Setting up my hollow body action?

[sgosnell]

If there is no buzzing and you have low action, there is no back bow. The way to test the relief is to simultaneously fret at both the first and (probably) 14th frets (wherever the neck meets the body) and check relief. It should be possible to tap the string on any fret while being held in this position, and hear a ping with a different tone from the other frets. The ping won't be loud, just barely perceptible. A capo at the first fret helps with this, but not absolutely necessary. The string is absolutely straight in the fretted portion, obviously at or near pitch. If there is back bow, the string will be against one or more frets, usually near the center of the neck but not always. Near the center is where most of the relief should be seen. I try to get a barely perceptible amount of relief, but others prefer more, and the ideal amount of relief is different for different players. If the archtop is to be played acoustically with a heavy strum, slightly more relief is likely better, for amplified playing with a lighter touch not so much, but it's subjective. Simply raising the action at the bridge often has sufficient effect. The nut slots need to be perfectly cut of achieve the lowest action, and this can only be done once the desired relief has been set, because the height of the string above the first fret changes as relief changes, and can be too low if cut with greater relief, once the neck is straightened. It's a balancing act, and most repair persons won't bother to get the best possible action, because it's a lot of work, and not every player wants, or will even accept, the lowest possible action. A 'pro setup' is a compromise, and won't satisfy me. But I'm just one guy, and I know better than to trust my guitars to be set up by someone else, and I don't mind making small tweaks as the temperature and humidity fluctuate.

For me, the setup on a plank and an archtop are the same, except for the differences in bridge adjustment. TBH I haven't done much work on Fenders, because I don't own one, but I do have a couple of solid body guitars with bolt on necks, and the setup on those is the same, in principle, as for my archtops.

[yifei3212]

If there is no buzzing and you have low action, there is no back bow. The way to test the relief is to simultaneously fret at both the first and (probably) 14th frets (wherever the neck meets the body) and check relief. It should be possible to tap the string on any fret while being held in this position, and hear a ping with a different tone from the other frets. The ping won't be loud, just barely perceptible. A capo at the first fret helps with this, but not absolutely necessary. The string is absolutely straight in the fretted portion, obviously at or near pitch. If there is back bow, the string will be against one or more frets, usually near the center of the neck but not always. Near the center is where most of the relief should be seen. I try to get a barely perceptible amount of relief, but others prefer more, and the ideal amount of relief is different for different players. If the archtop is to be played acoustically with a heavy strum, slightly more relief is likely better, for amplified playing with a lighter touch not so much, but it's subjective. Simply raising the action at the bridge often has sufficient effect. The nut slots need to be perfectly cut of achieve the lowest action, and this can only be done once the desired relief has been set, because the height of the string above the first fret changes as relief changes, and can be too low if cut with greater relief, once the neck is straightened. It's a balancing act, and most repair persons won't bother to get the best possible action, because it's a lot of work, and not every player wants, or will even accept, the lowest possible action. A 'pro setup' is a compromise, and won't satisfy me. But I'm just one guy, and I know better than to trust my guitars to be set up by someone else, and I don't mind making small tweaks as the temperature and humidity fluctuate.

For me, the setup on a plank and an archtop are the same, except for the differences in bridge adjustment. TBH I haven't done much work on Fenders, because I don't own one, but I do have a couple of solid body guitars with bolt on necks, and the setup on those is the same, in principle, as for my archtops.

Indeed, this observation contradicts my understanding. When I simultaneously press down on the 1st and 14th frets, I can hear a very faint tapping sound on each fret of the low E string, but on the G string, there are some places between the 3rd and 7th frets where I can’t hear any tapping at all. I guess this might be due to uneven fret heights, and my neck is probably dead straight.

Additionally, I’m using 11-gauge flatwound strings, which seem to have less vibration compared to roundwound strings. I guess that might also be a reason.

I really don’t hear any fret buzz, and when I press down on any fret, there’s clearly a lot of space between the string and the next fret. I was a bit surprised.

[sgosnell]

Having a fret a tiny bit high won't always cause buzzing, depending on the action height. If the action is satisfactory and there is no fret buzz, be happy and play.