The whole point of this thread was to help you with our knowledge, and we tried to steer you clear of all these other setup videos with guys who don't know what they're doing....which is why we only recommended our steps, and Frudua's videos..... Anyone can make a video and say they know what they're doing, this video/person has no idea..... Fender recommends measuring at the 17th fret for 4-6/64" action, without using a capo....
Okey, (he has 2 million subscribers) but it doesnt matter because the measurements give the same results.
That is my entire point, no they don't give the same results.....my years of experience tells me so.....as a matter of fact, when a Strat is properly setup, the 12th and 17th fret measurement with no capo is almost identical...... Please follow OUR advice...not other videos.....
So when you take off the capo the string is no longer at that height. Simple geometry. Go to the suggested video and ingnore this guy.
I measured some of my guitars.* Not my Fender strat as that is missing a string at the moment, throwing things off. All measured to the best of my ability at the 12th in vertical (hanging) position. G#1 (Epiphone strat-like object with floating trem) e: 2.1mm E:2.45mm G#2 (Another Epiphone strat-like object with floating trem) e: 2.1mm E:2.35mm G#3 (Epiphone LP with fixed bridge) e: 1.9mm E:2.05mm G#4 (Egmont Manhattan 'De Plank') e: 4.6mm E:4.8mm Here's the Egmont Still waiting for me to make a better fitting custom bridge... It's currently virtually unplayable. *Sorry for interrupting the program.....
OP: No, it's not. If the neck angle was "perfect" your saddle screws would not be at the end of their travel. You would be able to adjust in both directions -- higher and lower -- and not be at the end of the adjustment range. If it plays fine, then there's no need to do any work until it doesn't, at which time you should shim the neck slightly so that your saddles are not cranked to the highest point possible. As for this thread overall, there are numerous posts by people who do not know how to adjust the pivot screws, and/or don't know the major difference between the options of setting the plate flush or having it float. For the truly clueless, I suggest checking out Carl Verheyen's method of setup and just doing what he says.
Which just goes to show, in my opinion..... That there is really little point in measuring action, except for maybe getting into some kind of rough ball park.... No buzz and it feels good? Then it is good.
Not trying to pick a fight but I truly don't understand how you can determine the neck needs a shim based on the info at that point in the thread. There wasn't even a photo posted yet. And as for the pivot screws, they were hardly discussed, so I wonder which numerous posts are all so wrong? And in what way? Explaining what should be done, would likely have been more helpful than just stating a lot of posters got it all wrong because Carl says so.
I rarely do, and then only out of curiosity. The goal is an instrument that feels right and sounds right. Often, it feels or sounds right with the numbers wrong. I research the heck out of things, but in the end you just have to DO something. Then, stuff that works you do again; stuff that doesn't you try not to. lol
Welcome to ST @Stratocas - Paul Davids is a great player and entertaining click-baiter, but that setup video of his is terrible. He's all over the place. That Frudua guy waffles too much for my taste ... life's too short for 12 minute YT vids that contain 2 min of information and 10 min of waffle. Maybe try the good old fashioned Fender manual - from page 11 https://www.fmicassets.com/Damroot/Original/10001/leg_gtr_2003_Fender_Guitars_and_Basses.pdf
Heh. That was fun. Listen, OP, learn what you can in a reasonable length of time, then just step up and tackle the job. The worst that can happen is pretty trivial, to be honest. Enjoy.
Thanks everyone for your time and help! I learned a lot. The action is now 1,7 mm on the thick e and about 1,6 on the thin e string.
The Fender specs for a Strat can be found here: How do I set up my Stratocaster® guitar properly? – Fender With a capo on the first fret and the string depressed at the last fret, the string gap at the 8th fret should be 0.010" assuming a 9.5" radius neck. A thousandth of an inch or two either way isn't going to hurt. I would do this with the guitar tuned and roughly intonated (don't get hung up on intonation, you're going to need to do it again anyway), and the saddles as low as you can go to avoid fret buzz on all the frets, all the strings. If the neck is bowed towards the strings in the middle you can use the truss rod to adjust the relief, otherwise you'll have to raise the saddles. I would always leave a little load in the truss rod, just to keep some compression and therefore stability in the neck. YMMV, of course. Retune, re-intonate, repeat until it's right.
So hey you strat "seniors and strat master...did you see my post and requests for where to purchase a tremolo/whammy bar for my strat? (Bridge and headstock-model# pics previous) I've already tried with fender Corp with no luck. Thanks...direct email me if you would: [email protected] Thx & happy new year!
You may need to check the height of the fret board in relation to the face of the body. Inc some shots. The one I attach shows a pretty low fit but super nice set up.
