Basic Setup Question

[D. Shelton]

Here's the situation :

25.4" scale guitar, capoed at first fret (more or less permanently, to make it a shorter scale ) . Previous to the capoing approach, I has dialed the action in as low as it would go without strings buzzing on frets, and now with the first fret acting as the nut, there's a little buzz here and there , up towards the lower end of the scale.

The neck relief is literally zero; I took a straightedge and placed it against the frets and it touches them all . The action at the low E string , actual 12th fret (with capo in place) is about .092"- .096 " , and at the actual 12th , high E , it's very close to 1/16" , maybe .064 or .065" .

My question is about which tack to take to give it a hair higher action to relieve the buzz . I don't do this often enough to know much, but just attempting to picture it in my head, it seems like tightening the truss rod , giving a tiny smidge of relief to the neck will work better than raising the saddle. It seems like raising the saddle will raise the strings at the higher frets , but not do as much at the lower end, and tweaking the rod would affect the action more there at the low end where I want it to.

Makes sense?... am I warm ?... is there a significant difference between the two tacks, as to how the action will be affected ?.

TIA
Dar


(oh yeah, there's a whole area for this.... move me if you want to; I'll find me again over there)

I like flat necks, but I usually set the relief to about 0.005". That feels flat, but gives me a little room for error in case the frets are not absolutely perfect. So I would loosen the truss rod slightly. Then if the buzzing is consistent over most of the fretboard, raise the action at the saddle.

[RodB]

No expert, but I do my own set-up on several guitars. As a small truss-rod adjustment is the easiest to try, and you say there is no relief at the moment, why not do this. You would want to slacken slightly to give some relief.

Edit: Ahh! see I type too slow...

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by D. Shelton

...[B]The neck relief is literally zero

Hi DS...

I like a bit more than zero. Leaves no latitude for seasonal neck/top movement (going into or coming out of winter).

[clintj]

I'm another one who likes just a touch of relief in the neck.

[John Arnold]

is there a significant difference between the two tacks, as to how the action will be affected ?

Yes.

The correct way to adjust relief is based on where the buzzing is the worst. If it is worse near the nut, then you need to add relief. If it is worse near the body, you need to reduce relief. If buzzing is basically the same everywhere on the neck, then the relief is correct. In that case, you need to raise the saddle to reduce buzzing.

If you do add relief, you may find that you can lower the saddle a little.

[D. Shelton]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Yes.

The correct way to adjust relief is based on where the buzzing is the worst. If it is worse near the nut, then you need to add relief. If it is worse near the body, you need to reduce relief. If buzzing is basically the same everywhere on the neck, then the relief is correct. In that case, you need to raise the saddle to reduce buzzing.

If you do add relief, you may find that you can lower the saddle a little.

That's all exactly how I pictured it , but like I said, I don't do it often enough to even remember which way the truss rod adjustment screw goes


Thanks ! (everybody)

Dar