A Step-By-Step Guide to Acoustic Steel String Guitar Setup

A Step-by-Step Guide to Acoustic Steel String Guitar Setup By Thomas Becker Contents 1.Introduction 2.First Things First: Proper Humidification

 A Word Word about Tools 3. A 4.The Order of Things 5.etting the !eck "elief  6.etting the addle Height 7.etting the !ut lot #epths 8.tability of the etup

Introduction $any guitar players belie%e that you&re not really serious about guitar playing until you buy custom made instruments from a luthier' or e%en build your o(n guitar) That may be true' but for me and my kind of music' an off*the*shelf +uild or $artin or Taylor is ,ust right) There is only one thing about buying off*the*rack acoustic steel string guitars that really' really sucks' and that&s the setup' or rather' the lack of it)

By guitar setup' I mean (hat many people refer to as the action of action  of the guitar) +enerally speaking' the action refers to the si-e of the gaps bet(een the strings and the frets) $ost people are a(are of t(o %ariables that they can t(eak to set the action: the saddle height  and  and the curvature of the neck ' neck ' the latter commonly being referred to as the neck relief ) Typically' people ad,ust the saddle height so that the gap bet(een the strings and the t(elfth fret is some %alue that they like' and they set the neck relief so that (hen a string is depressed at the first and the fourteenth fret' there remains a %ery small gap bet(een the string and the si.th fret' about the thickness of a business card) ome(hat surprisingly' not too many people pay attention to the fact that rather ob%iously' the strings rest not only on the saddle' but also at the opposite end in the slots of the string nut' and therefore' the depth of these slots is a a third %ariable that affects the si-e of the gap bet(een the strings and the frets) As a matter of fact' the effect that the slot depth at the nut has on the playability of the guitar is dramatic) uppose first that the slots (ere %ery deep' so that the gap bet(een the strings and the first fret became %ery small) Then an open' unfretted string (ould bu-- on the first fret) /ou ha%e probably ne%er e.perienced that' certainly not on a ne( guitar) /ou kno( (hy0 Because on a ne( guitar that comes off the shelf and not from a luthier' you almost al(ays ha%e the opposite: the slots in the string nuts are not nearly deep enough' resulting in a larger*than*necessary gap bet(een the string and the first fret) !o( imagine your inde. finger (hen you&re fretting the 1 chord' and suppose the slot for the B string is not %ery deep' so that the B string is high abo%e the first fret' like this:

It&s not hard to guess (hat the effect of that (ill be: it&s going to be %ery rough on your fingertip' because it takes a lot of force to bring do(n the string so close to the nut) In addition' the deep and sharp depression of the string (ill

increase the pitch of the string a lot) That (ill result in poor intonation' that is' your chords are going to be (ay off e%en if your tuning (as perfect)

Ok' there you ha%e it: for a perfect setup of your guitar' you&ll ha%e to ad,ust the neck relief' the saddle height' and  the slots in the string nut) /our goal' of course' is to get the smallest gap bet(een any string and any fret (ithout getting string bu--) Performing the setup is not %ery hard and re2uires only the most basic tools and skills) There (ill of course be a lot of trial and error' and a bunch of saddles and perhaps e%en string nuts (ill end up in the recycling bin) But if you hang in there' you (ill 2uite likely be re(arded (ith a noticeable difference in the playability and intonation of your guitar) Before (e proceed' though' I (ould like to bring to your attention Bryan 3imsey&s (ebsite) Bryan has done more systematic research on the sub,ect of steel string guitar setup than anybody else that I kno( of' and he has put a lot of effort into e.plaining his findings) $y o(n final conclusions are a bit different from his) But I didn&t e%en ha%e any final conclusions until I studied his (ork)

First Things First: Proper Humidification  An acoustic guitar should al(ays be kept in an en%ironment (here the relati%e humidity is bet(een 456 and 756) If a guitar is e.posed to significantly less or more humidity than that' bad things start happening) A good place to read up on the effects of humidity on an acoustic guitars is the Taylor tech sheets page )

It does not make sense to (ork on the setup of your guitar if it is too dry' or (ay too (et) The reason is that dryness causes the top of the guitar to sink' (hile too much humidity causes it to rise) When the top rises or sinks' the bridge (ill rise or sink (ith it' and that (ill raise or lo(er the action of the guitar) If you perform the setup in a state of improper humidification and then later on fi. the humidification' your action (ill be (ay off' rendering your setup (ork pointless) To check (hether the humidification of your guitar is good enough to perform setup (ork' place a ruler across the top of the guitar as sho(n in the photograph belo()

/ou (ant to see a healthy gap bet(een the ruler and the edge of the guitar&s top on both sides) I am not a(are of any 8recommended %alue8 for the si-e of that gap) From e.perience' I&d say 997&& on each side is about right)

If the ruler re%eals the top to be flat' or e%en sunken' the guitar is too dry) ;se a guitar humidifier to rectify the problem) If the guitar has been %ery dry for a long time' you should check the body of the guitar for cracks that may ha%e de%eloped) O%er*humidification is less common and not 2uite as dangerous to your guitar as dryness) But if the top of your guitar appears %ery bulgy' you should look for other symptoms of o%er*humidification as e.plained in 8ymptoms of a Wet +uitar8 on the Taylor tech sheets page ) Once your guitar is properly humidified' you are ready to start the setup (ork)

A ord about Tools  As I said in the introduction' guitar setup (ork does not re2uire any fancy tools) I&ll tell you (hat you need as (e go along) /ou may ha%e to order some simple stuff like a set of nut slot files from a lutherie supply store such as te(art*$ac#onald) That (ill take some time) The important part is to be patient and not go at it (ith inappropriate tools) We&%e all done things like trying to tighten or loosen a scre( (ith a kitchen knife or a coin) "emember ho( you regretted that0 #on&t do stuff like that again' especially not (hen your guitar is in%oled)

There is one tool that perhaps bears some discussion' and that is the set of automotive feeler gauges  that you&ll need) Any standard set (ith a range of something like )55&& (ill do) If your set is metric' the thickness of the blades (ill be gi%en in millimeters) To con%ert from my numbers ?(hich are in inches@ to millimeters' you&ll ha%e to multiply by )4)

/ou (ill be using the feeler gauges to measure the gap bet(een strings and the frets belo( them in %arious places and under %arious circumstances) Oftentimes' you (ill be looking for a gap that measures something like )55&&) To get that' you (ill ha%e to f ind se%eral feeler blades (hose thicknesses add up to )55&& and stack them on top of each other) For e.ample' a )5&&' a )5=5&&' and a )5=>&& together (ill make a )55&& blade) Therefore' it is essential to find a set of gauges that can be unscre(ed like the one in the photograph abo%e' making it possible to use the blades indi%idually) If you can&t find one locally' you can order it online' e)g) from  Auto Body Toolmart)

When measuring a gap bet(een a fret and a string' you (ant to use (hat mechanics call the gono*go method) Find a blade ?or stack of blades' as the case may be@ that slides easily and comfortably into the gap) Then increase the

thickness of the blade in small increments until you find the first one that does not fit into the gap anymore) The true (idth of the gap lies bet(een the last blade that fit and the first one that does not fit anymore) !eedless to say' (hen measuring a gap underneath a guitar string' the no*go in gono*go is not really a no*go) Thicker blades (ill go into the gap 2uite easily' but in doing so' they (ill push up the string) o really' your first no*go blade is the first one that does not go into the gap (ithout pushing up the string) It takes 2uite a bit of concentration to (atch the string for e%en the slightest mo%ement as you slide the blade?s@ underneath it) Also' it takes a steady hand to get the blade?s@ underneath the string at ,ust the perfect angle (ithout (iggling' turning' or angling) /ou&ll get the hang of it) When used correctly' the automoti%e feeler gauges (ill gi%e you sufficient precision for measuring string*to*fret distances) Ho(e%er' people ha%e also reported e.cellent results (ith more ad%anced tool sets such as machinist plug gauges (ith a micrometer)

The !rder of Things "emember' to achie%e that perfect guitar setup' you (ill ha%e to make three ad,ustments: the neck relief ?cur%ature of the neck@' the saddle height' and the nut slot depths) If you do these things in the (rong order' then (hat you ha%e already done (ill be messed up by the ne.t thing you do' and you&ll end up in some bi-arre loop that (ill probably lead you into total frustration) Ho(e%er' if you make your three ad,ustments in this order: 1. !eck "elief  2. addle Height 3. !ut lot #epths

and  you do tep < in manner that is slightly different from (hat many people (ill tell you ?you (ill take the measurements for the saddle height (ith a capo on the first fret@' then each of the three steps (ill lea%e the results of  the pre%ious step?s@ completely unchanged) Hence' you&ll get to your perfect setup in ,ust three steps' (ith no backtracking necessary) One More Thing: A Word about Alternate Tunings If you e%er play your guitar in alternate tunings' like open #' or #A#+A#' then you kno( that in most alternate tunings' some or all of the strings are tuned do(n by a half note or (hole note) This has t(o side effects: 9) ince there is less tension on the strings' the neck does not get pulled for(ard as much as is the case in regular tuning) As a result' the action ?distance bet(een the strings and the frets@ (ill come do(n a bit all the (ay along the neck) && )55&& )5C>&& )5C5&& )5D>&& Please note that these are %alues that (ill guarantee bu--*free playing for almost any guitar and playing styleE if your  playing style is on the soft side' you may be able to subtract )595&& or more from the %alues in the table abo%e) On many guitars' you can get a(ay (ith less clearance for the high  string) Therefore' you&ll often see clearances like this: 

A

#

+

B



)955&& )5>&& )55&& )5C>&& )5C5&& )5D5&& For my playing style' I find that I need a little more clearance on the B string) Therefore' my settings typically look like this: 

A

#

+

B



)955&& )5>&& )55&& )5C>&& )5C>&& )5D>&& Very important: When you measure the gap bet(een a string and the thirteenth fret' make sure that your guitar rests on the back of its body' (hile the entire neck' including the headstock' does not touch the supporting surface) If the guitar rests not only on the body' but also on the headstock' that (ill be enough to bend the neck slightly for(ard and render your measurement irreproducible and hence useless) ;nless you are determined to make your o(n saddle from scratch and get the optimal clearance for each string' you can probably get a(ay (ith ,ust measuring the clearance for the si.th string ?lo(er @ and let the others take care of themsel%es) Here&s (hat you do: order a bunch of ready made saddles for your particular guitar model from the manufacturer of your guitar or from a luthier supply store such as te(art*$ac#onald) tart (ith one that&s too high and (ork your (ay do(n by sanding it off at the bottom) What you (ant to achie%e is to lo(er the saddle uniformly (ithout changing the relati%e height of the strings) That (ay' you&ll end up (ith your personal preferred absolute height and (ith the manufacturer&s relati%e height of the strings)

If you ha%e a precision tool such as te(art*$ac#onald&s anding tation at your disposal' then it&s a cinch to sand off the bottom of the saddle in a uniform manner) If you ha%e to rely on manual sanding' then this is a little tricky) /ou (ill almost certainly inad%ertently angle the saddle as you sand off material at the bottom) An easy (ay to check and

correct as you go along is as follo(s: $ake sure that you start out (ith t(o saddles of the e.act same height and shape) As you go along lo(ering one of them' keep putting it on a le%el surface right ne.t to the other' unmodified one) Place the lo(er one on an appropriate blade from your set of feeler gauges to make them the same height) A %ery precise (ay of checking for e2ual height is to take a third saddle and center it hori-ontally o%er the t(o saddles (hose height you compare:

By sliding the hori-ontal saddle from one end of the t(o %ertical saddles to the other' you can no( check (hether the heights of the t(o saddles are the same all across' or if you ha%e angled the one you&re (orking on) If that&s the case' you can no( counteract (ith your sandpaper until the angling has gone a(ay)

 As you take material off the saddle&s bottom' you also need to make sure that the saddle does not lean for(ard or back(ard) This can be checked by placing the saddle on an e%en surface and then using a right angle ruler to check if it rises from the surface at a right angle:

 A for(ard leaning saddle

 A saddle that does not lean

Here&s (hat I do (hen I need to make a saddle lo(er: I clamp a piece of sandpaper to a le%el surface and then run the saddle back and forth on it' turning it fre2uently to make up for any directional pre,udice that my hand may ha%e (hen e.erting do(n(ard pressure) To pre%ent leaning' I place a 9C inch saddle blank on the sand paper and press the side of saddle against it' thus keeping it %ertical relati%e to the sand paper)

If you&re going to make saddles ?or string nuts@ from scratch' you (ant at least a small %ise such as te(art* $ac#onald&s !ut and addle ise ) The Porsche of nut and saddle tools' of course' (ould be their anding tation)

Setting the "ut Slot %epths The third and final step of setting up your guitar is to cut the slots in the string nut to a depth (here you get the optimal first fret clearance for each string) "ather ob%iously' you (ant that clearance to be as lo( as possible' because the higher it is' the more your fingers (ill hurt (hen fretting the strings at the first fe( frets) $oreo%er' the intonation of your guitar (ill suffer ?that is' your chords (ill be off e%en (ith perfect tuning@ (hen the strings are t(o high abo%e the first fret)

o if (e (ant the strings to be as lo( as possible on the nut' then (hat is the lo(er bound0 One constraint is of course that the open' unfretted strings should ne%er bu-- on the first fret) Ho(e%er' there is another thing to be kept in mind: raising the strings at the nut (ill also pre%ent the behind*the*fret bu-- that I mentioned earlier) Therefore' your ideal first fret clearance is usually a tad more than (hat you (ould absolutely need to pre%ent the open string from bu--ing) That is true especially if you prefer less neck relief) $y preferred %alues for the first fret action are ) 5