Hi everybody! I have been playing on a Strat for 14 years now, but I've never taken the time to learn how to set one up. I am especially curious how to set one up to Eb tuning. Does anybody have any suggestions or links to information that might be useful? Maybe you know of a good book to buy. Thanks.

Hello and Welcome!

You in the right forums for quality infomation mate! Use the Forum Search function and you'll find some of the best advice on set ups going. Also these links may well help you out.

http://www.fender.com/support/stratocas ... _guide.php

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fender-Stratoca ... 545&sr=1-1

Hope this helps

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Just a quick $.02 worth...

There's not really anything special about Eb tuning...same basic procedure as what's described in the links that Andy referred you to there (accept that you'll tune to Eb instead of standard before the setup obviously). The only thing that may be a bit different is you may need to relieve a little of the tension on the truss rod as you'll have less tension on the strings (more on truss rods in a bit).

The one thing I will add however is please remember that a setup can be a bit of a personal thing. A lot of folks are perfectly fine with the "stock recommendations" as listed in those links but please remember that none of that is "set in stone" either. Personally any time I have a guitar that is setup to the factory specs, I find I have to "tweak it" a bit to get it where I like...I'm one of those folks who over-all like's his action a bit lower but like's his high E and B strings set just a little higher than normal for doing string bends and such...that's just what fits for the way I play. That said, I honestly don't even measure anything specifically any more...I know what I like and I know how to get it.

Also...and this is just a general comment...take your time and be patient. A lot of us here have been doing our own setups for a great many years but as with playing the guitar, it -is- a skill and it may take you a bit to get it just right. And -please-...be careful if you find you need to make any truss rod adjustments! I've been doing my own setups for well over 20 years now and to this day if I need to make a rather significant truss rod adjustment, I will do it in "steps"...I'll adjust it a little, let the guitar sit for a day, adjust it a little more, let it sit for a day and so on. If you tighten too much, too fast you -can- snap that truss rod leaving the guitar neck as little more than firewood. A good rule of thumb to remember with truss rods is "baby steps"...you can always adjust it a little more later but if you snap the rod, you're screwed.

Good Luck!
Jim

Sound advice from Jim!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

been playin' 25 years and never knew this. next time i'll save the 40 bucks and give it a try. thanx for the question and answers.

Dan Erlewine and Paul Ballmer wrote great books on setup of guitars and strat in particular. I've never done a full setup but wouldn't be afraid after reading the two above authors. Check out AMAZON for the books. Check out your local Library. They may have a copy. That's how I was able to check out the books myself. And like what was already mentioned, go slowly.

-T

Check this web address: http://www.freeguitarlessononline.co.uk ... setup.html

I watched a few times, got the tools together, (not many needed) and I now
perform my own setups. I can't see paying someone $60 when I can easily
do the job myself.

Have fun!

I found a great web site - stewmac.com which has all of the tools , books etc. you would ever think of needing and I am thinking about buying the "basic setup kit" myself. Currently it is about $89 and includes string action gage, precision straight edge, radius gages and instructions. You may not need it all but I love tools and want to get it right. Since I have several guitars it is a economic way to keep them running well. And yes I will do it a little bit at a time. Great advice.

For years I practiced at home tuned to E flat and tuned to regular pitch for gigging and didn't have to do any neck adjustments and that's with low action.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

The radius and string action gauges are useful but you're paying almost $50 for a simple straight edge with that kit. And someone please correct me if this is wrong, but for general setups, a straight edge doesn't seem to be all that necessary, anyway.

-phil

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !

No I've never used a straight edge for regular setups...and I've only had to straighten one Fender neck to get what I wanted over the years.
The setup specs are a starting point and when you get used to doing your own you will stray from those numbers some to accomodate your playing style like Lomitus said.

Most of the time you don't need straight edge as its for neck problems. The rest of the time you actually want a little relief in there (if you like a lower action that is).

Am improvised straight edge is the string with a capo or press at the first fret and then press string at the last fret in. The string as its under tension is in a straight line.
Forward bow or concave relief will be evident if the strings "bounce" off the other fret. Back bow or convex relief will mean the string doesn't bounce.

The other easy way is to sight the guitar neck. Hold it up the supporting body and hand lightly holding the neck still look down each side.

Yeah, using the string as a the straight edge is Fender's recommendation and it seems to work fine for checking neck relief. This method doesn't take into account any fret height problems but neither does a straight edge. I've only been doing this for a few months but it seems the only thing a straight edge is good for is building or rebuilding necks (fret leveling, reshaping fretboard, etc) - stuff that's way beyond "general setup" procedures. If there's something I'm missing, please correct me.

The tool that actually would be useful for checking relief during a general setup is the notched straight edge but StewMac wants 90 freakin' dollars for it! I'm sure the quality is great but some of their stuff seems really overpriced. If I felt the need I'd probably make my own notched straight edge from a reasonably priced hardware store straight edge. That's probably the better way to check neck relief because it removes fret height from the equation.

-phil

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !