General Luthiery Thread

[zooropa1310]

Originally Posted by james90

was Hendrix known to have high action?

2mm is about where most of my guitars are set. I should mention that the one in the picture I posted does have a .052 for the 6th string, which might be a reason the action was set higher?

One of my other guitars which has a .060 for the 6th string (and also some fairly large frets) has the action set ALMOST as high as that. Neck has little to no relief...so maybe they set them a tad higher for the heavier wound strings.

When you look at it, it's probably lower than it appears to be, since it's measured from the bottom of the string to the top of the frets. But yeah, the one I posted there measured at about 8/64ths on the bass side which is a bit high for me...but just a little. It's not really difficult to play though.

And Alex, if I was measuring them correctly with this string action gauge (I don't have a straightedge ) most of my guitars have a fair bit more than .010" relief, but they play just fine. I know too much is bad, but I think I'm able to tell if there is. There's just a tiny bit of space at the 8th fret with the 1st and 15th fretted like I said - just enough so you can tap the string against the fret really

For relief, 0-.003 is too little relief, and anything over .007 is a bit too much. We've found the "sweet spot" on well leveled frets, for low action without buzzing, to be a relief between .004-.006, and .055 on the 6th (when fretted at the first fret). Your string height sounds fine to me, your relief I would say is way too much. String height IS preference, but the relief is more of what it "should" be for a neck.

That pic made it look like it was way higher! hah.

As for the MA-2, it was fucked. Even with a crude 12" straight edge, there was serious rocking on the 13th fret. The scan really put it in perspective though. It needed an a fretjob badly. But then again, this one is about 2 years old.

I could talk pages about it, but in short, you input all the data (string gauge, end action desired, playing style), it scans, and it gives you a readout. It breaks it down by string. The green line is what is optimum fret height (with current relief considered), red line is where it currently is, and the I/user and machine decide what action needs to be taken. It also reads the fingerboard plane and can decide whether a refret is needed or if a leveling can be done, while leaving some fret behind. There are a few pages of info that it gives you after the initial scan. It's incredibly interesting. This is just from a random website. We all had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, so I won't be able to take any pictures of the machine itself or make my own screenshots.

ShowShow this spoiler

It still takes a qualified tech to program, interpret the data, and execute the process. It cuts a very grunt work job down to a presetup and polish, and we are able to make these fret heights as perfect as possible, and create a perfectly playable guitar with no imperfections.

[JimboMansonMB-1]

That does not make sense.

[james90]

what doesn't? I can't exactly make out what that data means, but...

As for mine, I don't think the relief is too much to be honest, but again, I don't have any exact measurements. It seems to go back and forth from being almost dead flat to maybe a tiny bit more than it should have, but nothing that really affects playability, and it certainly doesn't affect the action. I think for the neck to affect the action, it would have to be WAY off. I don't think any of my guitars are like that though, but they all are different... some have more relief than others, and some even have more relief in one side of the neck than the other (sometimes this makes it a little difficult to figure out how to setup) but they all play fairly well.

strange that you found so many things wrong with that guitar. maybe it wasn't taken care of properly? when i've received some guitars from the UK, sometimes the setups were spot on, sometimes they were completely off...but I imagine they set them up properly before sending

[Lord MFC]

It might have got stuck in customs for weeks.

[Dominic.]

Originally Posted by zooropa1310

ShowShow this spoiler

It still takes a qualified tech to program, interpret the data, and execute the process. It cuts a very grunt work job down to a presetup and polish, and we are able to make these fret heights as perfect as possible, and create a perfectly playable guitar with no imperfections.

Ooh that's quite impressive. I like that. I take it the green line is the ideal/target level and the red is the actual one, and you try to adjust it to reach the green one?

[JimboMansonMB-1]

Originally Posted by Dominic.

Ooh that's quite impressive. I like that. I take it the green line is the ideal/target level and the red is the actual one, and you try to adjust it to reach the green one?

Yeah, except no one's action really looks like that.

[james90]

Originally Posted by Jamie™

It might have got stuck in customs for weeks.

I don't know how much of an effect that would have. the setup on my DL-1 was completely off when I got it, and that only took about 3 days. the MB-1 which took over two weeks wasn't nearly as bad.

Originally Posted by JimboMansonMB-1

Yeah, except no one's action really looks like that.

mine does

[JimboMansonMB-1]

Originally Posted by james90

mine does

Your bridge posts must be set really high...

[zooropa1310]

That's not action, it's fret height with respect to fingerboard relief and string tension

[JimboMansonMB-1]

Originally Posted by zooropa1310

That's not action, it's fret height with respect to fingerboard relief and string tension

Sounds almost the same as action

[Phill]

Yeah but the strings are dead straight and the frets and fretboard aren't necessarily. Rhodes lines show you what areas of the neck need straightening and frets levelling to get the best possible setup.
That's the impression I get at least...

[Batman.]

Originally Posted by IntelligentAl

Fucking make me.

I will tell your mother, Mr. Poirot. Now collect your band members, and take yourselves on a wonderful journey to the sunny beaches and breathtaking views of the outskirts of Doncaster.

[zooropa1310]

Originally Posted by Phill

Yeah but the strings are dead straight and the frets and fretboard aren't necessarily. Rhodes lines show you what areas of the neck need straightening and frets levelling to get the best possible setup.
That's the impression I get at least...

Exacty.

[Phill]

Dunno why those became Rhodes. Bloody iPhone /hugeyellowtext

[Dominic.]

Originally Posted by JimboMansonMB-1

Yeah, except no one's action really looks like that.

Originally Posted by zooropa1310

That's not action, it's fret height with respect to fingerboard relief and string tension

That, plus the increments on the axis probably aren't the same as each other, or in other words the y axis is more precise than the x axis