Adjusting The Action Height On A Fender - Guitar Maintenance Lesson
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- Опубликовано: 10 окт 2017
- Adjusting The Action Height On A Fender - Guitar Maintenance Lesson
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On Fender style guitars, you will often see bridges with individual saddles. This means the process of adjusting your action height is a little more complicated. The main difference is that you need a radius tool. The radius tool allows you to get the strings matching the radius (curvature) of the guitar neck. This means you will get the most even action height across the neck and will massively improve the playability of the guitar. So, the tools that you will need are:
1. 6" rule with 32nds & 64ths
The ruler needs to have fine measurements as we are dealing in very subtle changes when adjusting the string height.
2. Radius Tool
This tool allows you firstly to measure your guitars radius (neck curvature) and then to measure the strings radius in relation to that. To measure your radius simply push one side of the tool down on the 12th fret and see if it matches perfectly. One of the 4 sides should match, thus determining your radius. You then aim to set your strings to this radius.
3. Allen Key
To adjust the saddles, you will need an allen key. Most guitars with a saddle bridge come with one, but if not you can find them pretty easily.
When you come to measure and change your action, here is a simple checklist that will help guide you through the process.
1. Get your guitar into pitch
2. Take the ruler and place it on the 12th fret, measuring from fret to string
3. Measure the height on the low E string and the high E string
4. Based on your factory specs, or the basic measurements of three 32nd on the low side and two 32nd on the high side, decide if you need to go up or down on either side
5.Use the allen key to adjust the low E and high E saddles. Remember that clockwise will raise the action and anti-clockwise will lower it. There are two screws per saddle, both of which need the same amount of turns to keep them even
6. Rest the radius on the low and high E strings near the bridge pickup
7. The rest of the strings should be just touching the radius tool, so adust them accordingly until they are
7. Tune the guitar again and then re-measure, repeat until you hit the required measurements.
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This is excellent. Now I know how to set up my Strat. Thank you. No one talks about radius and it makes so much sense. Just bought a radius gauge.
Put on 1.75 x speed if you want to retain your sanity
thx
thinking the same thing then i see this lol
do these guys know how to party or what
What do they put in the water ?
Lol right!!!
Very few action adjustment videos talk about radius but this one explains it clearly.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Guy acting like an alien who ha e never seen a guitar before. Whoa what is that there then a e strung you say? Ok ok ok ok
Sure fair enough
9:20 he switched it up with of course!
This was extremely useful and clear. I have tracked down and ordered a radius gauge on the strength of it. Will soon have a demon setup on the Partscaster. Thanks!
This was so well done. Very helpful!
Great video! Finally someone that can show close-up of the action measurement. Most other vids just talk and talk and fail to show the details of what we are actually looking for. I don't want to imagine you talking the measurement, I wanna see it!
Thank you! Clear demo, verbal instructions and visual clarity. So helpful!
We're glad you enjoyed it! 🤟
Thanks guys!
I love glasses guy. He looks like a depressed Simon Pegg.
Rumors has it he killed himself after this video.
Glasses guy? Is that how you address people? Hey contact lenses guy hey pale skin guy hey dark skin guy hey strabismus eye guy? You need to be taught some manners chubby faced guy.
excellent video. I was fighting my strat until I learned how to set it up properly with the right tools. Setting the radius for the strings changed my strat from crap to one of the best guitars I ever heard or played. no buzz or fretting out even with wild bends, and sustain for days. It plays like a dream now.
How
Love the tips!
Definitely one of the better more descriptive vids I have seen when it comes to setting up a Strat. I would have done a couple things different but to each their own. Well done nonetheless. Would like to see a vid in the future on setting up a floating term correctly on a Fender Strat, complete with re intonation and re radius of the the strings while keeping in line with the typical Fender setup. Thanks again. Best. J
Good guys to have around to sense danger, when things aren't OK you can be sure they will notice.
Excellent video.
Thanks John!
Great info!
Glad you enjoyed it Frederic!
Thanks for this. Got my tele setup correctly!
Awesome! :) :) Glad we could help!
Thanks I have not messed with fender bridges in years it's different than a epiphone I like My strings higher so I can raise them to where I like them and fix bridge where I can't run tremolo bar. Thanks for this video.
is it possible to do that just by feeling and eye if you don't have those exotic measurment tools??
Excellent video and information, thank you.
We're glad it was helpful!
Hey man! Great tips for action height for Fenders!
You guys are setting this guitar at its best string height for getting some GREAT TONE, if someone else wants to improve playability (Loosing some tone) then Fender specs are better for that purpose. GUitar players must find equlibrium on Tone/Playability. Great video guys!
Thanks a lot! Thank you for your input as well, very interesting :) :)
how do you "loosen" tone?
I liked the assistant slash "take a close-up photo" guy. I don't know why; just seemed to make it a little more personal. Great job!
Do a shot every time someone says OK, winner is the anyone left alive at the end of the video!
I didn't know Jack Whitehall was into guitars! Good, informative videos. thanks.
Can u show us how to adjust action & intonation on a 2019 American Professional Telecaster with the 3 brass barrels?
Excellent vid. Well done. Great info without all the silliness and stupid crap on other folks sites. Thanks much.
Thanks Don, great feedback for us :)
Yes I agree Don, some of the US 'luthiers' seem to use bits of card and just do their 'thang' man. Thank god for precise British technicians and engineers! Love this video, going to get the the tools and set my Tele up, many thanks!
Very nice! Thank you. I've not had good luch with "professional" setups and am forced to go it alone :-)
I find this a bit strange. I heard that the bridge radius should be set up so that the strings on the underside match the radius of the fretboard. If you set up the guitar like mentioned in the video, the feel of the strings is nicely „radiused“ to the hand, but because of different string diameters, the distance between the underside of the strings and the frets will be all different. I‘ll go try to set my bridge up so the strings underside match the fret radius on my strat.
Maybe when i use my heavy low-light high set of strings on my ESP i‘ll try to go somewhere in between the two methods i just described. I use „Heavy Low-Light High“ strings on the ESP, slightly higher string height for harder attack on the thicker strings and even it out somehow.
Also: string gauge matters a WHOLE LOT. If you have a Strat or Tele with a 25.5" neck and you are having buzzing, chances are your string gauge is wrong for what you are trying to achieve. Try a heavier gauge string, which means more tension/less sloppy vibration. You also can keep the light 1st through 3d strings but use heavier 4th through 6th strings by using "heavy bottom" or "custom gauge" strings. A heavier 6th string will do wonders for playability and easy of setup. I wish someone had told me this when I was starting out!
I follow the ark by eye and basically use my ear to adjust the saddle height, i.e take it down till it buzzes open and on 12th...then move up a little until it stops buzzing ;) that's yer action
Wonderful ! The audio is inverted
What size allen wrench for a player series MIM Strat saddle adjustment?
should the strings be right in the middle of the saddles?
Fair enough, ok
OMG I never knew Simon Pegg had a brother!
I know how I like my guitars to play.. no need for a gauge... just set your string heights to what feels right from one string to the next
I was tinkin bout that, ok, is good to know the "standards" but if you feel more comfy just adjusting with a screwdriver until you fell it nice, i dont see nothing wrong about that..
Sure.
How setup 7,25 fender vintage neck low action without buzzing?
Can anyone recommend a good low-action setting for a Stratocaster? I think the factory setting is somewhere in the middle and I'd like to get the strings a bit lower.
So what do you do if you have a compound radius?
I have brass saddles on my Telecaster and my B string keeps coming to contact with the height screw. How can I fix this?
I've got a guitar that's come in for a setup, and it has the same bridge and saddles. Unfortunately, some of the grub screws don't seem to budge when I try to adjust them using an allen key. It's probably stuck with years of sweat, dirt and oxidation. Any tips?
Seems that they don't address overall action height, rather the seem to just speak to the process to adjust the height of the strings to accurately conform to the neck radius, good info, but was hoping for how to lower the action height (truss rod, tremolo/bridge adjustment, grub screws, etc. what is the order of operations?)
I found this video where Dylan Talks Tone does a full setup on a guitar. Explains how to make and measure proper adjustments and set intonation. Super helpful! ruclips.net/video/ldyi4PM1MJ4/видео.html
Theoretically should a Squire Bullet Strat be the same specs? I'm having some difficulty with mine. The action is almost twice as high as it should be and hard to play for that reason. But if I lower the strings much below 5/32 off the 12th fret, I buzz frets when playing the notes on the 12th fret. Is there any way to remedy this, or is that just the limitation of a cheap guitar? I can't afford a real Strat at the moment so I'd like to make this one as playable as possible. Thanks
Fender spec is 4/64 at the 17th fret
What if you adjust to the righgt height but you get buzzing?
What about guitars out of the traditional 7.25", 9.5", 12" spectrum? PRS SE Silver Sky has a 8.5" radius, for example. I can't find a Radius tool with that measure.
Sorry can you help got a bit confused are you saying that on a 9.5 inch radius neck it’s best to use the 12 inch radius . Thanks for any help .
That sexual tension tho...
This pair have made what is normally a simple and self explanatory task, the most excruciatingly complicated and boring instruction video I have ever seen.
It peaks at 8:06 🤣
Question?? How do you keep those little screws from backing out by themselves while you're playing ?? From vibrations???
Puckett Cigar Box Guitar there is to much tension on the saddle for the screws to back out when it’s tuned to pitch.
I have noticed that very good Stratocaster players, most have their string action super low, extremely low actually, and you hear hear a tiny bit of fret buzz, just a hair mind you, and hell it sounds fantastic, so it is very personal getting the string height on a Stratocaster...
Great videos! What to do if you prefer action that's lower than factory spec? Is there a methodical way to proceed in setting lower string heights without introducing fret buzz? Thanks!
Hi Joseph! Great question - I will just double check with James and get back to you :) :)
Ok, here is an answer from James: "If you want to setup lower than manufacturers points (common) you could try a couple of things.. Try straightening the neck a little more than specs, say 0.008” relief at the 7th rather than 0.012” as sometimes recommended as an example. This will trim the playable heights across the board and if it gets too low/buzzy then you can go back somewhere in between. Alternatively try a straighter neck combined with lowering the bridge heights until it buzzes and then raising the bridge till it cleans up, that would be the optimum setup for that guitar at that given point.. I would just play with the relief, it’s nearly always possible to find a sweet spot…" Hope that helps!
I notice I have a really low action and I used to get fret buzz but then I played it for a bit and now I’m good at playing it and then I didn’t get more fret buzz
I have a Fender with a fretboard radius of 9.5. Nice trick to get the correct radius set for the saddles using the radius tool. Just one thing. When resting the radius tool on both the 1rst and 6th strings, they don't "ring". They are dead. Or at least the rattle. Mr. Collins says to adjust the string height to where they barely touch the radius tool so the strings barely ring. So, I guess that also means that if done right. The 1rst and 6th strings should end up barely ringing instead of sounding dead or rattling? I hope you understand my question. I know the answer is probably obvious. But, it seems I need clarification.
Hi Peter, I definitely wouldn't say it's obvious! I think that what you want to be aiming for is a pretty even sound across the 6 strings, so all 6 should be sounding roughly as dead as each other once it is set correctly. Exactly how dead that is, depends on how hard you are pressing down or where on the strings you have the radius gauge.
This is a great video! Very helpful. I have a quick question, should I adjust the action height first or the intonation first? I would guess that it would be action height first and then intonation. Is that correct?
Intonation last I think
Arman Zakwan that’s what I’m thinking too. Neck relief, then action, then intonation
I thought you measure the radius from the underside of the string. If you set the radius from the top of the string the underside of the string won’t match the radius due to the thicknesses of the string?
If you measure your action height for each individual string at the 12th fret the string will naturally follow the radius of the fretboard.
Yeah, I don't get the idea of the radius gauge. The height for each saddle will happen automatically. It has to be done by ear anyway.
Great video guys! I’ve been trying to get this right and this is a huge help. I’m off to pick up a radius gauge and a fine ruler tomorrow. Have you guys done anything on the truss rod? I’m so confused about how to tell when it’s at the proper tightness.
Hi Matthew, awesome! Glad it helped :) Yes we have done truss rod adjustment videos: www.yourguitaracademy.com/courses/james-collins/lessons/neck-relief All the info you need is there :)
Your Guitar Academy I use .010 at the 8th fret and of course a capo on the 1st fret and while pressing down on the last fret.
Excellent video. Too bad you didn't post a link for the angle gauge.
The large square gauge he uses here is from
www.stewmac.com/Items.aspx?search=Radius_Gauges
OR you can get a range of cheaper gauges from Ebay
man, that's a pretty high action.
Each to his own.....
Especially for blues players...
What size is that Allen key?
“Ok”
What's that thinline tele on the wall? Looks amazing!
Hi Zachary! That is a Warmouth tele - Chris actually put it together himself, and it is amazing! :)
@@yga you should do a video review of it. I want to build a Tele like it, but I want to know about warmoth/partscaster building.
um .... MM? what is the 25 93r'ds stuff!
Why didn't you do the nut height as well?
great video, Although I think we would see better if you used a darker guitar for better contrast
Yes great point - We definitely could've done with a darker guitar here. However, as this is my guitar, it was kind of a selfish move ;)
Does anybody know what size Allen wrench is used to adjust the saddles. I'm sure it's embedded in here somewhere, but I've got a life and don't want to spend unless hours researching it. A Google search does not show it or it shows it with all the wrong information. Any correct information would be greatly appreciated. I'm hearing .05 in Allen wrench. What is that?
Okay.
Hi what is the height of the high e and low e strings thanks for the answer
Hi Cristina! The height should be three 32nds on the low side and two 32nd on the high side. If unsure, check out this page with a written instruction: www.yourguitaracademy.com/courses/action-height/lessons/action-height-on-fender-style Good luck!
Christina, i find that checking the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret at the 17th fret on each string to 4/64" works good, no need to check the radius of the bridge then, get yourself a gauge.
ps. Check out Daves world of fun stuff for video's on guitar repair & set ups, cheers.
Title should read Adjusting The String Radius on A Fender
If you set the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret at the 17th fret on each string to 4/64" - job done.
Great advice Jeffrey, thanks for posting it! Do you do a lot of work on your own guitars, or are you a professional guitar tech? :)
Your Guitar Academy, just a player that's picked things up over the years.
@@jeffreyprice773 Hi. 4/64" with or without a capo at the first fret?
Haha nice one. 10 min video condenses into one paragraph. And it's true
Gil Evangelista You mean 1/16 of an inch, meaning 1.58mm?
I recently bought a players series Tele and the E & a strings buzz. Not sure what to adjust. The truss or saddles.
Hi Keith, great question! It could need a bit of both, but easiest to start with the saddles... Maybe worth watching the full series here :www.yourguitaracademy.com/courses/james-collins/lessons/action-height as James and chris go into more detail!
Fret leveling must come first in the chain. A well leveled fretboard is the base for a good setup. Check with a fret rocker, chances are some frets are uneven. Also the nut slots for those strings might be a bit too deepamd down alow enough clearemce in the vibration of the string when played open. Alsoo the neck is not straight, or does not have adequate relief to provide for clean playing. Also string height might be an issue. The thing is that all these "parameters" interact with each other. Fender specs are a good starting point as far as the numbers go regarding relief and string height. From there adjust to personal taste, some like more slack in their strings, others preffer a stiffer, snapy response from the string. I have a strat with 10s on it and a bit of relief helps with the open low E and A string. I got it almost fender speck (0.010" using a high E string from a set of 10s as a feeler gauge) and atele woth 11s on it with almost no relief at all...nearly dead straight but the thicker strings don t oscilate as much so I can get away with the smallest relief. String height...I use a dunlop jazztone 205 under the last fret for starters, then adjust the height for even stiffness from string to string. The Low E and A are bit higher, a bit "off radius" but is that "wrong"? Hell no, because the guitar PLAYS clean and FEELS good and ballanced when I play it. So go to a tech, have the frets done, then just do your own setup and get to where the guitar feels good for you. Best of luck
How do I set up a compound radius. Wich radius do I follow. The top or the end of the fretboard? Or an intermediate? Can't find this information anywhere.
Thx.
Hi Felipe, Great question! Bare with me whilst I find you the answer, I'm just waiting to hear back from James or Chris on the matter :) :)
Ok here's a message from Chris: "With a compound radius fretboard, you need to set the radius at the bridge to be even flatter than the radius at the high end of the neck. If you take a 10" to 16" compound radius as an example; the nut will be 10", the 22nd/24th fret will be 16" so you need to allow the bridge to be around 19"/20" so that the strings get progressively flatter as you go towards the bridge." Hope that helps Felipe :) :)
Why wouldn't I just set the bridge at 16" radius?
There's a detailed explanation as to why you wouldn't do that just above your comment Stefan.
Nut is 10", highest fret is 16", therefore bridge - 19"/20".
Great advice. For the first time I know exactly how to set my action on all my S and T style guitars. Well done. The tech expert is great. The other guy not so much. Doesn't seem to know much but he insists on talking constantly. Shut up!
ok
Question is: How do we set up without the radius tool ?
Take a compass or divider and make a paper or cardboard one, most modern guitars have a 9.5” rad. Shred guitars like an Ibanez RG have 12” and much older vintage fenders have a 7.5”
Hello. I have a 2017 stock Hendrix strat with 9.5 neck radius. Here s how I do it. First truss rod/relief. I have a bit of relief, almost fender factory spec of .010". This means that with a capo on 1st fret and a finger pressing the string at the last fret I can juuuust barely pass a high E string, from a set of 10s, between the bottom of the string and the top of the 9th fret. The point to take from thia is that I am using a high E string from a set of 10s as my feeler gauge :)
Next up is string height. The feeler gauge now is going to be a Dunlop Jazztone 205 pointed tip pick( roughly 2 mm thick but not important, for me at least, as I will explain soon) and the method is as follows: set the strings low enough so that if I slide this pick between a string and my last fret, while seated, in playing position so the fretboard is perpendicular to the ground and the neck parallel to the floor, with the tip of the pick pointing twards the headarock, string down the middle of the pick, the pick is held in place by the pressure of the string. Then I slooowly increase string height until I reach the sweet spot where the string is not putting pressure on the pick and the pick falls. I do this for the high E, B and G string. For theD A and Low E I lift the string juuuust a bit more as to allow for better clearence as it vibrates while playing. So as you can see, the Dunlop pick (along with gravity) is my feeler gauge, and the last fret of the guitar is my fretboard radius gauge. Now all strings are preeetty much the same distance from the fretboard. This method gives me a decent action and a good base to fine tune. The last step is to fine tune and this is the most important part, for me at least: I don't care if I have X action under Y fret. The even slack/stiffness from string to string is what helps me play smoothly, not the numbers in measurements. So after using the pick/gravity method I just adjust the strings that I feel are slacking so that I have kind of an even stiffness on all of them. After this, as a pesonal preference, I keep the low E just a little bit higher so it would be a bit "off radius" but works great for my playing. I should also mention I play 10s, fender stainless steel strings, tuned to E standard. My method might seem a tad whacky/ improvised, but withought a set of feeler gauges this works just as well. A fine metal ruller with markings on it is a good tool, but eyesight and light varies from day to day, so a feeler gauge of some sort, the thickness of something, is a bit more reliable. Hope this helps.
@@razvansfiraiala8147 damn bro never thought to use the string as my gauge ty for that been playing for 30 years and that never came to me lol learn every day.
@@davehendricks7023 Hahaha. It might sound corny if you say it to a pro, but the thikness of rhings like strings and picks doesn't change over time. I have a ruller and all but the eyes can sometimes decieve you. But all and all, after a while you get used to a certain guitar and you can set it up just by feel/sound. Changes in setup also act like micro EQ🤪 Best of luck to you
@@razvansfiraiala8147 make video please.... and share to me
Can some1 out there please tell me why guitar center set our fender up with a 4mm high treble string?
The thing is un playable. Action too high. Tapping impossible. My van halen Wolfgang is easy to tap I wonder what Van Halens action is....
Not sure tbh! Maybe worth sending it back and asking for lower action?
Well learn how to adjust it dork..
They are Horrible. How can you do a Guitar Set-Up, with Instruments Playing-loud, in the background? You need a Private Sound-proof room to hear every little fret-buzz & make minor adjustments.
So for a compound radius which would you go with the nine and a half or the 14
I don't know why I can't find any video, or Google search telling me how to adjust my saddle strings on my Fender Jazz player plus Bass. Ive gone through so many allen keys. I even took my Bass to guitar center, and had them adjust it for me. They just didn't have the allen key to sell me. They told me the key size was 0.5. I got a
.050 allen key off amazon, and it still doesn't work.
Like watching 2 simon pegg characters
2:29
mm'kay?
My strat is setup, set at a high action, intonation is set, but, my OPEN D string has a buzz. I have NO idea what's causing it. The string action is as high as it can be on the D string and still be playable but it has a buzz when when struck open.
get a fret rocker. Typically this means that one of the frets is a little higher than the others on that string. check this video out by stewmac. the guy is super awesome. I know this comment is a little old so I hope you figured it out by now, but if not, here you go. Goood Luck duder.
ruclips.net/video/XiUJxrLAd44/видео.html
@@LITRLG0D Yeah, thanks for the link and the tip. It turned out to be a small chip in the nut on the neck side which was not easily visible. I put in a new nut and it fixed it. Thanks though.
The younger looking bloke is doing my head in
what size is the allen key ?
Hi there! Good question - I'll double check with James and get back to you :)
ta very much
James says: "if it’s the Gibson ones then it’s 5/16” nut, Fender’s change from place of manufacture, best asking Customer service", hope that helps!
Fender spec is not 3/32 and 2/32 .don't no were you got that from
what is that in millimeters
2.38mm
@@cresshead thanks :)
Surprised you didn't use an actual string gauge.
Why can't you just measure height of each individual string from the part of the fret underneath it rather than using the radius gauge?
Good question
You can measure from the bottom by using an under string radius gauge. See www.amazon.ca/Forfar-Understring-Radius-Standard-Stainless/dp/B074275K71/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1CDIUA8ZNI3TL&keywords=guitar+radius+gauge&qid=1551198790&s=gateway&sprefix=Guitar+rad%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-12
I didn't know Simon Pegg was into fixing guitars..
3 32nds? ...what?? how many mm? ... 2.4 mm?
Sure thing, let me just go and grab my radius gauge and microscopic Allen key. Never leave home without em. . .
Were you planning on performing work on a complicated instrument without any special instruments or something?
OK? Ok
Metrics, please!
Anti-clockwise? What do they have against counterclockwise? Why can't we all just get along?
You can easily make your own radius gage using a pencil (or pen), a piece of string, scissors and cardboard. If you can't figure out how then I'm sorry for you.
Cool! I would love to see a video on how you do that (even though you say it should be obvious!), I think it would be a very very cool video as a lot of people don't have access to a radius like James's. Thanks for watching :)
Rawhide Leather why the string?
Cardboard? Really? Talk about inaccurate. I can't imagine even though most skilled craftsman being able to get a piece of cardboard to radius to anything accurate. If you own a guitar and change strings a steel one costs about the same price as a set of strings. I guess if you live somewhere where you can't get access to one, then maybe. But I'd do it out of something other than cardboard.
This is wrong because you want the bottom of the string to match the fretboard radius, not the top. Better to do this with under the string radius gauges
"okay"
3/32 is way too high isn't it?