What did you do to your Epiphone today?
- Thread starter CanuckLP
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Darkness
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After I had put this guitar together, I didn't play it much because anything below the 7th fret was a minefield of buzzing and dull thuds. Probably my fault for leaving it unstrung for a few months while collecting parts. I had put off dealing with it because I thought I'd have to file some frets and was afraid to mess up.
Today while waiting on laundry I spent 30 minutes checking where buzzes come from, smacking the frets with a brass jeweler's hammer, and checking again. After a few good passes I had smacked down six frets and it was a lot of improvement. It still played dull below the tenth fret. I remembered what an old member here told me, and I raised the action just slightly. Tuned up, every fret sings now. Amazing.
Today while waiting on laundry I spent 30 minutes checking where buzzes come from, smacking the frets with a brass jeweler's hammer, and checking again. After a few good passes I had smacked down six frets and it was a lot of improvement. It still played dull below the tenth fret. I remembered what an old member here told me, and I raised the action just slightly. Tuned up, every fret sings now. Amazing.
That is a nice LP, watzit ?
You know of the Biddlin method to deal with setting the action and relief ? Works 100% of the time to give you the best you can get from your guitar.
Darkness
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Thank you, and yes I used the late, great, Biddlin method. That is exactly who taught me how to set up a guitar.
Equalphone
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The Biddlin method?
Siddhu Boy
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What is the Biddlin method?
SouthPaul71
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https://www.************.com/threads/biddlins-foolproof-setup-method.343/
SouthPaul71
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https://www.************.com/threads/biddlins-foolproof-setup-method.343/
SouthPaul71
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So copying the link didn’t work. Google guitar biddlin method, it will get you there.
Ask and you shall receive
Rest his soul, but here it is, copy it and keep it.This is the opposite order of most setup directions. It is based on performance and not measurements; hence, I don't take any. It works because the neck is immobile between frets 16 and 22. The truss rod only affects lower frets. By setting the upper end first, you know any buzzes are coming from too little relief. This method works for most guitars, with truss rods.
First, get the neck straight. You turn the truss rod ¼ turn at a time, then check relief. If the neck is too concave, turn the truss rod nut clockwise to remove excess relief. If the neck is too convex, turn the truss rod nut counter-clockwise.
Begin by tuning to your normal pitch, i.e. if you normally play in drop D, tune to drop D. Retune between each adjustment. Start by setting the bridge height for frets 16 to 22, so that the strings play buzz free at the lowest possible height.
Start with low E. Plucking normally play fret 16. Lower the bass side of the bridge until it buzzes, raise until clear. Now play it from fret 16 to fret 22. Raise slightly if needed. Check A and D and raise slightly if needed to get clean notes. Remember to retune between steps. Then do the treble side. If you bend notes up here, try a few typical bends, to make sure they don't buzz out.
When all strings play clean go to the lower frets and neck relief. Play the high E string from fret 1 to fret 15, increasing relief (loosening truss rod counter clockwise) to relieve buzz or decreasing relief (tightening truss rod clockwise) to lower the string height. So tighten, by fractional turns (1/4 of a turn), until it buzzes and back off until it doesn't. If you bend strings, do your typical bends to insure they don't buzz out. Once satisfied, check the other strings and make small adjustments as needed, loosening by the slightest amount (1/8th of a turn) to relieve buzzing.
Once you have acceptable relief, (i.e. no buzz) and easy action, set your intonation and you're done.
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Raiyn
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Oh is it that time of year? Are we back to the Joe Walsh / Biddlin / Jedi setup nonsense again?
Spreading that shit is dangerous because often enough the guy asking is a complete N00b to guitars, never mind doing actual setup work.
Biddy (and Joe Walsh who has demonstrated this "method" has / had decades of experience under their belts and (especially in Joe's case) weren't starting with a bad setup to begin with.
The last thing you want to tells someone who knows bubkis about guitar is to "Use the Force" to set their stuff up. They will almost certainly screw things up badly, have no idea what they did wrong and no starting point to which they can return.
If you measure, you know where you are so you can figure where you need to go.
I should also mention that once Joe is done playing Jedi - his guitar techs will measure every bit of a guitar he "sets up" so they can hand it to him so it feels the same in Toronto as it did in Albuquerque - that's what they get paid for.
Every touring tech has notes and measurements about what their player likes.
Having said all of that, before some complete n00b (no offense) comes in here trying to setup a guitar by using the Force or some method they ripped off from the lead guitarist of the James Gang here are some actual methods and measurements to start with.
Some tools you'll need.
Dave can explain it in video form better than I have time to do here, but here goes.
The measurements below are in most cases stock measurements from the factory or at least numbers I've used with great success over the years of working on my guitars and for other people.
Truss rod: Capo at the first fret hold the low E string at the body joint. Use your feeler gauges at the 7th fret. I like about 0.012" of relief. Go slowly. 1/8 of a turn at a time at most and measure often.
String Height: Uncapoed
Measured at the 12th fret Gibsonish stuff 5/64ths on the bass side 4/64ths on the treble. Fenderish stuff 4/64ths for everything. On Gibsonish products ensure that the strings don't hit the back of the bridge. If you can slip a piece of regular paper under them, you're good. The stop bar is adjustable by design. That's a whole other rant, but for now just trust me.
Pickup height: Hold the E/e string at the last fret depending on which side you're doing. Bass side I like to start with 6/64ths or 3/32", and 4/64ths or 1/16th on the treble side. Detune if you need to raise the action. You can get away with lowering the action under tension, but it won't hurt anything to detune for that as well.
Intonation *should* be spot on unless someone f'd with it.
Once you get it to this point, THEN if you wanna find out if your Maserati does 185 have at it. At least you'll have a starting point to return to when it goes wrong.
Spreading that shit is dangerous because often enough the guy asking is a complete N00b to guitars, never mind doing actual setup work.
Biddy (and Joe Walsh who has demonstrated this "method" has / had decades of experience under their belts and (especially in Joe's case) weren't starting with a bad setup to begin with.
The last thing you want to tells someone who knows bubkis about guitar is to "Use the Force" to set their stuff up. They will almost certainly screw things up badly, have no idea what they did wrong and no starting point to which they can return.
If you measure, you know where you are so you can figure where you need to go.
I should also mention that once Joe is done playing Jedi - his guitar techs will measure every bit of a guitar he "sets up" so they can hand it to him so it feels the same in Toronto as it did in Albuquerque - that's what they get paid for.
Every touring tech has notes and measurements about what their player likes.
Having said all of that, before some complete n00b (no offense) comes in here trying to setup a guitar by using the Force or some method they ripped off from the lead guitarist of the James Gang here are some actual methods and measurements to start with.
Some tools you'll need.
- 4mm Allen key (I like a long T handle model)
- Phillips screwdriver
- Capo (cheapo from Monoprice works fine)
- Set of feeler gauges specifically a 0. 012" / .30mm
- ruler capable of measuring in 64ths
Dave can explain it in video form better than I have time to do here, but here goes.
The measurements below are in most cases stock measurements from the factory or at least numbers I've used with great success over the years of working on my guitars and for other people.
Truss rod: Capo at the first fret hold the low E string at the body joint. Use your feeler gauges at the 7th fret. I like about 0.012" of relief. Go slowly. 1/8 of a turn at a time at most and measure often.
String Height: Uncapoed
Measured at the 12th fret Gibsonish stuff 5/64ths on the bass side 4/64ths on the treble. Fenderish stuff 4/64ths for everything. On Gibsonish products ensure that the strings don't hit the back of the bridge. If you can slip a piece of regular paper under them, you're good. The stop bar is adjustable by design. That's a whole other rant, but for now just trust me.
Pickup height: Hold the E/e string at the last fret depending on which side you're doing. Bass side I like to start with 6/64ths or 3/32", and 4/64ths or 1/16th on the treble side. Detune if you need to raise the action. You can get away with lowering the action under tension, but it won't hurt anything to detune for that as well.
Intonation *should* be spot on unless someone f'd with it.
Once you get it to this point, THEN if you wanna find out if your Maserati does 185 have at it. At least you'll have a starting point to return to when it goes wrong.
Telechamp
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Changed strings on my '96 MIK Epi LP Standard to the D'Addario 9.5-44 hybrid set. Had 10's on it before. Subtle difference, but definitely noticeable. The 9.5's make bending strings a breeze.
Also polished the frets, and put some coconut oil on the dry board.
Also polished the frets, and put some coconut oil on the dry board.
Darkness
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That is a beauty.
I spent a bit of time playing the one I recently hammered the frets on. Toyed with a Vox modeling amp to see how these pickups work with different effects, it likes some crunch and some overdrive. Even more it likes the clean setting with both volumes fully up and the gain half way. This neck pickup doesn't have any boomyness to it, which is unusual to me. I have to go run errands but when I get back I'll plug into the bigger amp and see how that goes. It's fun how a new guitar makes all your amps a new journey, or a new amp makes all of your guitars have a different personality.
Then the next time you try that amp, nothing sounds good. Damned ears ...
Darkness
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Well that's just because it's me playing
Telechamp
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I read on a forum recently (Might have been MLP) that some guy put coconut oil on a dry Epi board - and his pics looked great - so thought I'd try it... Ha
(I usually use Music Nomad F-One oil..)
His fretboard looks better than mine, though... His post is below:
