Help me understand setup

[BUG]

I've been reading all the great info here on the build and repair threads and have a couple of questions. Am I right about this: take a straight edge and lay it on the neck. It should be level with the bridge. In other words the neck and the top of the bridge are in the same plane; they are level. Is that right for a proper neck angle?

Also I heard some where a long time ago that a quarter (25 cent piece) can be used as a feeler gauge at the 12th fret. Yes or No? Thanks

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by BUG

take a straight edge and lay it on the neck. It should be level with the bridge. In other words the neck and the top of the bridge are in the same plane; they are level. Is that right for a proper neck angle?

Yes, but just to clarify, the line is the top of the frets, not the wood of the neck (ie you don't use a notched straight edge to do this).

Also, the straight edge only gives an accurate reading of the neck angle when it makes contact with the first and fourteenth (or whichever the body joint is) frets, and not with any of the upper frets. If there is a gap between the top of the body joint fret and the straight edge ...all bets are off.

Finally, it should be noted that to be meaningful, the straight edge test has to be done with the guitar tuned up to pitch.

A far better method of assessing the correctness of the neck angle (since bridge heights can vary ) is to measure the gap between the top of the soundboard and the underside of the E string (measured in front of the bridge) .

This gap should ideally be 1/2", and definitely no less than 7/16". This is the case no matter what the bridge height is. Obviously the saddle protrusion will vary according to the bridge height in order to conform with this parameter.

At this height, the guitar should play easily ("easily" is defined by each individual player) . If it is too stiff, and if shaving the saddle would bring the height below 7/16", then the neck angle is wrong.

Can't help with the 25 cent question ... haven't handled one in 15 years ...

[dhalbert]

Originally Posted by BUG

Also I heard some where a long time ago that a quarter (25 cent piece) can be used as a feeler gauge at the 12th fret.

A quarter is 0.069" thick (1.75mm) at the edge. A typical action height for an acoustic guitar for the low E string is 6/64 (~ 0.094", 2.38mm).

Instead of trying to use coins, I'd suggest a $2-4 6-inch metal rule that has 1/64" graduations (e,g., True Value, Home Depot). There are fancier gauges that are a bit easier to use, but that will be fine.

A great source of info for setup help is http://frets.com.

[BUG]

Thanks a lot. I recently got a used Taylor 114 and since I'm putting new strings on I want to check the setup. I did check some web sites also and my 'new' guitar looks like its good to go. It's an 2009 model so I was concerned that it might have gotten out of adjustment, but all is well. I'll get a good ruler today as suggested to double check. Thanks again.