Stop Doing These 5 Guitar Setup Myths
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Originally posted by UCUMBIYslSt3wQgJwWrDP5dQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9-lNCHOXk
So if cutting the strings wrecks the neck because of the sudden tension change – How do people account for full on aggressive whammy bar Floyd Rose type dive bombs and pull-ups?
They are doing it up-down-in-out , all over the place and apparently that is all fine.
So Correct on that one = MYTH BUSTED.
I set my actions as low as I can. I have floating trems too. I have medical issues affecting my fretting hand so lower action makes me able to play to fret. So I set my action as low as I can with my floating trems or I can't play as easily
With respect to strings and setups, I usually use a basic set of 9's on my Strat and Tele with relatively low action, and usually go with the ernie ball hyrids (.046-.009) on a Les Paul and action a little higher. That said, on a guitar that I use primarily for rhythm, I'll use a set of 10's and sometimes 11's with low action as I'll rarely bend a string on these (e.g., Guild Starfire). As you said, it depends on what I'm playing and my 2 LP's are set up differently.
I prefer to unwind my strings because it’s easier to roll up and collect to send them to D’Addario for points. Also, even with good cutters, is it not rough on the cutters? And kind of the hand too? Also don’t want the strings to flop around like that and scratch it up. Also, I alway do what you did and forget to hold the bridge. Still a solid video though. Beautiful guitar.
Why cut strings? I'm not saying it is bad, but what is the benefit?
I think string height should be as low as possible without getting buzz. That depends on playing style and fret levelling quality. Reason: high action messes with intonation.
Yes, and few understand that neck relief via truss rod adjustment is a really bad idea. As you said, it not only warps string height, yes warps, it is not even… it also does change the tone scale. I advocate no relief, and the only way that is doable is when the frets are perfectly level vs some angled coplanar nonsense, and that level must also mean that the fret radius perfectly agrees with the fretboard radius, otherwise the fret cannot be level across its length. Alas, sanding beams and eyeball guess work with freehand files will never achieve this, and so it is this huge myth about "Oh … neck relief is absolutely essential". What really is going on is that the luthiers and techs cannot achieve true level, they must hide the flaws of wonky frets by compensating with neck relief, and to legitimatize this BS, they make the claim that neck relief is essential and if you disagree they venomously berate you. They will not listen. Which means they are poor and slow learners, and often, non-learners… the perfect recipe for living in the stone ages.
If ever you play a guitar that the frets are Perfectly level including the length radius symmetrically level with the fretboard radius, it will blow your mind.
Getting the luthiers and techs to live in the 21st century, use 21st century tools and methods…. well they don't like that at all. Very weird. And BTW, PLEK is over rated. They claim .001mm tolerance… as a machinist I can tell you, impossible, especially the way that machine is built, it does not have the rigidity or the weight to dampen the vibrations of cutting, which means the vibration must and does distort the results, in other words introduces a lot of errors… Measure PLEKKED frets with a digital gauge and you will see more than .002" variance at the very best.
It's especially infuriating when stock guitars with locking nuts comes too high from factory.
There's nothing wrong with having the nut shelf cut almost a hair too low and compensate with a shim or two.
But too high shelf requires annoying work to get it down to playable level which is too common with low to mid priced Floyd guitars
Any "setup" should include a check with a fret rocker.
Nut height should transition from. 012" – .015" High string to Low.
I play with Dunlop Purple 2.0mm picks.
If my high E string will hold the pick at the 12th fret, good enough ????
I never loosen my strings before cutting them off….
Dozens of Stratocasters ruined instantly…LOL
40 years of that – no issues.
Really helpful for this experienced self-taught guitar & electronics tech who is now helping out a local band. Mostly reinforced what I've managed to figure out on my own. Certainly one must take into account the Particular instrument, the Player and the Purpose when setting up a guitar. And it's very rare to pull a new guitar out of the box and love the setup. I just happen to enjoy installing locking tuners, upgrading electronics and guitar setup so it's all fine for me????
Not all bridge saddles are equal. I like the graph tech, i think they are called. The allan screws dont have to be filed down. Took the buzz out as well. Thank you, sir.
I like 9’s on everything except my Jazzmaster which gets 10’s. Action about .06 on both sides, about .08 relief. The Music City bridge is magic on my LP D C.
Cutting the strings without detensioning could easily take out an eye without your glasses. I don't get the point of not taking the 5 seconds to detention the strings other than that you think it looks cool.
Oil is absolutely good for moisture because it keeps the wood from loosing too much or absorbing too much. It maintains the moisture balance you want.
Good video Dylan, I will have to agree with you on all of these points. Just a couple things noteworthy here; I perfer Bees wax on the fretboard. G&L has the worst factory nut height, it's way overboard. When you play the first fret it's all out of tune. I cant remember the measurement.
100 – 150 bucks to replace a nut? They can kiss my arse.
50 – 60 max and they will consider themselves fortunate due to my generosity.
Bone heads
Once had someone trying to argue that cutting strings off a guitar will harm the finish and wood and what's fighting on at the hill defending it. So I asked him about dive bombing on a Floyd Rose. he was so mad lol
i go out of my way to set up all my guitars a little differently, and i am a big fan of custom string sets, especially for guitars in different tunings. like i have a jazzmaster tuned to A standard and a jaguar that lives in drop d so i got special strings for that