My first electric. Fender Squire

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Just been reading the link posted by Frank Hudson on setting up Fenders properly
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/...itar-properly-

But Im stuck on a few things. Can someone explain what they mean under the section "Intonation roughing it out" as I don't understand any of it.

Also under the heading PICKUPS they say this... Depress all the strings at the last fret. Using a 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the first and sixth strings to the top of the pole piece.
What exactly is the pole piece??

The "roughing out" intonation advice in the Fender link can be skipped. It might be useful if you were installing a new bridge altogether, but you're likely to be close enough with your used instrument to skip this step. Just use an electronic guitar tuner and follow the advice in the in the link if your string is sharp or flat when fretted gently at the 12th fret.

And yes, in your picture the G string bridge is tilted way too much. Use the correct size allen wrench to screw down the allen screw whose top is now sitting way high on the bridge piece, so that that end of the bridge piece is close to level (tilting a little toward the floor, or a bit lower on the side nearer the B string is OK, but only a little, and it's tilting a lot right now)

[1neeto]

Yeah that's a funky G string saddle. Just adjust it so it matches the D string. By looking at those saddles, it seems like the action could be a bit lower. But of course, action is very subjective. Intonation should be checked so I recommend you do that.

Tune the guitar to a harmonic 12, and then fret the 12. They both should be at the same pitch. If sharp when you fret it, then that means the string is too short so you need to adjust the length of the string by adjusting the score on the back of the saddle. It's a slow and tedious process but a very important one.

[Troyboi]

Thanks again guys for all the info. So what exactly does tuning to a harmonic 12 mean? Is that just standard tuning?
So once I check it at the 12th fret and it's sharp do I undo the screw at the back to lengthen the string and Visa versa if it's too flat?

I found a manual online for this guitar which will help out a lot.

[paulp1960]

I wouldn't bother adjusting intonation until you get some new strings on that guitar or you will probably need to do it again later on.

[Troyboi]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

I wouldn't bother adjusting intonation until you get some new strings on that guitar or you will probably need to do it again later on.

They are new strings..lol. I put them on last night. They are 9/42 I think that's correct.

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Thanks again guys for all the info. So what exactly does tuning to a harmonic 12 mean? Is that just standard tuning?

So once I check it at the 12th fret and it's sharp do I undo the screw at the back to lengthen the string and Visa versa if it's too flat?



I found a manual online for this guitar which will help out a lot.

My bad, what I meant is play a harmonic on the 12 fret and tune to that. Then check the pitch with open, harmonic, and fretted 12. They should all be at the same pitch. Screw in makes the string longer.

[Troyboi]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

My bad, what I meant is play a harmonic on the 12 fret and tune to that. Then check the pitch with open, harmonic, and fretted 12. They should all be at the same pitch. Screw in makes the string longer.

Excuse my ignorance but what exactly does playing a harmonic mean? I looked it up but didn't understand the explanation. If it just means playing a note isn't that the same as fretted 12?

[FrankHudson]

playing the harmonic means to lightly touch and release the string above the 12th fret as you pick it. You do not fret the note, just touch the string. When you learn to play the harmonic you'll hear a bell or chime like note a full octave over the pitch of the string played open.

Since the harmonic is the same note, just an octave higher, you don't have to use the harmonic to set intonation, you can just use the string played open and compare that to the note fretted at the 12 fret.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Troyboi

Well today I decided to lash out and buy my first electric guitar. A Fender squire with a Samick 20watt practice amp. Now I know these guitars are Chinese cheapies but for $99 on Gumtree I thought well it will do as just a hack around for now. I'm still playing my acoustic guitar and practicing everyday but wanted this guitar as just something I could use for fun.
I broke a string when cleaning it today but was going to replace all of the strings anyway. Any suggestions on what to get?
Also one of the pick ups has rust on some of them. Should I try to clean this off or replace it?
Finally what exactly does the lever switch do on the guitar?

OK, I'm going to jump in on this with a couple of thoughts to complement those above.

1. Congratulations on jumping in and trying to figure out how to do this stuff yourself. It's not very hard to do the basic stuff, and it's sad to see folks paying to have their neck relief or intonation set.

2. Think of this as a process; over time, probably through a handfiul of iterations, you'll gradually narrow down the the set of adjustments that collectively feel and sound right to you.

3. I think I agree with most of what has been written above, but something that I've found useful is to sequence the adjustments properly. First, set neck relief. Then, get your pickup height about where you want it. Then, adjust your action (including getting your trem set where you want it, if applicable). Then, finally, set intonation using new strings. Then play the thing for a while, and tweak any/all of those as needed, over time, to gradually settle in on what feels right for you.

4. It's really simple these days to find youtube videos and other resources to show you how to do any of these things. There's little you can do that you can't undo, so I'd say just dive in.

In the category of personal opinion and practice, here are some things I do. Not everyone would agree with them all, and I would not argue with those who don't agree because there are lots of ways to get results, so just take them as one hobbyist-level guy's approach to some of what you asked about.

1. Set intonation and tuning holding the guitar in playing position, not lying on a table.

2. I set intonation by fretting, never with harmonics. Use the neck pickup, volume no higher than 7 or so, tone rolled all the way down. I use my thumb to pick the string, and try to use the same amount of pressure when I hit the string open and then fretted at 12. Pay attention to the pressure you apply with the fretting hand, too, when you fret at 12. You want just enough to form a clean note without sending it sharp by fretting too hard. Remember to keep repeating the sequence of Tune open string; Check fretted note at 12; Adjust string length via saddle adjustment; Start All Over by Tuning the open string, checking, adjusting, etc until it's where you want it.

3. I set string height by actually measuring the distance of the two E strings from the fretboard, but then adjust all the rest strictly by feel. I see absolutely no need for radius gages or special tools.

That's all I think of at the moment, I hope some of it helps. You're asking the right questions.

[Tahitijack]

Nothing to add but I just wanted to say this is one of the best threads post in a long time. Thanks Troyboi and all those answering. I'm learning a lot.

[Troyboi]

Tahitijack this is an awesome thread. Thanks to everyone who has imparted their wisdom. I too have learned a lot.

So tonight I first checked the neck relief which seemed to be fine. Then I checked the action and dropped all saddles until the string rested on a 2mm feeler gauge at the 12 th fret which was also very close and they only had to be dropped a little bit.
Then I did the intonation which was also very close. I think maybe this guitar had been setup before by someone. I only had to loosen off one saddle that was it.

Then I checked the pick up heights which was way out. They are supposed to be around 2.4 mm on the bass string and 1.9mm on the high E string. However mine were around 4mms on both sides. For some reason they were far lower than they should be so I brought the pick ups up higher to be at the right height.



Thanks again guys for all the advice.

[Troyboi]

So one other thing, the electric guitar seems so much easier to play. I can actually do an F bar chord and it sounds sort of half decent..lol..

So why wouldn't I just keep learning on the electric and go back to the acoustic once I have mastered a lot of chord progressions?

[redir]

Nothing wrong with a Squire at all, great starter guitars and even more. I would recommend you take it in for a good quality set up. My guess is that the nut could be tuned up as well. As for rust, don't worry about it but if it really bothers you don't even think about using steel wool. Use a a flexible abrasive cloth with a super fine grit. Then you can wax the steel plugs very very lightly.

I pretty much always use D'Addario 10's.

Just play around with the switch till you 'get' it. It makes sense once you fidde around with it. If you are unsure what pickups are active then tap the pole pieces of the pickup while amped up. IF you hear a loud click then the pickup is active and so you know what the switch is doing.

[harpspitfire]

honestly, (OP)- you have a willingness to learn but seem very unsure of yourself, looking at the bridge image, its really a mess- best thing you could do is take for a compete set-up, those squier guitars (i own one) arent going to give you exact fret intonation, but should be very playable if done properly- yea yea, you can learn to tweek it later with more experience- but do yourself a favor and get that thing set-up at a shop

[Troyboi]

Originally Posted by harpspitfire

honestly, (OP)- you have a willingness to learn but seem very unsure of yourself, looking at the bridge image, its really a mess- best thing you could do is take for a compete set-up, those squier guitars (i own one) arent going to give you exact fret intonation, but should be very playable if done properly- yea yea, you can learn to tweek it later with more experience- but do yourself a favor and get that thing set-up at a shop

Actually mate I have to disagree with you there. That photo of the bridge is how I brought the guitar. I knew it didn't look right but wanted to confirm it on here before I adjusted it. Since then I've checked the neck, checked and set intonation and adjusted the pick up height going on advice from here and YouTube videos. It was all fairly close to being setup correctly anyway.

So all in all I think I've done a great job.