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I do my own, just because there is no one in my area who I think does a great job, especially with archtops. A 6" machinist ruler with 1/64" measurements is the most basic tool. The string action gauge, like this one from Stew Mac is great: String Action Gauge | stewmac.com
A set of nut files is cool too if you really want to get into it. You can't do a great setup without making the guitar play well at the nut.
The aforementioned frets.com is a great resource. I like the succinct article from SF Guitarworks here: Anatomy of a Setup – SF Guitarworks
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10-31-2020 12:56 PM
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As time goes on you can add more tools. I did minimal fret work until recently when I saw this video about a tool that makes leveling, crowning, and polishing very easy. I decided to take a chance and buy it for about US$40-50. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it works just like the video and I have now done several guitars. Works great for minor setups. jobs.
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Originally Posted by Chazmo
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I do truss-rod adjustments, action and intonation set-up, fret polishing. It's easy and not risky if you are a little handy.
I started to adjust nut height also, because my ES-339 was not OK (despite it came "set-up" by the store I bought it from), but I practiced on an old korean ES-335 copy before !
I started with fret levelling on my son's guitar (it was the 20th one, or so, so it was not so dangerous) and it went OK
I plan to make my own bone nut soon, but I will test my ability on the korean first !
All this because I have not been able to find a tech I can trust in my neighborhood.
It's fun, so try it. The best is if you can practice on a cheap guitar that you have no special connection with.
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Originally Posted by Chazmo
Filling is very time consuming and perfection only comes with the time you can put into the work.
This product looks well thought out and I ordered one.
Thanks
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I'll add something about truss rod adjusting, based on my experience ( which is far from complete). I've owned many Gibsons, a couple of Heritages, several Guilds, many fenders, a couple of Slaman guitars, a few japanese copies, a levin, a Gretsch and other guitars I've forgotten now. I've adjusted friends' guitars for them. I've found that USA Guild guitars adjust easily with string tension in place; the same with most USA fenders, although not all. It's the same for my Slamans- easy adjustment- and all the japanese copies that I can remember.
I've found that most Gibson and Heritages are more problematic and often are quite hard to adjust. The truss rods on these guitars adjust more easily and safely if you put some back pressure on the neck ( NOT the head..) with the left forearm before turning the nut. Putting 2 + 2 together, I've come to the conclusion over time that the "historic truss rod" set-up that gibson proudly features is quite a bad design, that weakens the head unduly at the truss rod cavity and often requires a lot of pressure on the rod to straighten the neck. Back pressure on the neck from the forearm really helps in these situations. By contrast, USA Guild truss rods, with a smaller nut and cavity, and modern dual action truss rods adjust far more easily. Fortunately, many modern luthiers use small dual action truss rods which need less pressure from the truss rod nut - I don't know of any who use the Gibson design, altho; there may well be some.
YMMV of course; and I have an exception to this rule myself, my '58 L4C adjusts easily, and very rarely requires adjustment anyway..
So why do Gibson/ Heritage persist with this 'historic' design, when improved designs are available ? I guess the answer lies in the name...
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It would appear that I will actually have to learn to do it myself. I just got a guitar back from a guy who is actually a renowned builder and has worked closely with some ridiculously well-known people.
The guitar in question had (edit: has) a buzz at the 6th fret, which I (a humble guitarist) was unable to resolve myself. Well, I got the guitar back with a jacked up bridge (I had aleady tried that) and a slightly flatter neck (which I has also tried). Buzz still there, so when I mentioned this, I was told that it would need "more extensive investigation".
I asked in passing what the charge would be for a fret job on another guitar and the fee he quoted could easily buy me a whole new neck (it's a Strat), so fearing how much the "further investigation" would potentially cost, I've been reading up on whether a fret can become loose/unseated without actually appearing to be so.....
If only I'd taken up cello as a kid.
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Originally Posted by Peter C
Fiddly, but < 30 min even on first try. An alternative is to stick the fret down again with CA glue ( although can be messy and definitely not for the un-dextrous or slow-moving).
Stewmac trade secrets is a good resource for this kind of thing. And although techs have a vested interest in talking things up, it's not hi-tech stuff. It's simply
patient, obvious and time-consuming stuff. I find patience the hardest part...
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I do my own action, intonation, and truss rod adjustments, and have also started doing some spot fret leveling/crowning to deal with high frets (but have not graduated to full fret-leveling). I don't do electronics.
John
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Originally Posted by Franz 1997
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Originally Posted by Peter C
I only know of two possible reasons for an isolated buzzing fret; either it's slightly too high ( it happens over time, never sure why) or else just possibly, it's vibrating somehow and needs re-seating ( fret hammer) or re-glueing. If that is the case, no need to remove it; you can wax the fingerboard around the fret and then quickly inject some CA glue under it, and press it down, afterwards quickly removing any excess glue ( there will be some).
I have read about the glueing technique, but I personally have never come across any buzzing fret that wasn't just slightly too high.
Before reglueing any fret I'd make certain to check that it was perfectly level myself, with a metal straight-edge. I have great respect for expert techs, but they are not all expert, and work under time pressure. If slightly high, not too hard to level, recrown and polish, as described. it's called 'spot levelling" ; I think stewmac even sell a tool specifically designed for that purpose that is designed to stop one taking too much off. You mark the tops of the adjacent frets with a marker, and when the marker ink starts rubbing off the adjacent frets, you have levelled the offending fret. As I said earlier, not rocket science, just patient and thorough work.
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Originally Posted by Peter C
Originally Posted by Peter C
Originally Posted by Peter C
Originally Posted by Peter C
Originally Posted by Peter C
Not rock science and can be fun!
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Originally Posted by Franz 1997
Thanks for all the info, which I will duly study!
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Originally Posted by WILSON 1
Ha, no plans to start up a shop, though I'm open to learning to do my own stuff, maybe order some toys from Stew-Mac!
PS I actually should start because my newer, main guitar is gonna need some work one day or another....
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Originally Posted by Peter C
If not, get new guitar.
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I do everything mechanical on my own guitars. That includes nut slotting, fret dressing, etc. Except for the basics, I don't do electronic work and I don't do finish work. 20+ years ago when lived in Savannah GA, I took two of my guitars to an esteemed repair man/builder (not Benedetto) who was an authorized Martin and Gibson repair person and builder of mandolins and guitars. The absolutely worst guitar experience of my life, late, costly and his help stole parts off my 1960 ES 345 not to mention he replaced my factory installed Grover tuners with Kluson copies without my approval. I probably owned the only 1960 Gibson where the Grovers were replaced with Klusons. After that sh!tty experience I decided to learn how do this myself.
I'm mechanically inclined so it wasn't too difficult with the right tools. I invested in nut files, straight edges, etc and bought Erlewine's first book. If one has a modicum of mechanical ability, one can and should be able to work on their own instrument. I now happen to live very near a friend who builds and repairs guitars so if I have electronic work, finish work etc. I take them to him. But when it comes to my preferred setup, I do it myself.
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Originally Posted by jjang1993
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When doing fretwork, you do not want to use your arms and hands to apply a lot of pressure. The weight of the tool is enough, and all you do is move it.
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I also do setups myself, it's not that difficult to learn, especially today with all the video tutorials.
Would love to learn to do fretwork, but unlike setups, the results are permanent and difficult to fix, you need a lot of tools, so not at the moment probably. The whole point would be to get good at it, not to just destroy a guitar..
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I myself set up truss rod, bridge height and position. I also can check the nut is OK or not, but I do not allow myself to touch the nut :-).
All above is a usual case if the stringset type or tension is changing.
To get an appropriate intonation I recommend a phone based or online browser based tuner, because it is a great benefit if this one time setting up scenario you can check not only the octaves but any position, like 11th or 6th and 8th just to make the optimum compromises what sometimes necessary and allows you do cross checks accross the whole neck.
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Guitar electronics is only a little more electronics than plugging a device into a socket. You just connect pickups to pots and the jack in obvious ways. Except instead plugging you'll need to soldier. But then there are even solderless pickups.
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I do my own set ups, including fret level-crown-polish when needed. I also do pickup changes and wiring harness stuff.
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So, other than Allen wrenches, what else would I need? Straight edge? Radius gauges? Would a set like this be a good place to start, or overkill?
Basic Setup Kit | stewmac.com
Or this one?
Action Adjustment Set for Electric Guitar | stewmac.com
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Originally Posted by rsh
Action and pickup height can be measured with a ruler. For Truss rod adjustment measurement some use D'addario string packaging paper (for string height where the give is max).
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Originally Posted by Chazmo
The frets on my Godin Kingpin were in kind of rough shape, so I took a crack at it. It came out pretty well. Some of the lower frets were pitted, and I was nervous about taking it that far down, but I got rid of the pits, and there looks to be a reasonable amount of fret height left (hard to tell, since they're small frets to begin with). Anyway, the buzzes are gone, and over all it definitely feels easier to play. The fretboard extension on this guitar tends to move around quite a bit with weather and humidity changes, so time will tell whether this holds up, but if nothing else I learned that this is doable without destroying the guitar.
John
L-5, L-50, ES-150 questions
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