noob set up question

[BloodRose]

im sorry to ask this but... Ive done my own setups and pup swaps and all for years. Bout the ONLY thing I cant do is fret work. But.. Im always learning and all. Anyhow. My explorer has always felt pretty good, but recently, due to my charvels being so amazing, the explorer just seems to be lacking a bit. So I am readdressing the set up. the tail piece is as low as it'll go and the bridge was lowered a bunch today and its MUCH better.. Is there a rule of thumb for how low the strings should be? I assume its as low as you want as long as there is no fret buzz. correct? Looks like I still have some room to go down, but its tons better after today.

Thanks

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: noob set up question

That's pretty much it. So long as you're not getting too much fret buzz, you should be fine. But do remember, a low action is not wholly down to the bridge height; it is also hugely affected by neck relief and the depth of the slots in the nut.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: noob set up question

^
What he said.

As you will have recently observed, how a particular guitar feels to you will be influenced to some extent by what instrument you played immediately before. If the Charvels have skinny necks, built for speed, the Explorer is likely to feel like a baseball bat by comparison.

IMO, Gibson stop bar tailpiece height adjustment is there to facilitate fine tuning of overall string tension. Screwing it right down against the threaded inserts only makes sense if you will be wrapping your strings over the top of the bar.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: noob set up question

I do have the tail down as far as itll go so that the strings dont hit on the back of the bridge. and Ive never top wound one. I did dial the bridge down alil more on the bass side today. I dont have a ruler with me, so I can only guess. looks Im at about 1 or 2 16ths on the treble side and just a little more on bass side. It plays wicked easy now. Plus the bridge pup is kicking butt again. Not sure why it wasnt syncing before. Anyone Im lovin her again. Still may have to try the distortion in it..