Chubtone Or Other Charvel Experts - So Cal Set Up Questions

[thisguy]

I recently picked up a used So Cal which is almost flawless in appearance but needs the set up tweaked. I sent an email to Charvel yesterday but they haven't responded and probably won't over the weekend and I know there will be some people here who can help. I do have the pamphlet that came with the guitar which gives a little info but not much.

1. What should the distance be between the body and the Floyd? Mine seems high and had backwards angle (opposite of forward angle like Strat tremolos often have) which I leveled out.

2. Are the neck pockets ever shimmed from the factory? The neck has took much relief and when I removed the neck to adjust it I saw a tan colored shim that looks almost like a band aid material.

3. Does anyone know what the pick up height is set at?

I'm expecting to get the neck almost flat with just a tiny bit of relief at the most.

I guess I'm wondering what the factory settings are and I'll tweak it from there.

 

[thisguy]

Well, I've gotta head out for a while. That's what been so annoying about this. The guitar was delivered yesterday about 30 minutes before I had to leave and I have been out most of today. I'll be able to work on it in the morning though so hopefully I can get some of the questions answered by then.

Thanks guys!

 

[Chubtone]

I recently picked up a used So Cal which is almost flawless in appearance but needs the set up tweaked. I sent an email to Charvel yesterday but they haven't responded and probably won't over the weekend and I know there will be some people here who can help. I do have the pamphlet that came with the guitar which gives a little info but not much.

1. What should the distance be between the body and the Floyd? Mine seems high and had backwards angle (opposite of forward angle like Strat tremolos often have) which I leveled out.

2. Are the neck pockets ever shimmed from the factory? The neck has took much relief and when I removed the neck to adjust it I saw a tan colored shim that looks almost like a band aid material.

3. Does anyone know what the pick up height is set at?

I'm expecting to get the neck almost flat with just a tiny bit of relief at the most.

I guess I'm wondering what the factory settings are and I'll tweak it from there.

- The distance between the body and Floyd is going to be a tiny bit different for each guitar. They may have a stock measurement that they rough them in to at the factory but when it gets set up, I'm sure that changes. I always adjust it where it needs to be in relation to the guitar.

- The neck pockets are sometimes very slightly shimmed from the factory.

- The pickup height is not really adjustable with the direct mount pickups. And it's relation to the string is only going to change based on where the bridge height is set.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't pay any attention to what the factory settings are. I treat each guitar to a set=up based on how it feels in my hands.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I say set it up to what type of action you like. I never kept any guitar as is once I got it. If you have the Floyd parallel to the body set the height accordingly. If you like super low action lower it, if you can't seem to get it low enough then put a different shim in the neck pocket. Shims are common on Floyded bolt-ons. Pickup height is a preference too. I don't like direct mount pickups as they are trickier to set to your liking which is why all of my guitars have rings. I start the height as high as it can go without touching the string when you fret at the 22nd fret then work my way down. I listen through the amp and back it down until I hear what I like. I like the neck pickup a lot lower than the bridge pickup.

Bottom line is there is no "standard" to any of this, its a personal preference. Some guys like super low action and loose spring tension. I like higher action as it improves the tone and a stiff spring tension. Pickup height depends on the guitar, the body wood and type of pickup.

 

[mniel8195]

this is how i do it. one you want the neck set as straight as possible. not to straight so you hear buzzing all over the neck. a little is okay when you hit an open string really hard. secondly you can lower or raise the floyd if you want. on my usa charvel i think its just fine where it is. make sure the bridge is parralel to the body when in tune. the bidgest issue with my usa charvel h/s/s is that it was the last model they made before making them over seas. so they had adopted the direct mount pickups at that point. i havent messed witht the pickup height yet but when i do i plan on just putting a nice 1/2 inch piece of black foam under the pickups and use longer screws so i can adjust it withough having to route out for pickup rings. to adjust the neck just string it up and leave it loose so you can take the neck off. on my charvel i tighten it all the way just before it gets hard to turn so its bowed upward. then by the time i get the string back on "11 guage" for d standard tuning it gets just about perfectly straight with very little to no buzzing. then you have to go into intonation. the floyd is easier to intonate if you have a little lubricant on it so you can slide the saddles back and forth. By far the hardest guitar to setup up but once you have it the maple neck is super solid and the setup should be great. to avoide having to mess with the neck alot, change the strings before they get really tight, like you have made your way around the post to many times and the string is really tight and dead. try to maintain healthy string life and tension. once you do it perfectly it is really easy.

 

[mniel8195]

with my guitar i could never see myself needing to put a different shim in. I couldnt imagine needing to lower the strings anymore hell i think it would be impossible without putting a tone of back bow in the neck. i would rather have the neck perfect with the strings a few mm higher. nothing bothers me more than a bowed neck. i could live with the strings being a little higher. i dont know if the jap versions of these guitars are not set up well but my usa charvel is flawless. the only thing i have adjust were i blocked the floyd so i can only dive down, straightened the neck, and maybe i will mess around with the pickups, ill probably ditch the jb for a hoyldiver soon enough. oya the one thing that sucked on my charvel trans kandy gold was the fact that you got h/s/s pickups but only a 3 way switch! so i put in a push pull pot for the volume and did some great pickup configurations so now i get 6 positions!

 

[thisguy]

Thanks for all the responses. I got it out a couple of hours ago and it still needed some relief taken out so I tweaked it again and I'll start on setting in up in just a little bit.

 

[thisguy]

I recently picked up a used So Cal which is almost flawless in appearance but needs the set up tweaked. I sent an email to Charvel yesterday but they haven't responded and probably won't over the weekend and I know there will be some people here who can help. I do have the pamphlet that came with the guitar which gives a little info but not much.

1. What should the distance be between the body and the Floyd? Mine seems high and had backwards angle (opposite of forward angle like Strat tremolos often have) which I leveled out.

2. Are the neck pockets ever shimmed from the factory? The neck has took much relief and when I removed the neck to adjust it I saw a tan colored shim that looks almost like a band aid material.

3. Does anyone know what the pick up height is set at?

I'm expecting to get the neck almost flat with just a tiny bit of relief at the most.

I guess I'm wondering what the factory settings are and I'll tweak it from there.

- The distance between the body and Floyd is going to be a tiny bit different for each guitar. They may have a stock measurement that they rough them in to at the factory but when it gets set up, I'm sure that changes. I always adjust it where it needs to be in relation to the guitar.

- The neck pockets are sometimes very slightly shimmed from the factory.

- The pickup height is not really adjustable with the direct mount pickups. And it's relation to the string is only going to change based on where the bridge height is set.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't pay any attention to what the factory settings are. I treat each guitar to a set=up based on how it feels in my hands.

Thanks. I did lower the Floyd a smidgeon and the action should be pretty close once the neck is straight enough. This is a So Cal so the pick ups should be adjustable. I haven't tried to adjust them but they look like a standard pick guard attachment.

 

[thisguy]

with my guitar i could never see myself needing to put a different shim in. I couldnt imagine needing to lower the strings anymore hell i think it would be impossible without putting a tone of back bow in the neck. i would rather have the neck perfect with the strings a few mm higher. nothing bothers me more than a bowed neck. i could live with the strings being a little higher. i dont know if the jap versions of these guitars are not set up well but my usa charvel is flawless. the only thing i have adjust were i blocked the floyd so i can only dive down, straightened the neck, and maybe i will mess around with the pickups, ill probably ditch the jb for a hoyldiver soon enough. oya the one thing that sucked on my charvel trans kandy gold was the fact that you got h/s/s pickups but only a 3 way switch! so i put in a push pull pot for the volume and did some great pickup configurations so now i get 6 positions!

Too much relief drives me crazy as well. The middle of the neck will feel a little spongy and it's annoying.

 

[Shask]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I've just resided to accepting the action where I have it after a small shim. It is def better but ideally I would love for it to be a lower but i get a bit of buzzing if i drop it. At the end of the day, it will just have to do.. I'm not even really sure I am a fan of the necks on these things. They are smaller top to bottom so i guess this is considered width. I tried a wolfgang special this morning and the neck felt like a little toy. I don't have big hands either.. I guess i just have gravitated towards a certain type of neck. The N4 spec is it!

 

[LP Freak]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

 

[racerevlon]

Good thread--I have the same question... new So Cal and the strings seem awfully high off the fret board. Is lowering the action as easy as just lowering the Floyd/bridge?

Thanks,

 

[LP Freak]

Yep, that's it.

 

[thisguy]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

Right. I wasn't sure how responsive the truss rod would be so I've been too conservative I guess. It still needs to straighten out a little more. As it is, the the guitar plays and sounds great.

I haven't measured where the action is after the truss rod adjustment but I plan to shoot for 4/64ths at the highest. I'll probably try 3/64ths just to see how it is.

 

[LP Freak]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

Right. I wasn't sure how responsive the truss rod would be so I've been too conservative I guess. It still needs to straighten out a little more. As it is, the the guitar plays and sounds great.

I haven't measured where the action is after the truss rod adjustment but I plan to shoot for 4/64ths at the highest. I'll probably try 3/64ths just to see how it is.

That measurment should be from the top of the fret to the bottom of both E strings and taken at the 15th fret while fretting the 1st.

 

[Shask]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

Right. I wasn't sure how responsive the truss rod would be so I've been too conservative I guess. It still needs to straighten out a little more. As it is, the the guitar plays and sounds great.

I haven't measured where the action is after the truss rod adjustment but I plan to shoot for 4/64ths at the highest. I'll probably try 3/64ths just to see how it is.

That measurment should be from the top of the fret to the bottom of both E strings and taken at the 15th fret while fretting the 1st.

Hmmm. Mine is about 7/64-8/64 using this method (or 3/32 depending on the side of the ruler). I guess I should crank down the Floyd...

 

[thisguy]

I typically measure it at the 12th fret.

 

[thisguy]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

Right. I wasn't sure how responsive the truss rod would be so I've been too conservative I guess. It still needs to straighten out a little more. As it is, the the guitar plays and sounds great.

I haven't measured where the action is after the truss rod adjustment but I plan to shoot for 4/64ths at the highest. I'll probably try 3/64ths just to see how it is.

That measurment should be from the top of the fret to the bottom of both E strings and taken at the 15th fret while fretting the 1st.

Hmmm. Mine is about 7/64-8/64 using this method (or 3/32 depending on the side of the ruler). I guess I should crank down the Floyd...

As people said earlier, make sure the neck doesn't have too much relief first.

 

[Shask]

I am curious as well. Mine seems pretty good except the strings are a little high off the fretboard. Of course, I keep all my strings a little higher because it seems to make the tone better, but I would kind of like to keep the Charvel lower since it is more of a shredding type guitar.

What are good guidelines for action? 11/16" off the 12th fret, or whatever the measurements might be....for example...

It's more like 1/16th.

Right. I wasn't sure how responsive the truss rod would be so I've been too conservative I guess. It still needs to straighten out a little more. As it is, the the guitar plays and sounds great.

I haven't measured where the action is after the truss rod adjustment but I plan to shoot for 4/64ths at the highest. I'll probably try 3/64ths just to see how it is.

That measurment should be from the top of the fret to the bottom of both E strings and taken at the 15th fret while fretting the 1st.

Hmmm. Mine is about 7/64-8/64 using this method (or 3/32 depending on the side of the ruler). I guess I should crank down the Floyd...

As people said earlier, make sure the neck doesn't have too much relief first.

I know you fret the 1st and 15th fret and measure around the 7-9th fret. What is a good measurement here? All my guitars seem to run around 2/32" or something when I do this.