540 setup newbie

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message   Jvandyke Username: Jvandyke Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:20 pm:    Recently got a 540SH (1989). No previous experience with floating trems. I've got her cleaned up and set up okay but I'm going by the book (here: http://mysite.verizon.net/jazz.guitar/guitarsetup.htm and here http://www.jemsite.com/tech/1setup.htm#step1 and this book (which is awesome) Erlewine, Dan. Title How to make your electric guitar play great! : the electric guitar owner's manual But...I seem to have quite a bit of fret buzz yet, measure relief right near .010mm (capo behind first fret, finger on 13th, measure on 7th) I set the trem height at about 2mm for low E, 1.5 or so for high E. (measured at fret 17 I believe) What else could I be missing? BTW the truss had never been touched judging by the plasitic coating still under the screw heads on the cover plate. I did give it a counter clockwise turn of about 1/4 turn which helped get me to .010mm, maybe I need reassess nut height? I must also consider that a bit of buzz is normal and expected, ?   Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 4:44 pm:    The specs for the action you site assume that the frets are level, securely seated, and don't take into account your playing style. Every guitar is different, and you need to look at them on a case by case basis. Set the guitar up to get the lowest action you are comfortable with in terms of buzzing. If the buzz happens when you fret near the nut, try adding relief. If it happens near the pickup. reduce relief. Adjusting the bridge height each time you change the relief. If the action is on the high side, and you are still getting buzz, your guitar may benefit from a pro fret job. They should glue down any loose frets, and then level and contour all the frets. -Sven   Jvandyke Username: Jvandyke Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Monday, March 06, 2006 - 10:01 am:    I'm getting buzz on the higher frets mostly. I just raised the trem until it was mostly gone but this puts the low E action pretty high. Relief certainly doesn't appear to be too much. I'm not above getting a pro set up but I want to learn. I suppose that's a good way to learn though. I'm also worried about adjusting trem height, turning the studs with the trem's knife edge bearing down on it. Some say take the trem pressure off first, but that's a pain in the arse. In that book I mentioned, they site an Ibanez factory tech (name escapes me now) he says it doesn't hurt the knife edge. You'd think he'd know.   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Monday, March 06, 2006 - 10:39 am:    I think the baseline measurement is at the 12th fret... your strings should be 2mm from the fretwire (I think, double check this). On the RGs, some amount of buzzing is normal, but you shouldn't be able to hear it through the amp.   Jvandyke Username: Jvandyke Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 11:35 am:    Oh, I think I hear a little loss of sustain. I don't know, I've gotta be close. Further messing around and I seem to have low string buzz (minimal) nearly the length of the neck, but minimal. I also raised the pickup height last night (to about 2mm below the strings) but haven't even tried it yet. I've also got to get serious about setting the intonation. Might try a digital tuner off the computer for that as I've been using my Digitech RP-3's tuner and my ear so far. I'm thinking of taking into a shop and handing it over, I'm hoping for a free quick assessment, like "dude, not bad" or "holy crap this thing is screwed up".   Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 1:45 pm:    Jvandyke, Sometimes when you set up a guitar with really low action, and just a slight amount of buzz the length of the fretboard, you get "tone suck". Although you may not have noticeable buzz, the string is lightly contacting several frets when it vibrates. The result is a loss of tone and sustain. You need to decide how much you can live with. In my experience, the guy at the shop will always say your guitar will benefit from a pro set-up and/or fret job. Nothing against guitar shops - they are probably right (and they gotta make a buck). But you are the best judge. It's a good idea to have a pro setup done on at least one guitar, so you have a benchmark to compare with at least. One of the nice thing about MIJ Ibanez guitars (as ling as they have not developed issues) is that they usually have good fretwork, and a pro setup is not a requirement, like on some other guitars.

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: