Tools Needed to setup...

[Twitch]

I'm going up from .10's to .11's and am going to have to set my intonation/string height again. I have a chromatic tuner, two allen wrenches that came w/ my standard strat, and a phillips head screwdriver.

I'm going to be tightening down my bridge so that the bridge plate is flat with the body. I'm also going to add 2 springs.

Do I need any other tools to do this? I'm going off of Mr. Gearhead and information off this site for how I'm going to do it.

Edit: Will I have to adjust my truss rod at all? My guitar has only had 5 strings on it for a week and a half now (took off the low e to fix the saddle). So it's just been sitting in my room on the stand for a week and a half.

 

[bert123]

Re: Tools Needed to setup...

THe 11's should put more temsion on the neck so you get more up-bow. Let the guitar settle a few days before adjusting the truss rod. To adjust the truss rod to get proper relief besides the allen wrenches, you need an 18" metal straight edge (I got a 36" on and cut it in half) and a set of feeler gauges (automotive store). This method (covered in Erlewines repair and setup book) assumes your neck and frets are flat. Place the rule so that it covers the first and last fret. Making small adjustments make the distance between the straight edge and the 7th fret top is about 0.012".


Also Check the tutorials at Project Guitar

 

[aleclee]

Re: Tools Needed to setup...

You can get away without the straight edge if you have a capo. Just capo the first fret and hold down the string at the last fret.

Also, there's no right amount of neck relief so you can get by without measuring it at all (though you will likely need to adjust it). If the guitar's action feels consistent up and down the neck, the relief is good. I generally use .009 as a starting point, myself.

 

[proxy]

Re: Tools Needed to setup...

JUst remember, small adjustments and give them time to settle when adjustingthe neck.

I also liek the cape and fretting the note. However the last fret is not what Erlewin says. He says fret it and the 14th and measure at the 7th. The reason the 14 and not the 22 or 21 is because the 14th is typically right where the neck attaches to be body and your not really going to get much bow above the 14th.

 

[bert123]

Re: Tools Needed to setup...

You can get away without the straight edge if you have a capo. Just capo the first fret and hold down the string at the last fret.

Also, there's no right amount of neck relief so you can get by without measuring it at all (though you will likely need to adjust it). If the guitar's action feels consistent up and down the neck, the relief is good. I generally use .009 as a starting point, myself.

+1 for the capo technique. That is what a Fender custom shop Tech Erlewine interviewed says he does. As aleclee said just consider the 0.012" I mentioned as a starting point, That is what Erlewine says most strats are adjusted too at the factory (I've got my parts-o-caster down to 0.010"). I'm an engineer so for me I have to measure (feeler gauges) before I'll beleive I've got it right.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Tools Needed to setup...

If you're using 11s with a wound third, you might have to expand the G slot in your nut a little bit . . . I know that I did when I put them on.