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Guitar Setup: Les Paul Studio Faded


lucab617

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I am new at trying to setup my guitar and I have gone over a lot of different youtube videos and reading material to understand the process. I hope that from what I state in the following segments that people can suggest what I am doing right or wrong. I have a Les Paul Studio Faded w/ Burstbucker Pro pickups and Tune-o-matic bridge. So here are the steps that I am taking in order to setup my guitar.

 

1. Removed strings and cleaned fretboard and fret wire along with the rest of the guitar.

 

2. When I removed the old strings the tailpiece moved along with the bridge and I don't know how to get the correct height of either one. From what I have read the Les Paul guitars should have the tailpiece all the way against the body of the guitar which I did.

 

3. Install all of the strings and tune the guitar.

 

4. Check straightness of the neck. I hold down the 1st and 16th fret and check that there is a hairline space between the fret wire and the bottom of the string. From what I gather this means that the neck is pretty straight and not arched, but is slightly forming a U shape, which is fine....?

 

5. Next I lower the bridge all the way down and then I start to raise it the same amount on each side until I don't get a buzzing sound from fretting all of the notes.

 

6. Next I make sure that the strings on the back of the bridge are not touching it going into the tailpiece. I fix this by raising the tailpiece until they are not touching anymore. The one problem from doing this is that I get all of the strings to not touch, but the high E touches. Should I move the saddle back more or should I just leave the high E string like that?

 

7. Adjust intonation. Play open string on each string and then the 12th fret and make sure they are matching.

 

8. Pickup height. Play the last fret and make sure that the height of both pickup screws are the same?

 

I hope that I have nailed down most of my questions in setting up my guitar, but I am sure that I have missed a few key important issues. I would greatly appreciate if members here can help me with getting more familiar with the process as I am going about this in a trial and error way. I hope others can use this topic as a reference as well.

 

Thanks.

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that sounds about right. A good way to check relief is the use the string as a straight edge. hold down the first fret and the 13th fret. There should be about a thin picks width of space there. You also should be able to get a note to sound between the two frets. If it frets out, it's either back bowed, or you've got a high fret.

 

Action is basically up to preference. I think the stock Gibson action is 3/64 12th fret on the high E, and 5/64 12th fret on the low E. I use around there, and it plays great.

 

If the strings are touching the bridge, raise the tail piece some more. ideally you want the string ends to be at a level above the bottom of the bridge, just high enough to clear the back of the bridge. don't move the saddle to get that, because it'll just mess up the intonation.

 

pickup height is somewhat subjective. You adjust it by holding down the highest fret, and then checking the height on both sides. some people like it closer than others. Also some people go through the effort of adjusting the individual poles, while others just leave them as is.

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it's worth checking the intonation at the 19th fret of the first string (B natural) against the open B string. if the open B and E are in tune then the 19th fret and open B should not "beat". this applies equally to the 20th fret on the B string and the open G string. similar checks should be tried on the 19th fret for all other strings. [biggrin]

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Hey tbone,

 

When I adjust the tail piece and make sure that the strings are not touching the back of the bridge I get all of the strings to not touch other than the high E string, so should I keep on raising it until it doesn't touch. The only reason why I ask is because I don't want to raise it to much, because I don't know if that is bad or not. Some insight would be great. What do you mean that I ideally want the string ends to be at a level above the bottom of the bridge? Right now I have about 1mm space from string to back of bridge and the high E about a hairline space. Not sure if I am setting it up right, can others check and see if this is normal?

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Ok well I went ahead and went to Guitar Center today to get my guitar setup and I think it was for the best. I got good insight from the tech and I am posting the steps that were taken in order to setup the guitar. I would like people to suggest if anything looks incorrect. Thanks for the help guys & gals.

 

1. Remove all strings. Use steel wool to clean fret wire. Use Stew Mac fret cover device to clean. Brush off guitar. Clean body & rest of guitar.

2. Lower bridge and tailpiece against body.

3. Add new strings to guitar and tune. Wrap string once over peg and then start to wind making sure that you have the string wind below rest of the string. You can also wrap string up in a lock fashion. Higher strings require more wraps. 3-5 is a good range for all strings. Stretch strings 3 times and tune until strings don't change when tuning.

4. Check neck. Remove truss cover and look down sides of guitar and check for straightness. Using 8 to 10 thousandths of an inch feeler guage, check for a relief measurement across the middle of the neck while holding down the 1st and 16th fret. If one side is straighter than the other check and make sure that they are pretty much straight, if not try and get an equilibrium between both sides by adjusting the truss rod.

5. Raise bridge until you get 2/32 on low E and 1/64th on high E for action.

6. Start to raise tailpiece until back of strings aren't touching back of bridge, this is a preference for sustain.

7. Check intonation.

7. Tune

8. Set pickup height on both lower and upper pickups on low E and high E to 2/32 while holding down the highest fret.

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brought your guitar to guitar center for a set up?!? now i usually take my money to the little guy before G.C , ( exept for a 2008 les paul standard cherry burst, marked down to $2600, talked them down to $2100 because of barely visible scratch on back ) i'm all for saving a buck, if a man wants to buy a $4000 guitar for $2100, more power to me... i mean him. but my god man , don't let them actually do any work to the thing, thats just a special kind of insane

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