Neck relief

  • Thread starter Thread starter ElectricVoodoo
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ElectricVoodoo

ElectricVoodoo

Well-known member
So, do you guys prefer your necks to have some, hardly, or no bow at all in your neck?
I ask because I am trying to figure out the best way to have the least possible fretting out which seems sometimes unavoidable.

Now, I do not like the action to be high because I find it uncomfortable. I also lock down the tremolos, vintage fenders.

Any suggestions? Neck seems to be straight, not warped.
 
ElectricVoodoo":3kjel7xs said:
So, do you guys prefer your necks to have some, hardly, or no bow at all in your neck?
I ask because I am trying to figure out the best way to have the least possible fretting out which seems sometimes unavoidable.

Now, I do not like the action to be high because I find it uncomfortable. I also lock down the tremolos, vintage fenders.

Any suggestions? Neck seems to be straight, not warped.
Click to expand...

Was actually playing with my setup today on my Ibanez. The sweet spot for me has a little bit of bow. Just feels great but the problem is I get a good amount of buzz on the higher up frets.

I've raised my bridge more than enough and still a little buzz. Starting to think one of my frets is much lower than the others. Looks that way but I'm not too knowledgable in that area.

My guitar is from 1993 and maybe it's time for a refret or crown/polish idk but I do like a little bow, not much but it's really hard to tell for me. I just find the sweet spot by feel and not with my eyes.
 
I prefer mine really straight. Seems to give me lower action
 
A compound radius seems to help keep the neck very straight with low action without any buzz.

A rounder radius just needs higher action and more relief to avoid buzzing during bends, IME. If you like that super low action with no buzzing during big bends, I think you just gotta have a fairly flat radius. Compound radius is even better because it flattens those higher frets more relative to the frets in the middle of the neck.

I tend to prefer the neck as straight as I can get away with. Keeps the action more consistent up and down the neck.
 
I like .005" at the 7th fret while holding the first and last feet down. I measure at the g string but the d string has to clear. Set the string height at 4/64 at the last fret on every string. That's how suhr and tom anderson set them up.
 
Straight, but usually only after a PLEK since I hate fret buzz.
 
I'm pretty heavy picker, so I like a bit of relief. 2/64" at the 7th fret (holding down 1st and 15th) and 4-5/64" at the 12th unfretted.

Also, I use .012 to .056 in C standard, so that has some affect on the setup. It's been a while since I did a setup in E standard for myself.
 
Just to be that guy....

Bow = opposite of relief.

You definitely do not want any bow or you will have issues with the first few frets.

I like mine and most of my clients like their necks as straight as possible. It's about feel though. If you like the feel of having some relief... have at it. However, a straight neck will give you more consistent string height and therefor intonation. That said, the differences in string height and intonation with a slight bow is negligible.
 
Super straight with medium action. My ham fisted guitar technique© :D won't allow a super low action.
 
Straight to no more than .010 if the guitar needs it.
 
I tweaked the saddle height to get rid of the fretting out that occurred on the higher frets, but now the fretting out is a slightly evident on the lower frets, maybe one or some of the frets are not level ?

I set the neck straight and have the tremolo locked down.
 
ElectricVoodoo":2bftdbh9 said:
I tweaked the saddle height to get rid of the fretting out that occurred on the higher frets, but now the fretting out is a slightly evident on the lower frets, maybe one or some of the frets are not level ?

I set the neck straight and have the tremolo locked down.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the tiniest bit of relief can help in that situation. I mean, just barely. That said, a fret level should be done with a dead straight neck, so it should be fine with a dead straight neck. That leads me to believe you may have a very slight high fret(s) somewhere.
 
atrox":1al331rc said:
ElectricVoodoo":1al331rc said:
I tweaked the saddle height to get rid of the fretting out that occurred on the higher frets, but now the fretting out is a slightly evident on the lower frets, maybe one or some of the frets are not level ?

I set the neck straight and have the tremolo locked down.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the tiniest bit of relief can help in that situation. I mean, just barely. That said, a fret level should be done with a dead straight neck, so it should be fine with a dead straight neck. That leads me to believe you may have a very slight high fret(s) somewhere.
Click to expand...

Maybe I will give a slight relief to it to see what happens, but yes, I agree with you at this point, it may be possible that there are (fret)s somewhere that are off.

I will get a level first before I go the relief route.
 
The Traveller":30icppxo said:
Super straight with medium action. My ham fisted guitar technique© :D won't allow a super low action.
Click to expand...

Thanks for making it easy to just say +1!!
 
I would check the nut slot height too, plenty of tutorials online. Unless it's up to the 6/7th fret then yes it could still be frets. I would try .008/011 relief first... You really won't notice that little relief.
 
on my ultra thin neck guitars(USA charvel, old 80'sIbanez RG 550,570,jackson kelly)
i like very little relief(about .009) at the 7th fret when fretting both 1st and last fret
and a extremely low action.
On my Gold top les paul with a late 50's profile neck i like that one with a bit more relief and not as low of a action.
 
Hey_bert_whtcha_doin_bert":uae5lazx said:
I would check the nut slot height too, plenty of tutorials online. Unless it's up to the 6/7th fret then yes it could still be frets. I would try .008/011 relief first... You really won't notice that little relief.
Click to expand...
I found nut height to be a big factor in how the guitar feels.
Even with a super low action if the nut is slotted too high it will feel off to me.
I set mine so i can fit a business card under the first fret and it slides back and forth without much resistance while fretting the 3rd fret :thumbsup:
 
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