a cura di:
FUSCO GUITARS - http://members.aol.com/germanogtr/
ELECTRIC GUITAR ADJUSTMENT
by Germano Fusco
The adjustment of any electric guitar is very important. It depends
by the fact that the instruments produced in a factory are regulated in a rough way.
Moreover, every musician needs a personal adjustment and sooner or later they should learn
to do this themselves. These are the steps that a guitarist should follow for the
adjustment:
Strings assembly could seem a simple operation to do. But only a few guitarists do this operation in a right way. If strings assembly is executed in a right way you have a better efficiency in TUNING STABILITY and STRINGS LIFE. First of all you should fix the strings to the bridge thread putting these through the block near the bridge. This can be separated from the bridge (Gibson type)or incorporated in it (Fender, Floyd, Rose). You should put on the strings, taking care that the endball don't get jammed. If your guitar has a Floyd Rose bridge type you have to cut off the endball and to jam the strings to machineheads. Stretch the string to machineheads direction then cut it at 4-5 cm. from the pivot. Therefore you have to thread the strings through the hole in to the pivot and let that the string stretch out 1 cm. Now you have to do a first turn round the pivot passing on the string protuberance, then you have to do the following turns under the string protuberance, so in this way the string has been jammed. At this point you have to tune once the guitar and after that you have to stretch the strings with your hand then to tune again until the strings are stabilized.
After strings assembling you have to adjust the action ("action" is the distance of the strings from the keyboard). Adjust the action acting directly on the single string saddles in the bridge (Fender, Wilkinson) or acting on the side pivots if the bridge is not fixed type (Gibson, Floyd Rose). You should remember that whit a low action the strings could whip on the keyboard. The right action should be about mm. 1.5-2 for lower strings and about mm. 1-1.5 for higher strings. You should check that the strings don't whip on the keyboard. If it happen and it isn't cause by a too low action, probably it could be caused by neck adjustment or by the fact that frets are consumed (in this case you'll need a lutemaker). Back to the index
How to check if the neck has a good adjustment? You have to press the lower E string in the first fret and at the same time on the last fret with the right hand index finger. If the neck has a good adjustment, the string should be at the distance of about 1 mm. from the neck in connection with the seventh fret. If the string touch on the keyboard you have to act on the screw (or hut) of the trussroad loosening it. If the string is higher of mm. 0.25 you should screw down for increase the tension. Acting on the screw with shorts movements (about 1/4 of turn) at a time. If the bridge is a type without vibrato device, you can continue with the last step. If the bridge is a type with vibrato device you should check the right position of the bridge. It's in a right position when its base is parallel of the strings axis. If the base isn't paralles you have to adjust it in the right position acting on the springs located in the body back cavity . You should remeber that when you loosen the springs, the strings get out of tune, so you have to tune again immediately until to get to a right balance.
How can you check if strings compensation is right? By our point of view you should use an electronic tuner. You can check the octaves playing the overtone at twelfth fret and compare it to the note emitted playing the string pressed on the same fret. If the note tuning is growing compared to the overtone you should increase the string lenght, acting on the screws that are fixing the strings bases to draw them back. If the note tuning is falling compared to the overtone you should reduce the lenght string advancing the strings bases. In any case you need to compare the note at twelfth fret with the same overtone several time, until they became equal. You should remember that strings with other size, different quality of materials, climatic conditions and wood seasoning are facts that could modify the right instrument adjustment.
If you need further informations please contact:
FUSCO
GUITARS - http://members.aol.com/germanogtr/
Germano Fusco
strada Collepedeschiavo Km.32.80
00018 Palombara Sabina (RM)
ITALY