Measuring neck relief

[greekdude]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I used my guages about twice...all eyeball and feel for me.

about relief this is ok, there are other indicators for that. But to verify that my action is stuck at 1.1mm at the 24th fret no matter the whether changes, nothing beats the safety of the feeler gauges.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I used my guages about twice...all eyeball and feel for me.

I figure this would be about how often I'd use them.

On the plus side I can use them to set spark plug gaps in the future.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I set my relief by the simple tapping method to start, then adjust if needed. I hold down the first fret with a finger or thumb of my left hand (being right handed), and the outside of the last fret with the pinky of the other hand. I then stretch that hand over to the 6th fret and, using the thumb, I momentarily tap the top of the string so the string collides with the fret. If there is not an easily audible, distinct, single metal on metal sound, there is not enough relief. If it is extremely loud and clear, there is probably too much. I set relief so that when adding relief (i.e. loosening the truss nut), the tap has just become clear. Then I barely tighten the truss nut clockwise (I'm talking something like 1/16 turn or less), just to seat it well. That's a fair starting point for most guitars, and you can adjust from there as needed.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Measuring neck relief

about relief this is ok, there are other indicators for that. But to verify that my action is stuck at 1.1mm at the 24th fret no matter the whether changes, nothing beats the safety of the feeler gauges.

I do both relief and action by feel. Like I mentioned earlier, we evaluate our guitar setups by feel, not by conformance to some quantitative ideal.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I do both relief and action by feel. Like I mentioned earlier, we evaluate our guitar setups by feel, not by conformance to some quantitative ideal.

if you are setting up a new guitar with unbroken-in parts (springs, strings, wood etc...) you need something more than feel to be sure that everything is perfect and STABLE. For this you need a precise tool.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Measuring neck relief

Those gauges have a tendency to rust when all the oil is removed. The cheap ones anyway. That's why they are oiled in the first place
Wonder if anyone makes a set in SS or other metal that isn't prone to rust.

Nevermind ... they do and they are flippin expensive. I don't use them that much ...

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I did receive a set of feeler gauges in a guitar maintenance kit, they rusted horribly after a while, I'm not even sure if I did wipe them down like you all have mentioned... it seems to be the nature of the beast though.

I sprayed them down with some wd-40 but after the oxidation starts they will never get back to their new shine..

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Measuring neck relief

Ok, another question...

My modern guitars are a breeze to setup. (Headstock truss rod adjustment, saddles with enough range to set action, etc.)

Now I've got a '52RI Tele, with the truss rod adjustment at the heel. By removing the pickguard I can get some adjustment, is the "proper" tech way to slack the strings, capo to hold, then unbolt the neck, adjust and rebolt the neck, raise to pitch and measure?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Measuring neck relief

^ I've never needed to loosen the neck to adjust an old-style Fender neck. I've chosen to, rather than remove (or permanently notch) a '50's style Strat guard. You don't need to slack the strings or capo to do it. You just loosen the two rear neck screws a half inch, loosen the other two a few turns, and then tilt the neck back and adjust. It can help to either have an assistant hold the guitar body down, or to clamp it down.

Part of the trick is making the nut easy to turn by manually bending the neck in the direction you want it to go before you adjust the rod. That way the nut itself isn't having to do the work of bending the neck, but just has to take up the slack.

Also, a large right angle screwdriver can help quite a bit.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Measuring neck relief

FYI - those gauges are covered in oil to the point of dripping.

Yes they are, the best method is to lightly wipe them off but not all the way. You do not want them to rust over the years but you don't want to drip any of the spunk on your guitars either if you can avoid it.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Measuring neck relief

if you are setting up a new guitar with unbroken-in parts (springs, strings, wood etc...) you need something more than feel to be sure that everything is perfect and STABLE. For this you need a precise tool.

What does measurement have to do with stability or having a "perfect" setup? I'm actually going through acclimating my new Strandberg to the lovely arid Colorado climate. I've been tweaking action and relief as it breaks in and adjusts to the new humidity levels. Stuff's moving but I eyeball the relief to get things in the ballpark and then tweak relief and action based on feel. Unless you're looking for bragging rights about how low your action is, I really don't see a reason to measure. My goal is to get the action as low as possible without buzzing based on right hand technique. Dunno how measurement helps determine that.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Measuring neck relief

I just set it almost perfectly straight.

after that I set the action to 1/16th off the 12th fret.

I heard dan erlewine saying that straight necks have more "tone"

if that means anything to you

This is exactly how I set mine as well.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Measuring neck relief

straight necks have more tone? certainly more buzz on the lower frets!