Looking at the direction of needle travel, it looks as If your reading is to the right of the zero (so the plunger is pushed up from it's flat reading), You are actually in a backbow situation where the middle is higher than the 1st and 12th frets.. Try loosening the truss rod nut (counterclockwise) to allow the neck to straighten out. Electrics should have around .006" relief so you could loosening it a bit - use 1/8-1/4 turn at a time before measuring again. Hope that helps.
I bought one about a year ago. Pretty useless. Stewmac said ignore the small gage, but could not explain what it does. Over all very poor instructions for an expensive tool.
I actually got it working well for me. using a glass counter top to set the gauge isn't accurate, I used a stewmac straight edge to set the gauge, it's tricky to balance it on a straight edge but moving it back and forth you can see where it zeros out at . Once I got it properly set up, I set most of my electric’s up at .05 relief and I’m very happy with the results. I’ll probably make another video showing how I did this. another thing I thought of is to possibly have a machinist make me an accurate flat block to set the gauge, but it depends on how much that would cost.
The small needle indicates the number of long needle revolutions. .100" per long needle revolution. If your guitar has 1/8" (.125") of relief or back bow the gage isn't going to be required. Lol
The small gauge measures 1/10". Each small devision is 1/1000", so the "10" is measuring 10/1000" which is 0.010". Pop a feeler gauge under it to see it working. You can set it so that dead flat measures 0 on the small gauge and 0 on the large gauge (which is what the actual gauge is designed to work). Stewmac set it to 1 so that you can actually measure backbow. Pretty handy tool really. Extremely sensitive though, so zeroing it on a piece of anything other than a dead flat surface designed to be dead flat will be tricky. You can get a string height attachment to fit the gauge in too, so you can accurately measure string action (something I struggle with using fealer gauges)
Maybe the 6th fret is proud of the others. Have you checked for proud frets with a fret rocker? It seems to me that if you check the neck as well as the frets tops then you could see what is making the difference between the two guitars. Note: I recently acquired and still in the befuddles stage.
Hi, I did solve the issue, the gauge was not set up accurately because I used the glass counter top of my stereo cabinet which is not a machined flat surface. Once I had set it properly using a straight edge everything read properly.
The key to reading a travel indicator is to observe the direction the needle rotates when setting it onto the flat surface your using to set the zero. If the needle rotates clockwise on its way to zero as your setting down, make a mental note. Then when you set it on the guitar watch the needle movement. If the needle rotates past the zero as you set on the frets, you have back bow, the fret is applying more pressure on the plunger than the flat surface did. If the needle approaches zero as you set it onto the fret, but never goes all the way to zero you have relief. The fret is applying less pressure than the flat surface did. It's not about the destination it's about the journey.
After you zero the gauge on a flat surface... the front leg sits on the FIRST fret... on the fret top... center of the neck. The back foot sits on the 12th fret... The probe should sit on TOP of the 5th fret TOP. That will give you your measure of relief. So when I measure my SGs, LP, or Tele, I get a number reading NEGATIVE of zero... so the dial move backward... counter clockwise. Still the measurement is in thousandths of an inch... Are you possibly measuring the actual NECK wood between frets instead of the fret tops?
I agree with comment - the indicator should be resting on the fret wire - 5th or 6th fret. Each line on the gauge is 1/1000 of an inch (.001). I typically set up my guitars for 6/1000 of an inch (first 6 lines on gauge ) which is just a little bit of relief. So maybe yo need to recalibrate the gauge.
I had been looking to buy one for a while, it seemed like a good tool so I just ordered one. The jury’s still out, it seems to be easy enough to calibrate, but it’s little difficult to keep from moving all over. I’m assuming the gauge needs to be level while in use or upright? As said in other comment before, it would be good to have a video on the use of this tool. Stewmac seems to have vdeos on every nook and cranny for every aspect of of their other tools and services.
@@larrymedeiros Why would you equate a positive measure on the gauge as relief? Elevation of the fifth fret relative to the first and 12th frets would indicate a bow in the neck.
@Marc Pernia Sure: this definition should help: Neck relief is the amount of bend in a guitar (electric or acoustic) neck. It is determined by string tension and environmental condition and the proper amount to insure good playability without fret buzz is set by adjusting the truss rod
@@larrymedeiros While im perfectly clear on the meaning of neck relief, I do appreciate you following up with a definition. I should point out for future readers, that particular definition could be a bit misleading; relief in a guitar neck is not simply "the amount of bend in a guitar neck", which seems to imply that a bend in any direction is relief. Relief is specifically the curvature in the neck bringing the center of the fretboard AWAY from the strings, or, "bow". What you describe above, "6/1000 of an inch (first 6 lines on gauge )", is "a little bit" of back-bow. Depression of the gauge plunger beyond the zero mark indicates back-bow, i.e. each tick to the right of zero is .001in. of back-bow, not relief.
I bought one of these, zeroing is straightforward I found but tricky as you have to keep the gauge perfectly upright. Sitting it on the first and twelfth fret perfectly upright is also not straightforward as the slightest tilt of the gauge alters the reading. Also, I received a negative reading . 95, does this mean my relief is .95 thou? I’m sure it isn’t. Just tried it a few more times and I find it impossible to record a consistent reading whether negative or not so unless I’m doing something wrong it is in fact good for nothing. I’m going back to adjusting by feel.
It's not at all obvious at first. Once zero'd, place it on the neck and slowly rock it. You will see the needle swing a bit. The trick is to watch where it is the lowest before it starts rising again. THAT is the actual measurement at true perpendicular. Machinists always rock dial indicators back and forth for this reason, it's really hard to know if you are perfectly square so this is the workaround. Hopefully this helps!
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If it reads 90, would mean .010” of relief. 85, .015”, you want left of the zero for your relief measurement.
I just got one and could not understand how to read it until I read your feedback. Thanks djb3545
Looking at the direction of needle travel, it looks as If your reading is to the right of the zero (so the plunger is pushed up from it's flat reading), You are actually in a backbow situation where the middle is higher than the 1st and 12th frets.. Try loosening the truss rod nut (counterclockwise) to allow the neck to straighten out. Electrics should have around .006" relief so you could loosening it a bit - use 1/8-1/4 turn at a time before measuring again. Hope that helps.
I bought one about a year ago. Pretty useless. Stewmac said ignore the small gage, but could not explain what it does. Over all very poor instructions for an expensive tool.
I actually got it working well for me. using a glass counter top to set the gauge isn't accurate, I used a stewmac straight edge to set the gauge, it's tricky to balance it on a straight edge but moving it back and forth you can see where it zeros out at . Once I got it properly set up, I set most of my electric’s up at .05 relief and I’m very happy with the results. I’ll probably make another video showing how I did this. another thing I thought of is to possibly have a machinist make me an accurate flat block to set the gauge, but it depends on how much that would cost.
@@santacruz3600 I use a marble pastry board. Large, smooth and stable.
The small needle indicates the number of long needle revolutions. .100" per long needle revolution. If your guitar has 1/8" (.125") of relief or back bow the gage isn't going to be required. Lol
The small gauge measures 1/10". Each small devision is 1/1000", so the "10" is measuring 10/1000" which is 0.010". Pop a feeler gauge under it to see it working. You can set it so that dead flat measures 0 on the small gauge and 0 on the large gauge (which is what the actual gauge is designed to work). Stewmac set it to 1 so that you can actually measure backbow. Pretty handy tool really. Extremely sensitive though, so zeroing it on a piece of anything other than a dead flat surface designed to be dead flat will be tricky.
You can get a string height attachment to fit the gauge in too, so you can accurately measure string action (something I struggle with using fealer gauges)
@@thebamfordman I picked up some tools from Music Nomad and have not touched it since. I will have a look again.
I have found that if you lie your guitar on its back, the Neck Relief Gauge balances itself perfectly on the frets. This will give you a steady read.
Maybe the 6th fret is proud of the others. Have you checked for proud frets with a fret rocker? It seems to me that if you check the neck as well as the frets tops then you could see what is making the difference between the two guitars. Note: I recently acquired and still in the befuddles stage.
Hi, I did solve the issue, the gauge was not set up accurately because I used the glass counter top of my stereo cabinet which is not a machined flat surface. Once I had set it properly using a straight edge everything read properly.
The key to reading a travel indicator is to observe the direction the needle rotates when setting it onto the flat surface your using to set the zero.
If the needle rotates clockwise on its way to zero as your setting down, make a mental note. Then when you set it on the guitar watch the needle movement.
If the needle rotates past the zero as you set on the frets, you have back bow, the fret is applying more pressure on the plunger than the flat surface did.
If the needle approaches zero as you set it onto the fret, but never goes all the way to zero you have relief. The fret is applying less pressure than the flat surface did.
It's not about the destination it's about the journey.
After you zero the gauge on a flat surface... the front leg sits on the FIRST fret... on the fret top... center of the neck. The back foot sits on the 12th fret... The probe should sit on TOP of the 5th fret TOP. That will give you your measure of relief. So when I measure my SGs, LP, or Tele, I get a number reading NEGATIVE of zero... so the dial move backward... counter clockwise. Still the measurement is in thousandths of an inch... Are you possibly measuring the actual NECK wood between frets instead of the fret tops?
I agree with comment - the indicator should be resting on the fret wire - 5th or 6th fret.
Each line on the gauge is 1/1000 of an inch (.001). I typically set up my guitars for 6/1000 of an inch (first 6 lines on gauge ) which is just a little bit of relief.
So maybe yo need to recalibrate the gauge.
I had been looking to buy one for a while, it seemed like a good tool so I just ordered one. The jury’s still out, it seems to be easy enough to calibrate, but it’s little difficult to keep from moving all over. I’m assuming the gauge needs to be level while in use or upright? As said in other comment before, it would be good to have a video on the use of this tool. Stewmac seems to have vdeos on every nook and cranny for every aspect of of their other tools and services.
@@larrymedeiros Why would you equate a positive measure on the gauge as relief? Elevation of the fifth fret relative to the first and 12th frets would indicate a bow in the neck.
@Marc Pernia
Sure: this definition should help: Neck relief is the amount of bend in a guitar (electric or acoustic) neck. It is determined by string tension and environmental condition and the proper amount to insure good playability without fret buzz is set by adjusting the truss rod
@@larrymedeiros While im perfectly clear on the meaning of neck relief, I do appreciate you following up with a definition. I should point out for future readers, that particular definition could be a bit misleading; relief in a guitar neck is not simply "the amount of bend in a guitar neck", which seems to imply that a bend in any direction is relief. Relief is specifically the curvature in the neck bringing the center of the fretboard AWAY from the strings, or, "bow". What you describe above, "6/1000 of an inch (first 6 lines on gauge )", is "a little bit" of back-bow. Depression of the gauge plunger beyond the zero mark indicates back-bow, i.e. each tick to the right of zero is .001in. of back-bow, not relief.
Would have seen it working better and how to use it
I bought one of these, zeroing is straightforward I found but tricky as you have to keep the gauge perfectly upright.
Sitting it on the first and twelfth fret perfectly upright is also not straightforward as the slightest tilt of the gauge alters the reading.
Also, I received a negative reading . 95, does this mean my relief is .95 thou? I’m sure it isn’t.
Just tried it a few more times and I find it impossible to record a consistent reading whether negative or not so unless I’m doing something wrong it is in fact good for nothing.
I’m going back to adjusting by feel.
Means your relief is .05
@@shawnbillock8968 thanks Shawn
It's not at all obvious at first. Once zero'd, place it on the neck and slowly rock it. You will see the needle swing a bit. The trick is to watch where it is the lowest before it starts rising again. THAT is the actual measurement at true perpendicular. Machinists always rock dial indicators back and forth for this reason, it's really hard to know if you are perfectly square so this is the workaround. Hopefully this helps!
@@dangoldbach6570 thanks Dan, I guess the flaw in this is that you have to guess where that point is, and you could be wrong.
If you don't know how to use it. Sale it. And get a luthier class ok. You will learn what tools you need.