Its much easier to check relief from the headstock down, set the guitar on the top of your foot and line your sight up down the neck slightly to the side and you'll see the curve easily.
If using the string method. The clearance is supposed to be between 0.3 -0.5mm states in most manuals. That would be from 10-20th. for those wondering.
Thanks for the helpful info in this video! However 240p top quality (...in 2017?) is way too grainy to see any detail of what you're showing. Maybe you could upload the original video again and see where it went wrong?
Great info. Thanks a lot. But I think you mean "backbow" at 3:04, not upbow. If the neck had upbow, the straight edge would only sit on the edges. It would only rock if there was back bow.
Being a total noob, I am into panic about the setting's order on my chinese but good vibrating fake strat (CBS Squier neck added....😄): should I set first a dead straight neck, then the bridge or the nut, or.... I am in a total messy state of mind. Please help me , someone.....
@@ccr_enjoyer Thanks, I was a little in a hurry and jumped here and there. I wanted to be sure it was explained, and being italian didn't help me to understand it at first sight. Thanks to post a complete well explained video!!✌
Never measure anything like this! With the guitar laying down like it is in this video the neck is slightly relieved and therefore your measurements will be off. Turn it on its side as In playing position for measuring.
@@Hickeroar I am a luthier/tech and have my own shop Plus 25 years experience. I promise you this makes changes, small but if you are a perfectionist like me, noticable changes. Always make adjustments in playing position for more accurate results.
I just want to thank you for your great help with guitar setups. I have been using your advice for years now. I didn't know how to coment but I know how to now! Again thank you for your help always showing what to do with or without tools. That's helped me so many times. I now have just about everything I need to do setups and repair most guitars. Look forward to new content!!!
I don't think that this is the correct way of measuring the neck relief. The truss rod is only active from the 1st to the 12th fret, therefore it follows that the 6th string should be fretted at the first and twelfth frets and the the area around 5th fret should be examined for any relief.
All my time trying to get neck right don't have the tools but one and you showed it your preferred with the string action gage thank you very much don't have to have it done someone else you know this really really helped I even had some relief in my mind have a nice day....Roland J Gutierre, z from Magdalena New Mexico USA 🇺🇸
I wish you would have shown how to use the last straight edge... the small rectangle... I also wish you could have explained the difference between some being in mm and inches. Other than that, thank you for this. It's simple, short and to the point. Almost a PERFECT tutorial.
Can anybody help me out with something? Trying to measure the neck relief of my guitar but I don't have a straight edge, the feeler gauge I bought appears to have been dipped in oil for 3000 years and don't really wanna put it anywhere near my guitar, and whenever I use the "just look at it" method most people use, I don't know what I'm looking for as all I ever get is "look to see if the string is straight", which will always be straight if you look at it from the right angle? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Tell me about it! Thing is I live in a third world country, no hope to ever find any of them scales or feeler gauges, were lucky enough to have strings and picks really. So I did as he said by looking and saw absolutely nothing to help me tell if the neck was bent either way, so instead I tightened the truss by a quarter turn coz the back of the neck clearly showed space between the bolted part of the neck and the body which I understood to be caused by strings pulling the neck forward due to too much relief. But I wasn't sure if that was enough so here's what I did after, with a flat and long ruler I did what he did in the video, where u put the ruler on the fretboard and see if the middle part of the fretboard has more space comparing to the distal parts of the neck, and when I found all parts of the neck had the same spacing I knew it was good enough. Now after tuning the strings I will check again with the ruler to see if the string pressure pulled on the neck too much causing bowing or if alls good. Btw it's impossible to feel confident doing this stuff for the first time, but I know it helped my guitars action, because before I did the truss, all levels of adjustment on the tailpiece and saddle bridge left me with huge string distance from the fretboard, however now the distance is so small its brilliant, so the truss adjustment was the missing part to fix the problem. If that was too confusing, throw it out the window and do this redneck thing I did, after you loosen all strings mildly, gently(GENTLY!) bend the guitar neck from the nut area, towards the back of the body and if the strings immediately seem to straighten and get closer towards the fretboard, then you might like to tighten the truss quarter turn then test how the distance looks after tuning the strings, you could repeat this till your satisfied. If the neck is too tight to even feel it move back or forward then it's possibly too tight. Please be careful to avoid breaking the truss and don't forget that you can change the height of the saddle and tailpiece to help get set up the string distance before doing another truss adjustment. After watching several videos of tailpiece/bridge adjustment, I realised there aren't really any fixed principals to fix action height, and you just have to play around with the pieces till it works for your guitar and your fingers. Again you keep doing something and testing it out by tightening strings and playing, then changing it and it's a long process of repetition but it's super rewarding to finally get the best result without doubting that it could be better.
I do for leveling the frets. The notched straight edge measures the fret board with the frets out if the equation. But straight edge on the frets simulates the strings on the frets.
I have a question about a neck that moves in and out (same direction some people bend strings by using the neck)😬 what is the solution to this? Ive taken neck off to look at the neck to body joint but its flat so it leads me to think the joint screws have opened up causing the in - out action of neck. HELP!!!
If the screw slots are stripped, possibly from over tightening them or as you said using the neck as a whammy bar, fill them with wood glue and broken toothpick bits. Redrill slightly smaller hole than the screws and they should be tight again. If they screw in and out very easily the holes are stripped.
I dont half a notch and I've took my kneck of guitar for leveling but I need to no if its straight 100% it looks absolutely perfect when looking down the kneck what to do?
I have a fender but I hate the radius. If you notice ibanez looks a lot like a fender not really they have a fairly flat radius I'm sure fender is great for blues but for legato or shred Nope. I've learned my lesson. Flat necks adjust so much easier. Like Gibsons bridge sweet. Just a Rant live and learn
Ok I got a question, if you use string height to determine wether or not the neck is straight, what if your action is high? How will you know if it’s your action or neck?
Hi, I set the truss rod, the action and intonotation. Since the strings were to tense, I raised the tail piece, it was worse. Should it be like that? Could be that I have old strings? Thank you.
String age makes the strings tough and tight, so over time they become harder and harder to play. If you're going to set up a guitar, it's always best to do with a new set of guitar strings. If you're still having this problem, try this: 1. Restring your guitar- if you don't know what gauge you're using, I recommend a set of 9 or 10s (meaning .009 or .010). Tune it to pitch (whatever you play in) 2. Adjust the truss rod. Generally, it's recommended to wait 24 hours to allow the neck to set before doing more work, but I've seen lot's of techs just pick it up and start playing so not sure that it's a requirement. If you have the patience, let it sit, because you'll be able to see if it needs further adjustment 3. Tune to pitch, and adjust the bridge height for your action. I do this by ear and feel, basically want the strings to have enough relief to easily bend and slide but not so much relief that you have fret buzz 4. Tune to pitch, and adjust the intonation by comparing the pitch of the 12th fret natural harmonic with the pitch of the 12th fret (tuner required); they should be at about the same reading. The bridge is definitely the hardest because it's to personal taste. Mess around with it until you have it comfortable to play without buzz. If you're not having luck, you can always take it to a tech and let them figure it out.
Well of you know that then why are you watching a video that explains these things? I bet you are one of those people that watch youtube all day watching videos looking for any little thing to be critical about aren’t you?
Its much easier to check relief from the headstock down, set the guitar on the top of your foot and line your sight up down the neck slightly to the side and you'll see the curve easily.
Great video , the way you explain things is top notch.
If using the string method. The clearance is supposed to be between 0.3 -0.5mm states in most manuals. That would be from 10-20th. for those wondering.
Thanks
Thanks for the helpful info in this video! However 240p top quality (...in 2017?) is way too grainy to see any detail of what you're showing. Maybe you could upload the original video again and see where it went wrong?
Thank you! Helped a lot
Got anymore of those pixels?
Great info. Thanks a lot. But I think you mean "backbow" at 3:04, not upbow. If the neck had upbow, the straight edge would only sit on the edges. It would only rock if there was back bow.
was about to say the same thing.
Guitar strings can be used as feeler gauges. Bend it like an L, cut from the tuners of course
Being a total noob, I am into panic about the setting's order on my chinese but good vibrating fake strat (CBS Squier neck added....😄): should I set first a dead straight neck, then the bridge or the nut, or.... I am in a total messy state of mind. Please help me , someone.....
It's mentioned in the video
@@ccr_enjoyer
Thanks, I was a little in a hurry and jumped here and there. I wanted to be sure it was explained, and being italian didn't help me to understand it at first sight. Thanks to post a complete well explained video!!✌
Never measure anything like this! With the guitar laying down like it is in this video the neck is slightly relieved and therefore your measurements will be off. Turn it on its side as In playing position for measuring.
I've never seen any luthier or tech measure clearance with the guitar on its side. I've only ever seen them laying down flat like this.
@@Hickeroar I am a luthier/tech and have my own shop Plus 25 years experience. I promise you this makes changes, small but if you are a perfectionist like me, noticable changes. Always make adjustments in playing position for more accurate results.
@@12south31 Agreed, but it only really matters to the OCD people.
I'd much rather have an OCD guitar tech making sure my guitar was at its best, you know what I mean? 😁
Short and sweet. Most importantly, informational
I just want to thank you for your great help with guitar setups. I have been using your advice for years now. I didn't know how to coment but I know how to now! Again thank you for your help always showing what to do with or without tools. That's helped me so many times. I now have just about everything I need to do setups and repair most guitars. Look forward to new content!!!
I don't think that this is the correct way of measuring the neck relief. The truss rod is only active from the 1st to the 12th fret, therefore it follows that the 6th string should be fretted at the first and twelfth frets and the the area around 5th fret should be examined for any relief.
This is how I was taught, you check past the 12th fret when gauging that there isn’t too much ramp.
All my time trying to get neck right don't have the tools but one and you showed it your preferred with the string action gage thank you very much don't have to have it done someone else you know this really really helped I even had some relief in my mind have a nice day....Roland J Gutierre,
z from Magdalena New Mexico USA 🇺🇸
I wish you would have shown how to use the last straight edge... the small rectangle... I also wish you could have explained the difference between some being in mm and inches. Other than that, thank you for this. It's simple, short and to the point. Almost a PERFECT tutorial.
Wait, I thought if the straight edge rocked back and forth sitting on the middle frets meant it's got a back bow, not an up bow.🙄
Can anybody help me out with something? Trying to measure the neck relief of my guitar but I don't have a straight edge, the feeler gauge I bought appears to have been dipped in oil for 3000 years and don't really wanna put it anywhere near my guitar, and whenever I use the "just look at it" method most people use, I don't know what I'm looking for as all I ever get is "look to see if the string is straight", which will always be straight if you look at it from the right angle?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Tell me about it! Thing is I live in a third world country, no hope to ever find any of them scales or feeler gauges, were lucky enough to have strings and picks really. So I did as he said by looking and saw absolutely nothing to help me tell if the neck was bent either way, so instead I tightened the truss by a quarter turn coz the back of the neck clearly showed space between the bolted part of the neck and the body which I understood to be caused by strings pulling the neck forward due to too much relief. But I wasn't sure if that was enough so here's what I did after, with a flat and long ruler I did what he did in the video, where u put the ruler on the fretboard and see if the middle part of the fretboard has more space comparing to the distal parts of the neck, and when I found all parts of the neck had the same spacing I knew it was good enough. Now after tuning the strings I will check again with the ruler to see if the string pressure pulled on the neck too much causing bowing or if alls good. Btw it's impossible to feel confident doing this stuff for the first time, but I know it helped my guitars action, because before I did the truss, all levels of adjustment on the tailpiece and saddle bridge left me with huge string distance from the fretboard, however now the distance is so small its brilliant, so the truss adjustment was the missing part to fix the problem.
If that was too confusing, throw it out the window and do this redneck thing I did, after you loosen all strings mildly, gently(GENTLY!) bend the guitar neck from the nut area, towards the back of the body and if the strings immediately seem to straighten and get closer towards the fretboard, then you might like to tighten the truss quarter turn then test how the distance looks after tuning the strings, you could repeat this till your satisfied. If the neck is too tight to even feel it move back or forward then it's possibly too tight. Please be careful to avoid breaking the truss and don't forget that you can change the height of the saddle and tailpiece to help get set up the string distance before doing another truss adjustment. After watching several videos of tailpiece/bridge adjustment, I realised there aren't really any fixed principals to fix action height, and you just have to play around with the pieces till it works for your guitar and your fingers. Again you keep doing something and testing it out by tightening strings and playing, then changing it and it's a long process of repetition but it's super rewarding to finally get the best result without doubting that it could be better.
Here's a video explaining the neck bending trick :
Understanding guitar truss rod adjustment by stewmac
@@jadeanis3794 aliexpress
pieces of guitar string are good for feeler gauges
Big help! This clarifies a lot of my questions surrounding neck relief. Thank you.
Need this new for 2021-2022 in high resolution.
Has anyone else used a notched straight edge to check neck relief?
I do for leveling the frets. The notched straight edge measures the fret board with the frets out if the equation. But straight edge on the frets simulates the strings on the frets.
I have a question about a neck that moves in and out (same direction some people bend strings by using the neck)😬 what is the solution to this? Ive taken neck off to look at the neck to body joint but its flat so it leads me to think the joint screws have opened up causing the in - out action of neck. HELP!!!
If the screw slots are stripped, possibly from over tightening them or as you said using the neck as a whammy bar, fill them with wood glue and broken toothpick bits. Redrill slightly smaller hole than the screws and they should be tight again. If they screw in and out very easily the holes are stripped.
I dont half a notch and I've took my kneck of guitar for leveling but I need to no if its straight 100% it looks absolutely perfect when looking down the kneck what to do?
Thanks very much!
Thank you👍
To blurry for my old eyes, needs better quality resolution but thanks anyway!
I have a fender but I hate the radius. If you notice ibanez looks a lot like a fender not really they have a fairly flat radius I'm sure fender is great for blues but for legato or shred Nope. I've learned my lesson. Flat necks adjust so much easier. Like Gibsons bridge sweet. Just a Rant live and learn
You from Tennessee near smoky mountains? Your accent sounds from that area
Question, if im trying to level my frets, do i make my neck completely straight, or bow it like this?
darkinertia2 You'd have to set it dead straight first, before leveling.
Thank you. This is a great video. Really helpful.
Ok I got a question, if you use string height to determine wether or not the neck is straight, what if your action is high? How will you know if it’s your action or neck?
That's why you use a capo on the first fret and hold down a fret near the end of the neck. It removes the nut and bridge as variables
Hi, I set the truss rod, the action and intonotation. Since the strings were to tense, I raised the tail piece, it was worse. Should it be like that? Could be that I have old strings? Thank you.
String age makes the strings tough and tight, so over time they become harder and harder to play. If you're going to set up a guitar, it's always best to do with a new set of guitar strings. If you're still having this problem, try this:
1. Restring your guitar- if you don't know what gauge you're using, I recommend a set of 9 or 10s (meaning .009 or .010). Tune it to pitch (whatever you play in)
2. Adjust the truss rod. Generally, it's recommended to wait 24 hours to allow the neck to set before doing more work, but I've seen lot's of techs just pick it up and start playing so not sure that it's a requirement. If you have the patience, let it sit, because you'll be able to see if it needs further adjustment
3. Tune to pitch, and adjust the bridge height for your action. I do this by ear and feel, basically want the strings to have enough relief to easily bend and slide but not so much relief that you have fret buzz
4. Tune to pitch, and adjust the intonation by comparing the pitch of the 12th fret natural harmonic with the pitch of the 12th fret (tuner required); they should be at about the same reading.
The bridge is definitely the hardest because it's to personal taste. Mess around with it until you have it comfortable to play without buzz. If you're not having luck, you can always take it to a tech and let them figure it out.
@@brendanfreed7850 thanks a lot!
Thank you
240p...jesus ^^
AWESOME video! I appreciate the clear explanation and friendly attitude. Great job :)
Needs to be in playing position if your going to give information do it right
Well of you know that then why are you watching a video that explains these things? I bet you are one of those people that watch youtube all day watching videos looking for any little thing to be critical about aren’t you?
Yo on almost all modern guitars you no longer need a bow. most of that talk is myths
Fdas ** 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks buddy