SETING UP YOUR GUITAR

[bmast160]

i have a fender american deluxe telecaster (s-1). i never had it "setup" but i put on ernie ball regular slinkys (10 gauge strings) and used an 11 gauge high e string. i think these guitars come with (9's on them). is this going to damage the guitar or cause unnecessary bowing in the guitar...is it ok to just change the strings like this without it getting properly aligned and setup for the "regular slinkys".

 

also i have a fender american deluxe strat (s-1) that i had set up for 10 gauge strings and i replaced just the high e with an 11 gauge string...i assume this shouldnt make any difference because of the change being so minimal.

 

Thanks!!!

[yuantian]

i have a fender american deluxe telecaster (s-1). i never had it "setup" but i put on ernie ball regular slinkys (10 gauge strings) and used an 11 gauge high e string. i think these guitars come with (9's on them). is this going to damage the guitar or cause unnecessary bowing in the guitar...is it ok to just change the strings like this without it getting properly aligned and setup for the "regular slinkys". also i have a fender american deluxe strat (s-1) that i had set up for 10 gauge strings and i replaced just the high e with an 11 gauge string...i assume this shouldnt make any difference because of the change being so minimal. Thanks!!!

 

i guess thicker strings increase the tension on the neck. i would think it'll do something to the guitar unless you adjust the truss rod. i usually just stick to the 9's and 10's. tension isn't that much different. i don't want mess with truss rod myself lol.

[LaXu]

No it's not going to do anything.

[bmast160]

 

i guess thicker strings increase the tension on the neck. i would think it'll do something to the guitar unless you adjust the truss rod. i usually just stick to the 9's and 10's. tension isn't that much different. i don't want mess with truss rod myself lol.

 

 

its setup for 9s but i put the 10 pack on but with an 11 high e.

[bmast160]

 

No it's not going to do anything.

 

 

wont do anything to the tele and wont do anything to the strat?

 

i know that it makes a difference if you switch from 9s to 10s on the strat it does make a difference because of the vib bar on it and the floating bridge...thats why i got it set up for 10s but i figured if i just changed the high e to a 11 it wouldnt matter.

 

also....so you're saying it wont make a difference if you move from 9s to 10s on the tele because there is no vib bar and no floating bridge?

[bmast160]

[GAS Man]

At the most you might need to tighten the truss rod a hair.

 

For Fenders this is what you do bub.

 

Put a capo on the neck at the first fret.

 

Hold down the E string at the very last (highest tone) fret

 

Now check the distance between the top of the 7th fret and the bottom of the string. It should be about .012". Use automotive feeler gauges to measure. (the Fender site recommends .010" at the 8th fret, either way will work. The first recommendation is from Dan Erlewine)

 

If it's more than that, then tighten up the truss rod by turning it clockwise 1/4 turn at a time. That is clockwise as you are looking from the headstock towards the bridge.

 

It's just that simple

 

It doesn't hurt to give the neck a bit of a push to help it move.

[bmast160]

 

At the most you might need to tighten the truss rod a hair. For Fenders this is what you do bub. Put a capo on the neck at the first fret. Hold down the E string at the very last (highest tone) fret Now check the distance between the top of the 7th fret and the bottom of the string. It should be about .012". Use automotive feeler gauges to measure. (the Fender site recommends .010" at the 8th fret, either way will work. The first recommendation is from Dan Erlewine) If it's more than that, then tighten up the truss rod by turning it clockwise 1/4 turn at a time. That is clockwise as you are looking from the headstock towards the bridge. It's just that simple It doesn't hurt to give the neck a bit of a push to help it move.

 

 

great! thanks so much! few questions.

 

are you talking about the HIGH E string's highest note?

any recommendations of books by dan erlewine?

what do you mean by giving the neck a bit of a push?

[q149]

You can put whatever sting gauges, at whatever tuning you want.. If you have any problems afterwards, you might need to adjust. But usually if it's setup right for one gauge/tuning, it will work for another pretty much the same.

[GAS Man]

 

what do you mean by giving the neck a bit of a push?

 

 

Well let's say that the strings are too far off of the fretboard so you are tightening the truss rod, turning it clockwise at the headstock, in order to make it bend backwards. You can assist it a bit by giving it a gentle manual bend backwards. I first saw a guy at a music store do that to the carbon epoxy neck on my Parker Fly and it freaked me watching him flex my neck, but then I realized that the idea was to find the equilibrium of the neck by forcing it to wobble a bit after each turn of the truss rod. Hope that makes sense. But you know, necks flex so the idea is to help it along a bit by bending in the direction you are moving it so it will not get hung up with only the truss rod tightening by itself. Not required, but not a bad idea.

[GAS Man]

Remember though. Just check it first. It might not have moved enough to warrant the adjustment. But I do like to get my action as low as I can get it without excessive fret buzz so I'm glad I got past the phobia of doing my own neck adjustments.

 

Now if only I could get better at nut filing and changing out my own electronics.

 

Must get past my soldering phobia.

[bmast160]

thanks!

[outtahear]

It'll play a bit out of tune (intonation)..

 

That could suck.