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I hope this isn't the wrong discussion page...
I have a 65 Hofner archtop that needs to be set up. I understand that all guitars are different, but I would appreciate some "general" starting points for neck relief and bridge height. I've searched the other pages on the forum but, all I find are opinions and generalizations. I thought I might find some specific specs here from the experts. Thanks in advance for any and all guidance. Here are some pics of the guitar:
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08-31-2025 07:46 PM
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I can tell you what works for me. This is a generic method that will work for most guitars. It doesn't require any tools, and it takes into account each guitar's unique personality, regardless of manufacturer's stated optimal specs.
1. Before starting, make sure the nut slots are sane, the bridge is ok, the frets are pretty level, and the neck isn't twisted, warped, or otherwise gerfungled. Maybe clean the guitar up and put a little graphite powder scraped from a pencil in the nut slots.
2. Make sure the guitar is strung with a good set of strings you will be using for a while. Tune the strings to correct pitch, since string tension will affect the neck bow adjustment, which comes next.
3. Put a capo on the first fret and use some means of holding down all the strings at the last fret, or at least at some fret above the twelfth fret. A finger works if you don't have anything else.
4. Adjust the truss rod until there is only a small gap between the top of the 8th fret and the strings. The gap should be just big enough so that a little slip of notebook paper placed under the strings at the 8th fret will just barely fall out.
5. Remove the capo and anything else you were using to hold the strings down.
6. Keeping the bridge level, adjust its height until you get a little string buzz at ONLY ONE of the following two places: near the nut. or around the 9th or 10th fret.
7. If you're only getting buzz near the nut, increase the neck bow a little. If you're pnly getting buzz near the 9th or 10th fret, decrease the neck bow a little. Repeat until the buzz is about the same at both places.
8. Adjust the bridge height again, until you don't get any buzz at either place.
9. Tune the open strings to exact pitch. Adjust the saddle position(s) until the strings played at the 12th fret are also at exact correct pitch, neither sharp nor flat. If a string is a little flat at the 12th fret, move the saddle toward the neck. If a string is a little sharp at the 12th fret, move the saddle away from the neck.
10. Done. Guitar should be easily playable with low (or preferred) action and no buzzing, and in tune up and down the neck.
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Thank you Strumcat.
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I make the neck as flat as I can and the action as low as I can. With 13’s on my guitar, I don’t get a lot of buzzing with low action. When other people play my guitar they tell me things like,
“this action is too low” or “how can you play this” you know, glowing reviews.
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If you played a solid body electric guitar for many years previous to playing an archtop, then a low action is usually expected.
Originally Posted by AllanAllen
I make the neck as flat as I can and the action as low as I can. With 13’s on my guitar, I don’t get a lot of buzzing with low action. When other people play my guitar they tell me things like,
“this action is too low” or “how can you play this” you know, glowing reviews.
But, some acoustic tone is lost with a low action on an archtop guitar.
Many forum discussions on action height over many years:
Action height for acoustic fingerstyle archtop?
Action height discussion
Optimum String Action For Archtop
Minimum String Height?
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There's a brief account of my recent dabbling with my early 60s Congress. FB radius vs Bridge radius The truss rod nut is 7 mm hex. I had to file the wrench a bit to be able to line it up in the recess. I didn't want to remove any wood. I managed to achieve a fairly straight neck for one of these old 'fun' guitars. Between 1st and 14th frets I got relief of 0.004 thou on high E and 0.008 on low E. My method for making the TR adjustment is on the link. The action at 12th on high E is just shy of 4/64" and low E 4.5/64" (9/128" !). And I reshaped the bridge saddle for a better radius and dressed the frets. There's a first time for everything! All very good for an old cheap guitar. Sounds good as well.
ps. The strings are 12 -53 PBs.
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Getting the lowest possible action requires perfection in every area. The frets must be perfectly leveled, the nut slots must be perfectly cut, the bridge saddle(s) must be perfectly adjusted, and the neck must be perfectly straight. If any is not perfect, then higher action will be required to prevent buzzing and give good tone. There is not one easy way to set up a guitar, everything affects everything else. Most people who do setups just get it close enough. I just do setups for myself, so I have the leisure to take my time and tweak things as often as I desire. A few hours of work is not a real expense for me, but if I were doing it for a living I wouldn't have the luxury of time. Hours spent sneaking up on perfection is time I could be making more money doing other things, so don't expect perfect setups from a professional. Also, what I consider perfect isn't necessarily what anyone else would consider perfect. So if you're paying someone for the work, close enough is good enough unless you have lots of reserve expendable cash.
When I do my own setups, assuming level frets, I start at the nut, and get each slot to the proper depth, working slowly and measuring frequently, so that when the string is fretted between the second and third fret, there is an imperceptible gap between the string and the first fret. Then I adjust the trussrod so that the neck is straight under string tension, at pitch. Then I adjust the saddle height to get the lowest action I can achieve without buzzing, usually starting with the treble e string, but any order will work as well. Saddle slots will usually need to be tweaked to get the desired action for each string, normally getting very slightly higher as the bass strings are approached. It's normal, IME, to have slightly higher action as you go from treble to bass, but I don't like a lot of difference. When you get the action this low, it's not unusual to need to tweak the trussrod and the saddle height now and then. The relief can be affected by humidity and temperature changes. If you have relatively high action (to me 2 mm or more on the treble strings) then you may not ever notice any need to change anything, but when you have everything right on the edge tweaks are inevitable. Whether it's worth having action as low as possible is a personal decision, and not something anyone else should impose on you. I haven't addressed fret leveling and dressing, because that's a complicated subject. There are different ways of doing it, and I won't even get started on it.
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Definitely no "one size fits all" answer, but something like this video may be a useful starting point—then you can season to taste:
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Where are the specific specs from the experts that the OP has asked for? And he/she has posted in the correct sub - forum!
I'm equally interested. Thanks.
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No expert but might be of interest : Originally Posted by garybaldy
Hammertone is the recognized Hofnerologist
here.
S
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I think I've watched all the hofner and other budget archtop neck resets et al that there are on YT!! Originally Posted by SOLR
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I don't know of any specific specs. What I use is "as low as I can get it while still sounding good". Neck relief is a matter of preference, and bridge height is a function of neck angle, height above the top, and relief, and it can vary widely, thus there is no sensible spec for that, other than whatever it takes to get the desired action on the individual guitar. I have some archtops with very high bridges, and some with pretty low bridges, and they all play fine. It's not something that has any real significance. The OP is asking for things that don't exist.
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