Hey guys, i’ve got a weird thing that I might have fucked up a bit, but any tips are welcome.
I’ve got an old cheap guitar which I though I’d improve a bit with some other pickups I had. Installed the pickups, also got some new strings. So weirdly enough, for some reason the new strings touched the first few frets. I could adjust this at the bridge but it really needed to be lifted a lot, which screws up the action in my opinion. Didn’t screw with any other part of the guitar besides pickup, the only reason I could imagine was that the neck was warped from sitting around without strings for a bit (but it wasn’t even that long I believe? But maybe cheap guitar = cheap materials?).
The neck doesn’t seem warped to the eye, but have to admit that I’m starting to doubt the straightness of my references for straightness. It feels as if the neck is ever so slightly crooked on the body (like leaning forward a bit), but again I can’t imagine this suddenly happening when changing the pickups?
I know some might say “just take it to the shop” but I like DIYing and I really want to learn more about this stuff, and especially what the hell is going on. Anyone got any thoughts on this?
(Could post some pictures but on pictures nothing really stands out).
To me, this is a great opportunity to learn how to setup guitars. I did it a few years ago, after playing guitar for over 20 years, and it changed my life. Just need a few tools that can be bought cheap and, no matter how inexpensive the guitar is, it will play much much better.
Yeah that’s why I want to just DIY on my guitars a bit, seems like a fun thing to learn.
So far I got away with typical tools, like normal screwdrivers, hex wrenches, etc. Do you mean some more specific tools are necessary?
Notched straightedge, fret rocker tool, action gauge, fret leveling file, fret crowning file… There are plenty of tutorials over there. Adjust the truss rod, level the frets and crown them. Then you can adjust the action as low as you like, without any buzz. These are the basics. Twisted necks are at a different level of complexity, but just having a good action without any buzz is a great achievement.
Ah damn, thanks for the tips! Looking over those tools a bit, there a shitload of tools and measuring devices which I could have used before. Very helpful, thanks!
+1 for the notched straight edge.
I started dabbling with set ups and bought the Music Nomad feeler gauges. These indicated the correct truss-rod tension, but I was still getting problems. With the straight edge, I could take the relief down (almost a flat neck) and the problems are gone and it’s easier to play.
My current thinking is ignore truss adjustment based on string height. Just get the neck as flat as I can without creating fret buzz.
Some people don’t even change their own strings