Hard Luck Setup

For help with setups and other technical issues.
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LVC
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Re: Hard Luck Setup

Post by LVC » Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:46 am

Cajun wrote:
Wed Mar 25, 2020 5:55 am
The bridge saddles are set to the radius (from the shoddy setup) and are lacquered in, so there’s no moving them.
Try soaking the saddles in acetone, or injecting acetone between the height adjustment screws and their holes with a syringe.

Needless to say, don't get acetone anywhere near the guitar. Even vapors can ruin a finish.

In the worst case scenario you can find aftermarket bridges similar to yours for cheap on eBay. I don't know if the specs are 100% the same though.
Create art, not content

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adamrobertt
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Re: Hard Luck Setup

Post by adamrobertt » Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:58 am

DeathJag wrote:
Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:38 pm
Larry Mal wrote:
Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:04 pm
Oh, I also forgot a Fret Rocker.

I don't work on my own frets, not yet, but this will at least tell me when it genuinely is time to get to a real technician. Also my little setup steps above didn't account for the nut, either, which I also don't work on. My setups start with the idea that the nut is cut properly at some point and that the frets are capable of giving me a good setup. There's no point chasing down low action like I prefer if the frets aren't capable of doing that, you know?

So usually I figure on at least one pro set up, or if it seems to come together without one then I go with that. I buy most guitars used and usually at some point the nut has been worked on and if it seems good I go with it. If I buy a new guitar then yeah, it'll need some nut work.
Did you notice the neck heel on that neck the dude’s leveling?

I’m also curious how fret leveling works if the strings are not providing tension. Does the string tension change the fret levels? I realize this is a dumb question.
Yeah, it's really hard to accurately eyeball relief. The difference between .010'' and .015'' is visually very slight, but makes a huge difference to how the guitar plays.

And to answer your question about how Offsets are supposed to be - no. They aren't supposed to have high action and buzz. My JM has really low action and plays beautifully. It's all about dialing in the setup.

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DeathJag
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Re: Hard Luck Setup

Post by DeathJag » Wed Mar 25, 2020 1:58 pm

I ordered some tools, I’m gonna have a go with the JM. It was fret leveled and set up by Stange Guitarworks here and I think they did a great job. I think it just needs a little adjustment.

Thanks for the inspirational tales!

Dan

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