Repeat this process until all strings are completed. Afterwards give each string tugs upwards, between the pickups, to ensure everything is seated nicely. Retune again and the intonation will be correct. Once your guitar has been setup I always like to check for buzzing. This is simply checked by playing each fret, one by one, a string at a time.
If you are experiencing fret buzzing after correctly setting the action and neck bow then your next step should be to check for a raised fret using a fret rocker. If your frets are all perfectly even then the next most common cause of buzzing is a worn or damaged nut. Replacing the nut should hopefully eliminate the problem. The recommended string heights from the first fret should be approximately as follows:. Sometimes nut slots simply need a little lubricant when they are causing issues but if the slots have and broken edges the nut will need replacing.
Personally whenever changing strings I always rub each slot with a standard sharpened pencil. This all comes down to personal preference and will also vary depending on the type and brand of your pickups. The closer the pickup pole is to the bottom of the string, the hotter the signal and the lower the pole is away from the string, the cooler the signal.
Depending on how hot your pickups are you will want to adjust this to your own liking however it is always best to start with the factory recommended heights and work your way from there by ear. The pickups are adjusted by loosening and tightening the central screws on either side of the pickup covers.
This is also the best time to check the string heights at the nut and see if the nut needs to be replaced or shimmed. If there are issues like this at the nut or you prefer a different material, then now is the time to have it taken out to be either replaced or shimmed. Extracting and making a nut for a Les Paul is an art and can be tricky.
It is strongly recommended to have a skilled technician perform this if needed. We will go through the steps of replacing a nut on a guitar in a later article so be sure to watch out for that one in the near future. Remove Old Strings and Clean Up. It is a good idea to slacken the strings before you cut them off. This will help reduce any stress or potential damage to the headstock from the sudden loss of tension. Also, the tension of the strings is what usually keeps the bridge and tailpiece secure to the body so be careful.
I usually like to hold the strings with my left hand right above the pickups and cut the strings there. That way I can have both ends secure in my hand when I cut it and keep the strings from flying around causing damage. It also allows me to keep the bridge and tailpiece from popping off and causing dings or scratches to the top of the body. Now with the old strings off and the bridge and tailpiece off to the side you want to clean up the guitar before we put the new strings on.
I like to polish up the frets and clean and oil the fretboard first. You can use steel wool or a grit Klingspor pad to polish the frets and break up any dirt that might be on the fingerboard. Then a conditioning oil is applied and allowed to soak in for a couple of minutes before being wiped clean.
While the oil is soaking in you can take this time to clean up the body, back of the neck, and headstock with your preferred choice of cleaner and polish. I also like to tighten up any loose screws or nuts at this point, especially on the tuning pegs which can cause tuning issues if they are not secure. After everything is secure and cleaned up we can put the bridge and tailpiece back on and throw on the new strings!
But before we put on the new strings, there are two options involving the tailpiece that we need to discuss. The first option is adjusting the tailpiece as far down as it can go and pass the strings through normally. It is said that this improves tone and sustain. This usually can be done without any problems, but be aware that your strings might be prone to breaking at the saddle prematurely if there is too much string break behind the bridge and causing too much stress on the string at this point.
This is where the string is fed in through the front of the tailpiece and wrapped up over it and then over the bridge to the tuners. Everyone has different preferences and the argument for the difference in tone is negligible with both methods, so give both ways a try and see what works or feels best for you. New Strings and Neck Adjustment. When restringing you want to have only a couple of string winds around each post and start with one above the string as it passes through the string hole in the tuner.
This will pinch the string and help keep it from slipping and causing tuning issues. For the unwound strings, you may want 3 to 4 wraps around the posts to make sure you have the correct string break behind the nut for them since they are smaller in diameter than the wound ones. Less winds the better since the angle of the headstock is already at degrees and the break angle of the string behind the nut is achieved with only a couple of winds on the tuning post.
This will decrease string pressure in the nut and help with tuning stability. Put on all the strings and tune up to pitch. Then retune the string to pitch. Do this a couple times for each string. With the new strings on and stretched we can adjust the neck.
We did this step already in the evaluation phase so most of the time the neck is already straight and ready to go, but if not, repeat the process we went through above until the neck is straight and there is a. One side more often than not has a little more bow than the other. On Les Paul copies you may find a hex nut that requires an Allen key. Mark its current location with a CD pen for reference. Pick a string gauge, a tuning and string it up.
With the strings tuned, you are presenting the neck with a steady forward pull and we need to counteract this to a certain degree with the truss rod. Clever, eh? This is how you get a handle on it. Stick a capo on the first fret, press down on the 15th fret and then use the straight string as a guide to see how bent forward the neck is.
The feeler gauge is put over the eighth or ninth fret underneath the string -. So, how do you change that? Righty tighty, lefty loosey. If you want a hotter sound, you can raise them up slightly. So, generally, pickup polepieces on the B string were set lower than the other strings. And, again, that will perform fine. I suggest, in that instance, leaving both the E strings polepieces flush with the pickup and then raising them in for the B, G, D and A to provide that radius, as measured with a ruler or a radius gauge.
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