playing position. It's kind of hard to believe, but when your guitar is lying flat, the effect of gravity on the neck, combined with string and truss rod tensions, is enough to very slightly alter the intonation and tuning, very slightly of course, but when you're aiming for perfection, it kinda makes sense. If you use a super accurate tuner, you will see this effect yourself. Secondly, when adjusting your truss rod, ideally you should do no more than 1/4 of a turn before leaving it for a day or two for the neck to re-settle, before checking it again for the final time and tweaking again if necessary. I love your channel, thanks for the awesome videos!
mezsh Totally true! I always setup and especially tune my guitars in playing position. If not, the tuning (and lots of other things) won't be the same. Thanks for putting this up for everyone. I was going to but I don't have the time because I already commented about how some people are probably going to break their necks due to improper explanation. And my phone's about to die. Have a good one!
I just removed the truss rod in my guitar
I've found that to be the case, especially on super low end crappy guitars
Mine has a floyd rose bridge and what you describe is completely true.
@@rfdc Yep! It had a waay bigger effect than I could've guessed when setting up a friend's Ibanez Edge (original) guitar. It could be +20 cents when flat, in tune when in playing position and -20 cents when upside down!
You shouldnt just raise each saddle until theres no dead notes or your saddle radius will not match the radius of the fretboard. If you have a dead note and your truss rod has adequate relief then you have to raise each saddle equally to keep the radius matching. And then intonate!
Its feels weird watching ola's old videos.
Ola seems to very serious about it lmao
I've never seen a guitar at Guitar Center with the low action I've seen the "pros " use .
Even the guitars that cost thousands have shitty action
What gives ?? If I'm paying over a grand for a guitar , that sucker better play like butter .
But they wanna sell you a new guitar and then charge you for a setup!! F that . Anyways I'm gonna shut up and go play!!
Mark Juszko every store I‘ve ever been to set the guitar I bought up in the tuning I wanted with the strings I wanted - for free. 😳
Here in Vancouver, BC, we have Long & Mcquade. They offer a free set up for up to a year after your purchase 🇨🇦
@@itcantrainallthetime9886 interesting. My local Long and McQuade wont do a set up at all, not even for money. They just refer customers to a local independent guitar tech
@@Telesko which one?
I believe if you setup your guitar while it's lying on its back (or on it's hand and body like in the video), the weight of the guitar itself will bend the guitar neck and not reflect how it's going to be when you get it to normal playing position. I always try to setup my guitar when I have it on my lap as if I was playing, it's a bit harder but it gives you the final result you are looking for.
Dude! You have a heavy guitar!
@@HarrellEngineDyno my guitar is bad about this. Of course, it's an mkh les paul custom lmao. Weighs about 10.5lbs lol
SETTING INTONATION,, YEP
i think it's the magnetism but i'm sure weight is a factor too and i wonder if having a whammy bar especially a floating trem would make a bigger difference
I like it as low as possible. I don't mind a tiny bit of buzz actually. The main down side of keeping the action so low is that you are constantly fiddling with things to find the sweet spot. Temperature, humidity etc all have an impact when you have the action super close. Doesn't take much to go from a tiny taste of buzz to total loss of half your fretboard.... takes practice just like anything else.
That's the beauty of it. I like high action and cannot deal with fret buzz. No dead notes and intonation is always the priority.
Ola, thank you so much, I became a follower of you because of your recording tips, the fact that you're sharing tips again makes me very happy, it would be great if you share more tips and advices! :D
If only everything was a straight as can be. Too straight can stop a low action from being playable. The neck needs relief.
What about intonation? Could you make a video on changing string gauges and the process involved?
You only want to fix intonation when changing string gauge on a floating trem systems
No, you have to do it on all guitars, I have a Les Paul and it was strung with 10s, I put 12s on and had to change the intonation.
Dr. D wait I mixed up string gauge and tuning down. Touche
Usually when you change string height or adjust the truss rod, the intonation has to be fixed, even on a fixed bridge. It's because both affect the string length.
@@Sturzfaktor2 How do you fix the intonation? Is it those little mini screws on the sadle? wu
My strings feel really high, idk that's just how it came so I'm gonna try change it
Thanks Ola, I was going to sell my old Ibanez Gio that I’ve had for almost six years and I never knew how to set up the action/string height. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot.
Ghost 幽霊 I also had problems with my gio. The high e string was always dead after the 14th fret so soloing sucked
Gibsoad Studios Well this was my first year playing and I was too scared to travel anywhere past the 6th fret lol.
I had an ibanez s series...i dont remember the exact model but anyways..i brought it to a tech and he set it up and i still had fret buzz on the higher frets. Turns out the neck had a warp in it. So that could always be a factor as well...sucks so bad when that happens lol. I hope that isnt the case for you though!
iGoober Yeah my Ibanez had 1st and 2nd fret buzzing
My Ibanez Gio always had fret buzz somewhere around 5-7 fret on D string. Only way to counteract this was adjusting to a very high action. Change the nut and relieved the neck some what, wasn't straight at all. Now I just use high action on all guitars.
I prefer medium action apparently. I thought I preferred low, but after meeting a guitarist who played with low action, he showed me mine was medium because his grazed the top of the frets.
Ola! Big fan here! I bought a used IB RGA8. Decent guitar. Intonation and action is off. Somebody messed with it pretty hard.
Is there a "starting spot" I can put the adjusters to before I set intonation? I've looked for paint Marks left from the bolt but it's been moved a few times. Thanks
A very straightforward and no nonsense explanation.
Thx, I appreciate it.
I get some fret buzz on my low e string when I downtune (which is always) and I've tried raising the action but it doesn't seem to make a difference. It's not a big deal and it's not affecting the sound too much, but it's quite annoying to me. I'm wondering if I put on thicker strings if the buzz would be worse, better, or the same. Thanks
I realised mine was at 4mm. I should probably fix that
Now floyd rose setup on a G.2, lets go Ola the setuperer!!!
How about set up on a Kramer trem hahaha
I just fucking LAUGH at people who are so afraid of touching the truss rods of their guitars. Had waay too many guitars over the years and I have never fucked up any guitar. Luthier set up is always Rip Off because they will never know your action preferences
Ken T i know people scared to even think to set up their guitar or bass by themselves lol. It's the only way to find the right preferences, you also understand more the instrument, save time and guitar tech money. It doesn't take long once you know what to do.
When I bought my Charvel it was set up pretty shit. Sent to a tech to set it up properly and now I love it. So the lesson from that is never disregard a guitar until it's setup properly.
the headstock is also an emergency weapon in case someone tries to jump you on stage
🤣🤣🤣🤣
The horizontal wood holding the nut of my acoustic guitar's truss rod has a crack. How will this affect my guitar? Is it fixable? Btw, the nut of my guitar's truss rod is inside the soundhole.
my action is like 3mm at 12th fret, but if i lower the saddle down, I start getting fret buzz above the 12th fret... What can I do to solve this?
Low action great. I keep floyd rose level with body. Not too low because it can cause fret buzz. I like a straight neck with low action. Why work harder to play? Play smart not hard people. Ola knows. Never had to adjust truss. Intonation is another good topic. I have never bought a new guitar with perfect intonation. Always have to adjust. High e and g strings are the basatrds.
Can anyone tell me one reason to have high action (talking about METAL of course)?!
It's about personal taste, someone would prefer to feel the string tension working against your hand's pression, which gives more like a feeling that the string "is there".
Personally, when the action is too low, I feel like I'm playing a keyboard, doesn't push me to play harder.
For many others, the low action pushes them to play faster.
It's not a metal thing, though, there are many fusion guitarists with very easy to play guitars, and blues guitarists that look like chopping wood at every pick :)
ChristianIce Yes, I got it...I just had to play my first guitar which was a classical guitar with huge high action...chords were nightmares, but honestly it made my hand stronger but it was not fun at all to practice.
AMB AHMED
A little higher action can add more definition, clarity, and string response on the higher frets. Think tapping and sweeps. It can also help with note accuracy and coordination since you have to push down harder on the strings. Think of typing on a modern slim style keyboard opposed to typing on an old school typewriter.
However, the higher the action, the farther the string has to travel to touch the fret and produce the note. Too high of an action and you’re just working unnecessarily hard to produce the note. Too low of an action and you get almost zero response and fret buzz is anticipated but since you don’t have to work as hard to produce the note, it can help increase speed.
Finding a nice common ground between the two is ideal.
Or, if you wanted to use a slide for any reason, a higher action would help a lot.
Maybe it's easier to slide guitar? Doesn't sound metal, but you can be creative and slide metal, which is pretty rare
I can make the sound cut through a bit more and wider bends are easier (for soloing and stuff). I suppose if you're doing a lot of natural harmonics, it might make that a bit easier as well. I generally try to set my action as low as I can before it has dead frets or chokes out bends, usually get a happy medium from doing that.
He said:
This is how I like it… Simple to me… Thank you for video. I Love the buzz do the same it gives me dirt i Love 🤟🧘♀️🖖
Wtf is wrong with the comments section?
😂
No such thing as high action. Low action or GTFO. this dude I know plays with his strings like a quarter inch above the fretboard and his guitars are impossible to play, I like mine as low as you can get without having fret buzz. Allows me to expend less energy fretting and more energy concentrating on what I'm playing
So I've tried to straighten out my neck and I've turned the Allen key to the point that it's completely stiff. I'm not happy with the result but I don't want to force it out of fear of totalling my guitar... Help?
This dude told me he could help me get rid of my fret buzz. I told him I was all set because I didn't really truss him.
Yep.
Buyed Solar. Change unacceptable high string action and than get fret buzz AF from twelve fret. Than I take it back to the shop. Unsatisfied with the guitar a lot but it was probably possible to repair by luthier by changing fret high.
What about humbuckers height? How do you setup their height? Tx
Hi, my electric guitars first fret gives bad sounds, the strings touch to the 2nd fret when i press the strings on first fret. What should i do?
I just setup my 7 string with your help, thanks Ola!
ola i have always thought you are a killer player and im a huge fan though im a bass player a professional bassist was signed on roadrunner in the 89s if you ever need a bassist hit me up!!!!
If I have a Jackson js32 Kelly the b string is the only one that sitting aloha how would I hire just one specific string on a floating bridge
Very important: if you raise or lower the saddles you also need to intonate them again.
In other words: correcting the distance between the nut and the saddle. You can do this by checking whether the note on the 12th fret is perfectly in tune and the exact same note as the open string (not flat or sharp for instance), followed by moving the saddle forward or backward if it needs to be corrected; this is usually done with a small hex key or Phillips-head screwdriver. Forward (towards the nut) is higher, backward (towards the bridge) is lower. Ofcourse each time you've changed a saddle (higher, lower, forward, backward) you need to retune your open string first before checking.
Best advice here.
i just buy new guitar 24 fret factory setup string to high when low action high e buzzing at first fret . do ineed to adjust trus rod ?
Also, nut slots need to be proper width and depth according to string gauge. If you change string gauges, the slots could pinch the strings if too narrow. If too wide, the strings could flop around in the nut slot and cause string buzz. Special files are used to adjust nuts. If you fuck up, the whole nut must be replaced and filed again. That’s why I measure the shit out of my guitar setups, unlike Ola. Lastly, nut sauce (lube) can temporarily fix buzzing until saddle height and nut slots are adjusted.
This video is still useful and still viable... the Ola... bought a matt red G series.. Amazing
I found a Dimebag guitar at a garage sale for $50. Truss rod is broken and the string height is so fucked the first fret buzzes like a beehive. Sad days
Just got a Ibanez RG470DX an my 1st fret & 2nd basically dead other than that good.
I'm 48, just started playing guitar, and don't have a hope in hell of getting 1/100th as good as Ola, but I still like watching this cagey bastard do his thing!
All the best sir.
3:37 oh yeah that's exactly why i'm here. lots of dead notes on my guitar. and the seller said it came adjusted from the store. huge lie.
i'm afraid to touch the thing and screw up even more though.
The tress rod is very simple to adjust, just make sure you do everything in small adjustments. I start off like with a completely straight neck. Once the neck is dead straight I will give it a 1/4 turn of relief tops. This give' just enough room for the strings to do there thing and not buzz. Some acoustic buzz from the string's is completely normal for low action, but you will not hear it through the amp if set up correctly. Also keeping your neck clean, dust free and conditioned will ensure the fret's don't pop up and create dead spots up and down the neck.
Measurements at the first fret for most guitars like a Gibson go like this:
On the Bass E string: 2/64" (.030")
on the A string : 2/64"
on the D string : 1- 1/128" (.022")
on the G string : 1-1/128"
on the B string : 1-64" (.015")
On the treble E string : 1/64"
SuperJiggawhat
Damm that's low. The Gibson's I've seen have had: bass-4/64
treble-3/64
Hi John Dick,
The measurement's i posted are when measuring at the first fret. At the 12 fret you want (Gibson Pecs) 5/64 bass and 3/64 treble. I like my bass string at 4/64 for a quicker attack.
Vigier Shawn Lane model...factory action is 0.7mm on high E and 1.0mm on low E
Hey olla,they let you use tools????what the hell..don't get blister!!.....later,,,I have shitty taste.😐
I watched a few hours of this stuff. Copied what they did, step by step And all i did was screw up a nice guitar
My 6th string keeps buzzing but when I tune it higher it stops ._. But then it’s not a deep tone