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An interesting set up tool
In a quest to have perfect setups, I bought this tool from Japan. Here is how it works.
Leaving the guitar strung up, with whatever relief you prefer, (I’m shooting for something between .008 and .010 inch relief) I measure the relief with a stew Mack dial micrometer. Then I set a complementary relief in the adjustable “straight edge” by turning a knob at the end, similar to the way a two way truss rod is adjusted. [url=https://johnkinnaird.smugmug.com/Rosettes/Guitar-gallery/i-DdQmt7h/A][/url Then,I jack up the strings a little on the nut end, and fit the device between two strings. The guitar is still strung up to pitch. There is sandpaper on the bottom of the leveler so by rubbing the thing back and forth, any high frets can be reduced and the frets then follow the relief of the neck exactly. Here is the complete view of the leveler. I am not a salesman and don’t have any economic ties with the company (other than having sent them my money and they ain’t cheep) but it seems to work so nicely I thought you guys might be interested.
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Kinnaird Guitars |
#2
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This tool was discussed already in the Build and Repair section. Basically it is a truss-rod attached to an extruded aluminum section.
As I said there, you can achieve exactly the same "leveling under tension" (and achieve it much more cheaply) using a precision ground 18" aluminum channel with sandpaper attached, and setting the neck dead straight, with no relief, and then setting the relief after the frets are leveled and crowned. |
#3
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I understand that some assumptions must be made, a big one being that this new tool is itself uniform under tension. So far results seem to indicate that its curvature is uniform. My apologies for rehashing an old topic. I seldom if ever look in the build and repair section and if this thread is misplaced then my apologies for that as well.
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Kinnaird Guitars |
#4
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Quote:
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Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”. Andrew Fletcher |
#5
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I have been aware of the Katana for a long time ...I used to manufacture and sell a tool which kind of did the same thing ... my philosophy was that you should set the neck straight, under tension, and level the frets. Then afterwards you relax the tension on the truss rod and the neck will automatically find the correct curvature. David's philosophy was that you set the relief first, under tension, and then sand the required contour into the frets. (David is the Italian inventor of the Katana, based in Japan) Putting the neck into tension is a prerequisite for both approaches. Personally, I feel that the greatest benefit from leveling under tension is achieved with electric guitar necks, when some necks indisputably benefit from this MO. I am less convinced that there is a great deal of benefit to be achieved by leveling acoustic guitar necks under string tension, and almost certainly a very minimal, if any, benefit on 12 fret necks. |
#6
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Thanks for sharing your experience so far with this tool ... much appreciated! This type of thread is very helpful in my opinion.
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David Wren |