Epi SG Setup Question - Guitar Repair and Maintenance

Re: Epi SG Setup Question

rparker — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:36:41 +0000

That seemed to work this time. I guess letting the neck settle did the trick? I lowered the High E from 3/32 to 1/16th and no vibration now. It was that low before and it vibrated like hell. Or, maybe I did the bottom side, then the top side and should have gone back and did the bottom side again? Either way, I've got this thing like butter all the way up and down the board. I owe myself $50. :)

Thanks Guys!

Re: Epi SG Setup Question

Ricochet — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:16:32 +0000

That's generally true that the bass strings need to be higher than the treble. They vibrate through a wider range.

Re: Epi SG Setup Question

TRGuitar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:01:36 +0000

For a tunamatic bridge, I find you have to have your string action at an angle, that is to say close on the high E side and a little high on the low E. The saddles are not individually adjustable like a strat so they can hug the contour of the fingerboard. I set my Strat style bridges up to have the profile of a tunamatic so they all feel the same to me, but thats just me. I find if I measure the string height at the 18th fret, what seems to work for me is 1/16th of an inch for the high E and 3/32 on the low E. I have a metal ruler I use that the end starts right at zero so I can measure this. This setup seems to work for me Roy. My Epiphone G400 takes it without any buzz. Give it a try and see what happens. :wink:

Epi SG Setup Question

rparker — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:46:06 +0000

Hi All, I've set up another guitar. This time was my Epi SG400. The starting point was pretty decent. About average string height all the way up and down the neck, with the close to the body, the higher the action. No horrible, but what the heck.

So, I'm feeling a little cocky about myself. A few days ago, I got my Strat handling REALLY SWEET. I didn't measure anything or even get the feeler guages out. Just kind of wung it. Well, let me tell you. This thing is playing really sweet right now. I'm curious to see what the final measurements were.

I apoligize for rambling again. Question actually all the way down to the bottom.

On the the SG. My friend has just gotten a set-neck LP copy with the action a bit high. He saw what I did to the Strat and insists that I do to his new one. So, I decided to practice on my SG. I attack it like the Strat. No such luck. I adjusted the truss rod good and tight, but too much. In order for the strings to stop buzzing, the strings further down the neck became quite high. I know something was wrong. Oh well. I go get my guages and discover the distance at the 7th fret (capo a, fret 14 and measure wire to string) was way too small. I think the .005 could not get under without force. 15 minutes later after several adjustments and measurements, I got the distance at about .005.

Now, time to tune the strings and mess with string height. I lowered them until the buzzing was there and then backed off 1/4 turn. The action at the top 5 frets is incredible. Like butter. New to me. The middle frets 6-9 are better than they were, but I think 9 and above really suck. No, nothing that would make one sell the guitar, but just enough to frustrate you into thinking that maybe I did do something right. I don't make my way down the neck that far anyhow, but when I do, this is one guitar that's built for it.

So, my question is this. Is there anything I can do without major repair, or am I just learning the difference in Gibson and Epiphone?