Is it really necessary to measure neck relief exactly?

[JackB1]

I've always done my neck relief by sight. Hold down fret 1 and fret 14 and check the clearance in the middle. As long as there's some relief and the string isn't laying flat against the fretboard and there's no buzzing, I go with it. Is it really necessary to get it to an exact number, such as .007 or .008?

[BoxCar_Joe]

Same here.
On guitars, mandolins, mandolas and bass.
Both electric and acoustic.

[rmp]

I don't think so

I can feel it, pretty much right away.

I like em as straight as I can get em without bottoming out at the first 3 or 4 frets.

and yea, I just sight down the neck in much the same way you describe.

[Rogerblair]

No, I always do it by eye. I like a pretty flat fretboard for fingerpicking style. I can get it just right as I know what I’m looking for in terms of saddle height, nut slot height, and relief, which all need to work together for optimal playability.

I do measure action at the 12th fret.

Rb

[Piercast]

Originally Posted by JackB1

I've always done my neck relief by sight. Hold down fret 1 and fret 14 and check the clearance in the middle. As long as there's some relief and the string isn't laying flat against the fretboard and there's no buzzing, I go with it. Is it really necessary to get it to an exact number, such as .007 or .008?

I've always done it by sight until I opened a shop. Then you need to be very consistent to meet other people's expectations. Many of my customers have pretty large collections, and they expect consistency. That's understandable.

[redir]

No and I find it dubious that anyone could accurately measure a string over a fret with feeler gauges at that level of accuracy. Just look at a regular piece of paper on it's edge, that's what you are going for.

[Silly Moustache]

I do measure using a spark plug gap measure ... because I have one, and Collings recommend .005" - although I'm OK with .008".

But yes you can usually feel it or see it.

[nikpearson]

I have several luthier colleagues who claim to be able to eyeball relief accurately, but as you’d probably expect they cannot reliably tell the difference between 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm.

Using a feeler gauge a straightedge allows you to make very precise adjustments and settle on an optimum for the particular instrument. Feeler gauges are inexpensive and you can make a suitable straightedge by cutting a longer one down to 13 inches; this works for all standard guitar scale lengths and avoids having to watch the string deflection very carefully.

You can certainly get a good idea from looking with the string fretted at 1st fret and body join, but not a precise measurement.

[hubcapsc]

I like to take a couple of pictures like this every so often so I can
gauge in a measurable way if things are stable. And because I
can't easily see little tiny things anymore ...





-Mike

[Fathand]

There is no exact neck relief number because people play differently with different strings on different scale lengths.

If your guitar doesn't buzz and you are happy with the action height,, then leave it alone. If not, then work through a set up process using suggested numbers.

[Sasquatchian]

Would it not be possible to use the Stew-Mac digital nut slotting gauge with its dial indicator to get an exact measurement, as it measures the distance from the string to the fret for your nut depth. I'm sure that would work and I'll try it out later this week but only after my retouching jobs are done.

[Piercast]

Originally Posted by Sasquatchian

Would it not be possible to use the Stew-Mac digital nut slotting gauge with its dial indicator to get an exact measurement, as it measures the distance from the string to the fret for your nut depth. I'm sure that would work and I'll try it out later this week but only after my retouching jobs are done.

It is indeed possible but it is very awkward to use in this way. You'd have to capo at both ends according to your usual method of choice to get both hands free to hold the instrument in playing position and manipulate the gauge. I tried a few times but reverted back to feeler gauges. Very accurate if you’ve been trained to adjust spark plug and point gaps back when they were a thing.

[Russ C]

I always set by sight. It’s my first and last or second last adjustment in a set up - those being in response to how the finished set up suits the guitar and the player.
I measure action for my own sake but not nut slots or relief- they’re way easier for me to see than measure.

[CharlieBman]

I always measure as precisely as I can...but I'm just nerdy that way. Is it necessary? Probably not.