Set up question

[donepearce]

Yes, exactly...in a BORING theoretical way.....LOL !!! I did get obsessed with the whole perfect intonation thang once I was able to figure out what I figured out over many years....and now? Its been a fulll blown obsession for over 15 years now, **** ME !!!!.....my guitars have to have DEAD-ON RINGING 2nd Octave Open A's, E's & D's.....they just have to. BUT, I will not do this to every GIBSON I set-up, no.....$50-$60 for a set-up is not mega $$$ and taking time to get the second octave open chords to RING correctly can take more time than it is worth....so in the cases where an input jack needs to be tightened, pickups adjusted etc etc then I settle for 12TH Fret usualness and no one complains anyway.

Small thing, but a pet peeve of mine. It's an output jack. The amplifier has the input jack.

 

[living room rocker]

Nut adjustment is vital for low fret note accuracy. Manufacturers will never adjust a nut properly because that requires you to be one file stroke away from too far. Any new guitar needs a setup from a decent luthier who is willing to take time. And time costs.

I've a question about this topic because my head stock tuner shows some first position notes a tad sharp. I'd rather not remove the nut and sand down the backside if I can avoid it. I've always read that a properly filed nut slot allows a cradle for the string with roughly half of the string resting above the top surface of the nut. If filing the nut slot to the correct depth recesses the string into the nut past this halfway point, does this cause problems? Do pro's ever cut the string slots deeper into the nut then compensate by filing the nut's top surface to regain the ideal "half in, half out" string position? To summarize, how important is it that the string passes over the nut with half the string in the slot and half the string sitting above it.

 

[donepearce]

The "half the string showing" thing is about hand comfort. You don't want to be catching skin on a protruding nut. I have done exactly what you say with the nuts on all my guitars. I start by deepening the slots so they are exactly the height a well-dressed fret would be. Then I sand and smooth the top til they look right.

 

[donepearce]

This is a bone nut I made for a Strat copy. It now plays better than a real Strat.

 

[smitty_p]

Small thing, but a pet peeve of mine. It's an output jack. The amplifier has the input jack.

THANK YOU!!!

(A pet peeve of mine, as well.)

 

[living room rocker]

This is a bone nut I made for a Strat copy. It now plays better than a real Strat.
View attachment 48567

A great shot too of your self-locking string attachment method with minimal wraps around the peg. Curious why you're not using the middle string tree.

 

[donepearce]

A great shot too of your self-locking string attachment method with minimal wraps around the peg. Curious why you're not using the middle string tree.

String trees are an added source of friction, so if I find the strings are not popping out of the nut I don't use them.

 

[MR D]

Small thing, but a pet peeve of mine. It's an output jack. The amplifier has the input jack.

U kno, if its one mistake I always make...its that one (I do kno the wire is called a JACK tho !!).....and the simple a$$ lead to...BION 'In Gods Country'..**** it up every time.... tried it today 1st time in years, nope !.....and as simple as they may be.....I still **** those two up... every time. What can I say.....heavy mud use...stuck on stoopid blah blah.......but tnx...gotta remember that......

 

[smitty_p]

String trees are an added source of friction, so if I find the strings are not popping out of the nut I don't use them.

Same here.

Check out this pic. The strings pass right over the string tree. The strings don't pop out, even with vibrato use.

Those paying attention in the class will notice the wound 3rd string!

 

[MR D]

Same here.

Check out this pic. The strings pass right over the string tree. The strings don't pop out, even with vibrato use.

Those paying attention in the class will notice the wound 3rd string!

View attachment 48568

Malcolm Young manuver, I tried that wound G..... .018" was the skinniest i could find....what gauge is that, if u dont mind ? Brand? Since I got rid of the Bigsby's I stopped doin that.... but.....change can be good thang.

 

[smitty_p]

Malcolm Young manuver, I tried that wound G..... .018" was the skinniest i could find....what gauge is that, if u dont mind ? Brand? Since I got rid of the Bigsby's I stopped doin that.... but.....change can be good thang.

D'Addario makes a .017 wound 3rd available in singles. It is D'Addario part number NW017. They are the only company I've found who make one that thin. I buy them in a 5-pack from Juststrings.com.

However, the set on my Strat currently is an experimental thing I've been trying. It is a set of GHS Boomers gauged 9 - 42. But, I've replaced the .011 second string with a .012 string, and I've replaced the plain third with the D'Addario .017 wound third.

Lately, I just use a GHS DYXL 10-46 set with a .018 wound third. That is what I have on my Les Paul, my two SGs, and the White Falcon.

But, I always reserve the right to be fickle and change my mind at any time!

I often play around with customized string sets. The reason generally has less to do with tone and more to do with feel. But, I will say, on a Strat, swapping to a wound 3rd had the single biggest effect in reducing the Strat spikiness. That's kind of what hooked me. I think a string set with a wound 3rd sounds smoother on a Strat with vintage-stagger pickups, as my Strat has.

Of course, this often entails some minor tweaks to intonation settings, but swapping strings is essentially a free mod! You're gonna change strings anyway, at some point. So, it's not like you're out any money that you wouldn't have spent, anyway. All it really costs is the time to do a minor tweak to some saddles.

 

[MR D]

D'Addario makes a .017 wound 3rd available in singles. It is D'Addario part number NW017. They are the only company I've found who make one that thin. I buy them in a 5-pack from Juststrings.com.

However, the set on my Strat currently is an experimental thing I've been trying. It is a set of GHS Boomers gauged 9 - 42. But, I've replaced the .011 second string with a .012 string, and I've replaced the plain third with the D'Addario .017 wound third.

Lately, I just use a GHS DYXL 10-46 set with a .018 wound third. That is what I have on my Les Paul, my two SGs, and the White Falcon.

But, I always reserve the right to be fickle and change my mind at any time!

I often play around with customized string sets. The reason generally has less to do with tone and more to do with feel. But, I will say, on a Strat, swapping to a wound 3rd had the single biggest effect in reducing the Strat spikiness. That's kind of what hooked me. I think a string set with a wound 3rd sounds smoother on a Strat with vintage-stagger pickups, as my Strat has.

Of course, this often entails some minor tweaks to intonation settings, but swapping strings is essentially a free mod! You're gonna change strings anyway, at some point. So, it's not like you're out any money that you wouldn't have spent, anyway. All it really costs is the time to do a minor tweak to some saddles.

TNX, its all coming back to me now ! D'Addario, right......I didn't find a .017" though, good news....Have you tried the Ernie Ball TURBO Slinky's ? they're basiclly .46- but with .095" Hi E and a .012" B, the rest are standard 46-09 set....

I dig the 'right to change my mind' part Bro..., anything that ROCKS, I say...if it floats the boat...off u go !!!

Yeah, the part about the individual adjustment saddles is just one MORE reason I stay away from Fenders....a good ol' T-O-M on my GIBBO, no fuckin around with those tiny ass saddle allen keys, where if you lose one, good luck finding another one...been there, **** THAT ! Not that I can not appreciate a good Telecatser with a Humbucker in it, surely can.....but those saddle keys.....oh I remember a bad time tryin to find one of those allen keys, FFS !! Took months.....that was 20 years ago, and havent had a Fender since.

 

[ChrisM84]

@ChrisM84 did you go back to 10’s and how did it turn out?

Oh....I actually sold the guitar.

Just kidding. Yes, went back to 10s with no issues. I went down to 9s for about a year and a half after a hand injury (hard surface/hand/rope/bodyweight ) . After my fretting hand got back to 100%, I went back 10s. Not the biggest jump in string gauge but my callouses were in a state of shock for about a week lol. No harm no foul.

Lots of good info in this thread. My fingertips are happy it got so much attention!