first try at own setup

For someone who has no experience all above correct and well meant advice is extremely difficult to digest and execute. I propose you go and see “set up guides” at Youtube. Sure those examples will help you to understand the process better. After that all above will make more sense.

 

Also I understand I’ll require some tools special rulers and some other thing to adjust the saddles for height also a strobe tuner and such and I’m sure the process will be somewhat lengthy but I do want to learn how to set up my own guitars as there are no good techs in my area and besides I think doing it yourself will get you what you want out of your guitar

 

Absolutely... the more familiar you get with the process, the better... it will in the end allow you to tailor your strat to your wishes... It’s no rocket science after all...

 

All you need is a phillips head screwdriver and a set of Allen wrenches. A ruler that measures in 1/64s or mm is useful, but not necessary. Any tuner with a tight tolerance is good enough.

 

I start from where it's at. If the the strings buzz on the high frets raise the saddle After I have adjusted the saddle height for string 1 and string 6, I approximate the curve of the saddles to match the frets. Then I check the inside four strings and make minor adjustments as needed. I did this setup on my MiM when I first got it and didn't need to do any major adjustments until I changed from .009-.042 to .007-.036 gauge strings.

 

You don't really need any special tools, any more than you need a string winder. They can make things easier, but they are not required.
It's only been the last 4 or 5 years that I've actually bought specialty tools. All you really need is your eyes, ears, a capo, and if you'd like, a set of feeler gauges from the auto parts store, and that's all I used for 40 years.

Step 1 - Capo the 1st fret and hold the strings down at the last fret, holding in playing position.
Pluck the string between the capo and your finger... does a note ring clearly? If not, the neck may be too straight. If it does, can you barely slip a business card between the string and 7th fret? That's about right.
If not, adjust the truss rod to obtain that condition. Tighten to straighten the neck and reduce clearance, loosen to open up clearance. Give the neck a little time to settle in and re-check step-1 as needed.
For fun, "play" the neck backwards and see if you get a clear note all the way to the top (with the capo still in place). This can reveal high frets without a fret rocker.

Step 2 - Lower your saddles until the strings start to buzz, then bring them back up until the buzzing clears. Adjust the saddles to a smooth curve that has all of the strings about the same height above the neck. "Book value" is 4/64"... but some prefer higher, some prefer lower, some guitars won't go lower. If you play with a lot of bends, you'll need to go a little higher or you'll fret out on bends.

Step 3 -Adjust pickup height. Book value is ~ 1/8" down from the strings... Strats tend to "like" a little more on the bass side. Too close and it can cause problems with intonation.

Step 4 - Intonation. A strobe tuner is very helpful, but not needed. Got $10 and an Android/iPhone? Peterson tuners has a strobe tuner app that uses the phone's mic.
So for intonation, tune to pitch, check the 12th fret harmonic (should also be in tune), and fret the 12th fret. If the note is sharp, tighten the screw to pull the saddle back away from the nut. If the note is flat, loosen the screw to move the saddle closer to the nut.
Repeat until the open string and 12th fret are both at pitch. Repeat for the remaining 5 strings.

Intonation is always the last step, because steps 1-3 will impact intonation. Likewise, the truss rod adjustment will impact string height.


There ya' go
Unless the neck needs to be shimmed, or there is a problem with the nut height, you've just completed a basic setup with nothing that you can't find in virtually any home.
The Stew-Mac radius gauges are the biggest ripoff on the planet. For one, you can't change the string radius with a Gibson style bridge. Just adjust all of the strings so they are the same height above the neck, and that will establish the radius properly.

Here's a couple of screenshots from the Peterson app with a 440 tone played on my PC...

 

Just a added note
Loosen your strings before you move the saddles & re-tune after....every time

 

Absolute rubbish, you don't need any of that stuff. Just the right sizes of screwdrivers and allen keys. A tuner is useful, but people managed without them until relatively recently. Follow @Biddlin's method. It's the way I was shown many years before YouTube.

 

Wow guys that's Some great Information thanks all Will be a great help for sure

 

Change the strings and run through the setup checks routine again. You may not have to adjust anything, except maybe the intonation on some strings.

 

9-42 to 9-46, or 10-46 to 9-46, you will most like have to do nothing more than a slight intonation adjustment on the specific strings that changed gauge.
Heavier strings generally need the saddles pulled back a bit more... but the difference is miniscule, literally.
The theory is that the saddle is behind the nominal scale length by a distance equal to the diameter of the string. In reality, the height of the action may need it to be back a bit further, but in either event, the difference between .042 and .046 is only .004, meaning you would be moving the saddle by less than half the thickness of the high-E.

 

I wonder how many people on the forum tuned their first guitar(s) using a pitch pipe?
I bought my first tuner after I'd been playing around 5 years.
It was also the first time ever I felt ripped off....
Guitar Center ran a radio ad for a "quartz tuner" for $19.95
Problem is, it sounded like they said "Korg Tuner"
So after driving my 10mpg Buick 25 miles each way, I was pretty bummed.
Ya, I bought it. Still have it somewhere on my original board that I made from an old kitchen cabinet door.

 

I started off with a tuning fork.

 

Mine are currently residing at a mere .008"(0.2mm) at the first fret. I could only laugh at that. 12th is right at .060"(1.5mm). I haven't really addressed them with the nut being so low, except at the saddles when I measured string height at the pickups.

So yea, I've got to address that soon. Honestly, though, it doesn't really fret buzz unless I'm really laying into the low E and I don't really do that, being as new to this as I am. I've owned this Strat-style guitar, my first guitar, for 8 days now.

I set the pickups by sound at first and they were surprisingly close to what Fender recommends for classic singles, except for the neck and I had it pretty low. It may go back there depending on how it sounds at their spec.

Other than that, I found it quite easy to set up my guitar. Once I fix the nut, I'll reset the action and reset the intonation. I plan on replacing the nut with a pre-cut piece whenever I get to it.

 

Congratulations on doing the work...nothing more satisfying IMO.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

Me too.

 

Buzz is relative, and depends on how hard you hit the strings as well as how sensitive you are to it. You can make any string buzz if you hit it hard enough. So set the strings at a height where the amount of fret buzz is acceptable, for your own playing style.

 

Right on!