E-Series SG Bully set up question...

[backlineguy]

Hello,

My first time here...I just bought an Epiphone SG "Bully", and I'm trying to set it up...Can anyone tell me if there's a "rule of thumb" for the height adjustment for the tailpiece and the bridge? trying to set the action, intonation, etc...I can use all the help I can get. If there's a website that you can point me to, that would work as well...thanks in advance,

backlineguy

[gearhead]

First, if you have buzzing at just a fret or two check to be sure they are seated FIRMLY against the fretboard. There shouldn't be any gap under the frets. If they are seated properly put a straight edge, such as a ruler or maybe a credit card across the buzzing frets and see if it rocks back and forth, you may have a fret that isn't properly finished. If that's ok then continue as follows:

 

Myself, I set my guitars up like this: first tune to standard tuning (A=440), unless you play in a lower tuning, then place one finger on your top E string at the first fret and one finger at the last fret. If your truss rod is adjusted properly you should have about .008" to .010" (thickness of a business card or matchbook cover) clearance between the string and frets in the middle of the neck (8th-12th frets). If it needs the truss rod adjusted and you are going to try to do it yourself, BE CAREFUL! The rod is a small diameter and as such can be broken fairly easy! Don't force it! And only turn a little at a time (1/8th turn MAYBE!) Also, when looking DOWN the neck from the headstock to the body, assuming the truss rod nut is at the top of the neck, (you'll be looking at the end of the truss rod) turning the truss rod nut CLOCKWISE (RH) will pull the top of the neck toward the rear of the guitar, REDUCING the bow & clearance under the strings, COUNTERCLOCKWISE (LH) will INCREASE the bow & clearance. Sometimes you'll need to let the guitar sit overnight and recheck it, as the wood may take a short while to "set". Once that's done (hopefully you didn't need to adjust the truss rod) I move the bridge (tune-o-matic style) down until I get string buzz, then raise it till you don't, that's for both sides of the bridge. Don't forget to retune after you move the bridge height. The stop tailpiece height should be so that you get a steep angle from the bridge to the stop tailpiece, but the strings shouldn't touch on the edge of the bridge behind the saddles. If you break strings at the bridge then raise the height of the stop tailpiece some and make sure there aren't any sharp edges on the string saddles.

[backlineguy]

many thanks gearhead...I appreciate your input and help...