https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:50:39 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-60581 Tue, 11 May 2004 00:54:06 +0000 very rough position.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance paul donnelly https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-60581 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-60552 Mon, 10 May 2004 06:14:08 +0000 I think I saw someone doing that once somewhere...
Uhh... In the old days I had a bolt-on neck, We used to take off the
necks and use folded paper as a shim. Notebook paper worked best
because you could fine tune the layers better.
LOL i'm left handed. I used to put aluminum foil in the nut at the
B & G strings to get rid of the buzz I got from switching a right handed guitar
over. You know the foil looked crappy, but man it gave off good
sustain.

The Guitar I have now is a semi-hollow body, the only way i can adjust the action on it is the bridge. I'm just glad the place I got it from knew what they were doing, it's set-up just right for me :)]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Racer Y https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-60552 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52247 Sat, 17 Apr 2004 07:28:44 +0000
Good points all you other guys made also.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance jalma https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52247 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52246 Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:29:32 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance paul donnelly https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52246 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52245 Sat, 10 Apr 2004 01:18:34 +0000
For acoustics, you can still adjust the truss rod to fine tune your string action/height.  Even if you keep them under ideal conditions -- proper humidity and proper temperature, acoustics need this kind of adjustment every so often.  You will especially have to do so if you choose to change string gauges -- straighten the neck more for higher gauges and add more relief (bend) for lighter.  

Unfortunately, you can't make the intonation adjustments like you can on an electric.  When I was at the repair shop last, the guy in front of me was asking just this question, which prompted the repairman to start making jokes about how guitars make good kindling.  He did say that you can play around with the gauges for each until you find the best intonation for that guitar, but that's a lot of work and money.  If you play acoustic, you just have to learn to live with it's little inconsistancies, until they build a better animal.

Further adjustments that can be made to an acoustic are in the nut and the bridge.  You are better off letting someone who knows what they are doing (definitely not me) handle this.  Occasionally nuts need to be replaced due to damage or wear.  Bridges can be shimmed (lowered) or raised.  

When I bought my Taylor years ago, I took it into the shop for it's free adjustment.  The first thing the guy did was raise the bridge action.  When he handed it back to me, I almost cried because he just ruined the reason I forked over so much money -- the perfect low action for my very small hands.  Fortunately, he was able to remedy it in a few minutes and return it to me as I had bought it.  Whew!!!

The other thing to watch for is worn frets.  Again -- this requires major technical know-how.  But it is something to watch out for.  If you have buzzing on certain frets or even notes that don't change from fret to fret, often the cause is some frets have worn more than others.  Usually, the repairman can just file a bit on the surrounding frets to bring them all back into play, but if it's really worn, then sometimes all or some of the frets will have to be replaced.  Personally, I've never seen this, but I've read about it.  Seems to be more common for people who play very aggressively and are especially  fond of the first position.

I bought a banjo a bit back and during the first week I really noticed that any sort of vibrato or bend was really rough.  I had played another one of the same brand in a different store than I bought it in, so I knew it didn't have to be that way.  Turns out that vertical grooves had somehow been etched into the frets.  the guy told me he really had to polish those things, but now they play awesome.  We still don't know they got there, but I do know that you have make sure you don't steel wool over the frets when you clean the fretboard, because that can cause such problems.  

Hope some of this helps. :)]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance jstar https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52245 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52244 Fri, 09 Apr 2004 14:42:39 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance Pup https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52244 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52243 Fri, 09 Apr 2004 08:04:15 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance paul donnelly https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52243 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52242 Thu, 08 Apr 2004 18:37:24 +0000     In fact, once the initial set-up is performed, you probably only need to adjust the bridge for intonation, unless maybe if you made a radical string size change.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Anonymous https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52242 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52241 Thu, 08 Apr 2004 17:22:22 +0000 http://www.mrgearhead.com/ghad/Guitar_Setup.pdf
]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Nick Torres https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52241 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52240 Thu, 08 Apr 2004 14:01:28 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance PsYcHoNIK https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/guitar-set-up/#post-52240