Guitar setup question...

[Anonymous]

I usually like to have a slight relief in the neck.. Bowed inwards, but I mean slight.
If you look down the neck from the bridge looking towards the nut, the high E string shows the slight relief, but the low E string side is straight...

Is this why I feel it "fretting out" when I bend on the higher strings?
Very annoying. I have adjusted the bridge height but I feel the issue is in the neck setup.

Do I need to turn the truss rod accordingly to adjust ??

Any help is appreciated !!

 

[glip22]

Do you have a 24" rule and feeler gauges? If not, fret High E at first fret with left hand and where the neck meets the body approximately with right hand and then stretch your right hand to the seventh.I usually fret body side with my thumb and stretch my pinky to the seventh. Push down at the seventh while fretting with both hands at first fret and where the neck meets the body and check relief. Do the same for the low E. Once you do it allot you can tell approx. relief by eye but you should use the feelers if you have them. If there is no clearance at the high E on the seventh fret and there is at the low E you have a serious issue.

 

[Anonymous]

Like the neck being twisted ? Both have a slight clearance.

 

[glip22]

Like the neck being twisted ? Both have a slight clearance.

Correct. Then you are fine. Every guitar can be different with the sweet spots. Takes a little tweaking to find them. A few guitars I worked on recently had a couple of buzzes and fret out in very particular areas. That is usually the case. At least in my experience if the fret work is good. When this occurs the guitar does not need a fret level unless there are too many areas that need help. Why take off more than necessary.
You can look at the area fretting out or buzzing by fretting the note on that spot and then press down on the fret in front of it. You can tell by your eye and by comparing it to other frets on that string if there is enough clearance on those frets. If there is it can be something going on with the bridge or nut. The last one I did had a buzz on the d string at the fifth fret. I found fret 6 to be just a hair high but only on the d string. I exposed the fret and used a flat file to knock the fret down (only on that spot) lightly a very small amount.(maybe 3-4 file strokes)
Then with a Stew Mac crowning tool(Cheap), I recrowned the fret. Sand with 600,800, and I like the fret paper set Stew Mac sells. Go through the papers and the fret will be mirror shine and smooth. The buzz was gone and the action was nice and low. Same thing I had on another guitar fretting out on the B string 15th or so fret. This one IO had to file four frets in front of it to get it out. I took off just a hair too much so the one in front of it was now high. Less is best.You usually only need a very small amount. Bottom line is figure out your issue first.

 

[Anonymous]

Lots of good info here. In trying to take it all in. My depth of it has been only in truss rod adjustment and bridge height.

The fretting out comes on the B & E strings mostly. I adjusted the truss rod this morning along with the bridge height and it seems alittle better but not as good as I'd like it. I'll see how it plays throughout the day.

Thanks !

 

[glip22]

Lots of good info here. In trying to take it all in. My depth of it has been only in truss rod adjustment and bridge height.

The fretting out comes on the B & E strings mostly. I adjusted the truss rod this morning along with the bridge height and it seems alittle better but not as good as I'd like it. I'll see how it plays throughout the day.

Thanks !

Where on the neck are they fretting out? Just for the hell of it, check your nut string clearance. Guitar in players position, fret each string at the third fret and check the clearance at the first. There should only be a small amount of clearance, less on the high strings.

 

[RockyStar]

In addition, often times the nut is forgotten about and many issues are nut related. It is important to make your adjustments and measurements, intonation, etc in the playing position. This as well will solve a lot of problems and prevent having to redo things.

 

[cardinal]

What's the fretboard's radius? If it's a rounder radius (smaller number), it's very hard to get low action without having bends fret out on the high frets. It's just the physics of it.

The but won't make a bit of difference for bends fretting out on the high frets. Most likely it's a round radius or frets that aren't quite level. Or you like realy really low action.

 

[Anonymous]

The fretting out is pretty much all throughout the neck on the B and E strings.

It's a PRS SE 245, with a 10' radius.
I adjusted the truss rod this morning to add relief. Looks as if it took but my action now seems a bit high.
I didn't add that much relief, just a turn and half more.
I'm just worried that if I adjust the bridge lower, I'll get both more buzz and fretting out.
Annoying.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't like the action to low, but not high.
When adjusting the bridge height, is it supposed to be even across or higher on top than bottom?

Top being the low E

 

[RockyStar]

By a turn and a half to do you mean 360 degrees plus another 180 degrees? If so, that is a lot. The bridge is higher on the heavy string side than the lighter string side to compensate for string thickness.

Do you know how to properly be doing this stuff? If not, and it is ok if you don't know, take it to a proper tech. Messing with all this stuff can cause you troubles....overwound truss rods, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

I should've been more clear. A quarter turn to left and then another half turn. I do t have a lot of experience with it other than reading up on it.

 

[thisguy]

I don't like the action to low, but not high.
When adjusting the bridge height, is it supposed to be even across or higher on top than bottom?

Top being the low E

Often, the low strings are a little higher (maybe 1/64) because they have a wider oscillation.

 

[thisguy]

PRS has some basic setup info on their website that could probably get you close.

https://www.prsguitars.com/csc/setup.html

 

[RockyStar]

I would advise getting everything back to neutral. Always keep the guitar in tune after every adjustment and make your adjustments in playing position, not laying with neck tension on a bench. Raise the bridge (ALWAYS minus tuned to pitch string tension on it) and get the strings to where they feel the same height low to high. Forget about the action you want, just get them even so to speak. Once this happens you can begin lowering the bridge in balanced, incremental steps until you get it to where you like it. Have just enough tension on the truss rod that it feels engaged and tune up and see where you are at. I'll help you further if necessary however I can, just ask and let me know where you are at. I've been doing this a long time.

 

[Anonymous]

Thsnks for that!
I'm going to take a few pics and post me here so I can show you guys. Give me alittle bumit.

 

[snowdog]

YouTube. There are many how to videos for everything guitar related.

 

[Anonymous]

Took some pics.

https://s376.photobucket.com/user/rrguit ... t=3&page=1

 

[BAALINCINERATOR]

heres what you do... you go to a guitar shop. a guitar center. talk to the guy that sets up guitars. pick your string gagues wisely according to how you like it to feel and tuning and how you play. pay for a setup and theyl put on your strings. tell him how you like it. me i like it as low as it can go without it buzzing. you say you like it a little higher... so tell the dude that. its hard to really say you like a little bow in the neck... when a guitar is properly set up its always going to have just a tiny bit of bow forward its never perfectly straight. but it can be close. if its bowed too far back... thats when your going to be freting out. but the truss rod is not an adjust to comfort kind of thing its an.... adjust it to your tuning and string gague thing. if your truss rod is set up correctly and your intoation is set up properly and your frets arent fucked up then you can se your bridge up as high as you want it. to me a good guitar set up is as low as it can go without a buzz. and if its done right thats some pretty fast action. so have your guitar set up correctly and then honestly if you never change tunings and string gague you wont need your guitar set up again for a long time unless something messes up. and if its set up right... if you want to change tunings or string gague... try it out first. then go from there if you want to do it yourself. but otherwise the only thing your going to need checked every now and then is your intonation.

dont sand down your frets why would you..... no. get a real PRS and if your frets are fucked up you can probably contact PRS like RADARADA 3000 GUITAR AMERICAN MONEY BACK and theyl be like rada rada fretboard issue buzz fix repair cry

http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/

 

[RockyStar]

Intonation is a non issue on the bridge he has. Saw your pics. Your bridge is high and I see your neck is bowed. tighten your truss rod just enough to where it feels like it is snug. Do this by turning it upward from thin string side to fat string side while the guitar is in playing position. Screw down your bridge bolts a full circle on top (low E side) and a circle and a half on the high E side. Tune your guitar. See where your action is. At that point hold down the low E string on the first fret and with your other hand hold down the low E string also at the 22 fret. Do you see a dip in the neck? If so it will be between those points you are holding down (obviously)....should be around the 5th to 9th fret ballpark. if you indeed see a dip, lightly tighten your truss rod (low e string up towards high e string) and retune your guitar in playing position. Have a look and see what you see. Once the bow is gone in the neck feel the string action and see how you like it. If it needs lowering still, do so with quarter screw turns on the bridge while your strings are loose and then retune to check. Make sure the feel of the low e string is similar height wise to the high e string or has a feeling you are comfortable with height wise. Find it and keep tuning on each tweak and you will get there.


Good luck.