hello fellow fenderians!
first of all,please have a look at this article:


Guys, how is that even possible! .012 inch(3.1mm) neck relief at 7th-9th frets and then;7/64(2.7mm) at bass E??

I have a blacktop strat with 9.5 radious rw fretboard
My neck is also, "almost flat with a slight up-bow"
but the 12th fret always measures higher than(about 3.3mm) the neck relief value given in the article. I really wonder how he gets 3.1mm relief at 7th fret but then 2.7mm at 12th fret.
I measure them without pressing my finger anywhere on the fretboard and I dont use a capo at first fret.. I just measure the gap between the fret and string as mentioned in the article. I didnt think u would tap anywhere on the fretboard otherwise it would be impossible to see a gap that high.

p.s=since english is a foreign langeuge to me I couldnt figure out what he meant by this:
leveled out for the remainder of the board.

An "ideal" neck will only relieve through the first 5 frets or so, then the neck will remain straight until the last fret. But few necks behave in this "ideal" way. usually you get a gradual curve that goes the entire length of the neck. PS, don't bother setting your axe up to SRV's specs...cause you likely can't play it and enjoy the guitar that way LOL. Something else to consider.....too little relief and you buzz everywhere at every fret, too much relief and you will buzz in the higher frets because you will lower your strings to feel comfortable, and the strings will be hitting the upper frets because when you fret the string, you will be essentially pressing the string into a "valley", and it won't vibrate without hitting higher frets. So you are exactly right when you called it a "balance".....find the balance that works for your guitar and your playing style

dont get me wrong, Im not tryin to get a SRV setup. I just dont like low action like many guides refer as 3/64.. no I really dont like that height. So I was kinda trying to have an idea about the "optimum height" What I mean is;
yes it shouldnt be that low but I dont wanna go way too high either. I dont wanna get used to an almost radical setup. Im fairly new at playing the guitar. and 5/64 high e felt good enough for me.
Actually I was trying to figure out the proper way of adjusting the saddle height of the strings other Than high e and low E.. but than this neck relief and 12th fret height thing got me confused even worse

so let's rephrase: after adjusting the high e to 5/64 and low E to 7/64
How do I adjust the rest of the strings in between both E's? (9.5 radious)

I think you may be confusing "Relief" and "Action" while they both interact and contribute to the overall final action and feel of the guitar, they are distinctly separate measurements. To measure the relief you must fret the string at the first fret, use a capo to make it easier and free up your hands, you then need to fret the string at the 17th fret and while holding the string down at both these frets take the measurement at about the 8th fret.

This allows the string to form a straight-edge relative to the Relief (forward bow curve or otherwise) so you can then measure the gap between the 8th fret and the underside of the string. Most players find a gap of .010" to .012" suitable (that's 10 to 12 Thousandths of an inch), some like a little less or maybe even none, it depends on your playing style and how hard you attack the strings, hard pickers need more. The actual adjustment for this is performed using the Truss-Rod inside the neck. This small gap/measurement allows the string some room to vibrate/oscillate while minimising fret buzz. Here's the relief measurement described:
http://www.fender.com/news/index.php?di ... rticle=552

Setting the overall action is a separate operation where you are adjust the Bridge saddles to give you the "Action" you require. As you have described you can measure that at the 12th fret or some use the 17th fret to set the overall string height. This is where Rene is measuring his 5/64ths" and 7/64ths", on the two E strings, the other strings are normally set to blend with the two outside ones and follow the fretboard radius or curve (7.25" or 9.5" or whatever it happens to be).

Not sure if I described it very well but I hope that helps.

Snowy

Thanks Snowy!
you described perfectly. I just measured the relief. it was about .014
The only part that's still cloudy is; how to blend the other strings according to both E's since both E's have different measurement values, what we should consider while blending the rest of the strings? (on a 9.5 radius)

Hi majere, Why don't you try adjusting all strings @ 5/64 for starters, & see how it feels for you, then take it from there. There's no law saying the lower strings have to be higher, you just don't want them lower. It's a matter of preference. I believe mine are set @ EBGD 4/64 & AE 5/64. Very small difference. Works for me. My relief is set @ .011.

hey mojjet!
cheers for the tip, I will give it a try thanks a lot!

it really helps to have a radius gauge. I got a single under/over string radius gauge on ebay and it saves allot of time. http://www.ebay.com/itm/G-M-I-understri ... 758wt_1187

just get the one that matches your radius and it goes under or over the strings. you just set your outside strings then place the tool about an inch from the bridge on the strings and raise or lower the middle strings until they touch. I usually pluck the string and raise it until it buzzes really bad.

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"how is that even possible! .012 inch(3.1mm) neck relief at 7th-9th frets and then;7/64(2.7mm) at bass E??"

You're off by a factor of 10 -- .012" isn't 3.1mm, it's 0.3048mm. It's the thickness of a heavy-gauge high E string.

If you put a capo at the first fret and hold a string down at the 17th fret, you should have a tiny gap between the top of the 8th fret and the bottom of the string. (The gap will be about the same at the 7th and 9th frets with decreasing gaps at the higher and lower frets.) That's "relief" and you adjust it by tightening or loosening the truss rod.

After you have the relief set about right, you take the capo off and start adjusting the height of the saddles. That's where the 7/64 measurement came from -- the height of the unfretted/uncapoed string above the 17th fret (some people measure that at different frets -- 7/64 at the 12th fret makes the overall string height much higher than 7/64 at the 21st fret).

edit: Sorry to be repetitive -- I got so caught up using a calculator to check what .012" is in millimeters that I skimmed over No457 Snowy's post where he explained relief and string height

If your strings are 5/64" you do not need that much relief! The higher the string height, the straighter you can set your neck. High action with excessive relief.....I doubt you could even set the intonation correctly LOL. Set the other stings to the proper radius of the fretboard with the aid of a radius guage. You can make one from cardboard, and after setting your high and low E strings to what you like, set the radius gauge on to of the saddles and adjust each saddle until the sting contacts the bottom of the gauge! If you are kind of new to guitar, then you probably wont notice that much out-of-tune-ness from high strings and too much relief and intonation that is to the wind.....but as you go forward in you playing, you will one day realize "Oh gosh, this thing sounds like crap! Why doesn't it sound in tune?" . But it is good that you are trying to learn to set up your guitars yourself!!!! Keep going at it friend!

Try this:

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... etup-guide

Do this in this order and don't skip a step. This will get you in the ballpark, and you can tweak from there.

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The design of each element should be thought out in order to be easy to make and easy to repair.
Leo Fender