2017 Gibson les paul traditional, less relief on high E vs low E?

[Gino753]

Hi guys after setting the relief, on my 2017 Gibson les paul Traditional.I capied the first fret, held down the last fret, and measured the gap in the middle of the neck, and when i tap on the low E string, i found that there is more clearence between the fret and the low E string, vs the fret and the high E string.I went and measured with feeler guages, and i have around .003 thousandths less relief on the high E side then the low E.I have read allot ,as people said this is normal, one person said that all 12 of his Historic les pauls were like this, and a couple people mentioned a twist in tge neck...?? Any help please

[bigtim]

is your bridge level? I would check this and rest the end of the guitar body on the floor and look down the fret board from the string nut. If there is a twist you may be able to see it if it is going toward the string with more relief.

[Black Dog]

If you look down the neck from the nut to the 16th fret, and all the frets look even it's probably not twisted.

 

I have never measured neck relief. I just set it to where I get no buzz with the action I want.

 

Though, when checking relief, I have noticed that the high E does seem a bit lower then the low E on all my LPs. But, I get no buzz or choke at all. Fat/low strings vibrate with way more magnitude than skinny/high ones.

[IanHenry]

Gino, I don't think your neck is twisted, you should only be measuring at the low E. The high E measurement is always going to be larger, simply because of the difference in gauge between the low E and the High E, the difference is considerable.

 

To recap, only use the low E when setting your neck relief.

 

Ian

[badbluesplayer]

That's not unusual at all. All of my Gibsons have been like that. The neck IS twisted. Most all are to a slight degree. It's from the difference in tension in the different strings across the fretboard. Pretty normal in my experience.

[Eracer_Team]

is your bridge level?

 

 

With a capo on the first fret and him holding down the last fret, eliminates what the nut or bridge are doing as the string now becomes the straight edge.

 

Its possible the string thickness could cause a bigger gap, so could a twisted neck

[Gino753]

I looked down the neck, from the headstock,and i didnt see any twist.This is what i have been reading, is that the neck is twisted, the neck is not twisted , the neck is twisted, no the neck is not twisted, this is normal, to have uneven neck relief, on some guitars

[Gino753]

Hi Gino753 - This is quite normal, as other members have pointed out. I've had a ton of LPs and they all had this gap difference. The low E having the wider gap.

 

If it stays in tune, intonation is set and it sounds good, you are good to go!

 

Personally, I use the 14th and 9th and/or 15th and 7th to check neck relief.

 

Thank you for the reply man, im just going nyts here, when i buy a guitar, i own it...so to send it off for possible repair, removing the fretboard, heat steaming the neck streight...is not going to happen, im like Nigel from (This is Spinal Tap) you know? I LOVE my guitars..lol.. my Gibson les paul standard has this too, but a bit less of a difference in relief between the high and low E maby 2 thousandths less releif on the high E vs the low.But my Traditional is 3-4 thousandths less relief vs the low E.Now my dad who is a machinist, a master of measuing, thinks im crazy, to worry about this, because he said even if its 5 thousandths of a difference, he says 5 thousandths is nothing, and more than likely within Gibsons specs, when they build, a guitar and measure this stuff..aka neck twist how the neck was seated..etc..and although i greatly respect his opinion as a 36 year master machinist,i still need help from other les paul owners, luthiers, guitar people

Enjoy your Trad!

[rct]

I looked down the neck, from the headstock,and i didnt see any twist.This is what i have been reading, is that the neck is twisted, the neck is not twisted , the neck is twisted, no the neck is not twisted, this is normal, to have uneven neck relief, on some guitars

 

You are looking at the distance between string and fret and using only one factor as you look. Neck relief, nut height, saddle height. Three things determine how high the string is. A set of guitar strings has to allow more room for the wound strings to vibrate, they will naturally always be higher. If your skinny E and fat E were the same height the fat E wouldn't work right.

 

If you look at acoustic bridges you will see that the D string is highest because it has the widest field of vibration.

 

It isn't the neck at all, unless it is the neck. If the guitar is playing right, intonating right, and not fretting out in weird places, it is not twisted at all.

 

Yer welcome.

 

rct

[Gino753]

We are talking about relief correct? And not bridge hieght?

[kaicho8888]

All my Gibson's appear that way... larger relief on the low E than the high E. If you like how it plays... it doesn't matter what the measurements are. Experiment with adjustments; play a few days then readjust again until you find your sweet spots!

 

All my guitars play well for me. Some have too low string height (action less 3/64" on high E) and have no fretting or string buzz. I prefer much higher action on some. BTW, not all my guitars have the same action height...action is strictly what you prefer unique to a particular guitar and playing style.

Edited December 12, 2018 by kaicho8888

[Pinch]

What everyone else said. Mine are like that too.

[SomeDude]

My ‘16 T is the same

[The Greek]

Hi guys after setting the relief, on my 2017 Gibson les paul Traditional.I capied the first fret, held down the last fret, and measured the gap in the middle of the neck, and when i tap on the low E string, i found that there is more clearence between the fret and the low E string, vs the fret and the high E string.I went and measured with feeler guages, and i have around .003 thousandths less relief on the high E side then the low E.I have read allot ,as people said this is normal, one person said that all 12 of his Historic les pauls were like this, and a couple people mentioned a twist in tge neck...?? Any help please

My ES-335 is the same - perhaps a bit more pronounced. However, my luthier (highly trusted) said the neck is not twisted. He went on to say that if it was a flaw, it was a fortunate flaw providing more space for those strings that move more when they vibrate. Playsbility is great all up and the neck.

[Gino753]

Thank you all soo much,

 

Now i ask a favor,when you have time, maby who ever feels like check there relief on each side of the neck, on the les paul, or guitar of choice, and posting the measurements here, i would really appreciate it,as an experiment,

[IanHenry]

Gino,

you'll find everything you need to know here:

 

http://www.gibson-talk.com/forum/threads/gibson-factory-set-up-specs.15130/

 

 

Regards,

Ian

[Gino753]

Thank you for that, it was nice to read from a Gibson final inspector,however ,he says to check the high and low E string while measuring relief....what would he say about this

[Pinch]

Thank you for that, it was nice to read from a Gibson final inspector,however ,he says to check the high and low E string while measuring relief....what would he say about this

 

He would say you're overthinking it. Every guitar I've had has been like yours when it comes to this. Not least because of the bridge tilt.

 

It's perfectly normal, I assure you!

[merciful-evans]

The best way to check for a twist is with strings off.

 

As has been said, most guitar necks are like this under tension. I suspect because of the the higher tension of wound strings compared to the unwound ones.

 

But this is good. The low E needs a little more room to vibrate because of its increased amplitude.

[RockyA]

Yep absolutely normal.....There is a video on youtube of Gibson Final Inspection and they just hold down 1st and 15th fret and tap over the 7th fret, there should just be some bounce.....I do it that way with all of my Gibsons and don't measure....I just straighten neck while holding 15th fret and capo on 1st fret and straighten until the Low E rests on the 7th thru 9th frets....then back off an eighth at a time until you get some bounce at the 7th fret for relief while in playing position….Just to see afterwards using a feeler gage, all of them pretty close to .008 at 7th fret when holding down 1st and 15th frets.