Neck setup tools

[Indianrock2020]

I want to pickup a few more basic tools.  I'm guessing that, besides reading here, Les Paul instructional sites might be the closest for a JTV59?  I already have a String Action Ruler Gauge and Understring Radius Gauges,Set of 9, for bridge saddle adjustments.   Also need feeler gauges.

 

These cover a wide range:   Blade inches: 0.0015, 0.002, 0.0025, 0.003, 0.004, 0.005, 0.006, 0.007, 0.008, 0.009, 0.010, 0.011, 0.012, 0.013, 0.014, 0.015, 0.016, 0.017, 0.018, 0.019, 0.020, 0.021, 0.022, 0.023, 0.024, 0.025. Blades metric: 0.038, 0.051, 0.063, 0.076, 0.102, 0.127, 0.152, 0.178, 0.203, 0.229, 0.254, 0.279, 0.305, 0.330, 0.356 ,0.381, 0.406, 0.432, 0.457, 0.483, 0.508, 0.533, 0.559, 0.584, 0.610, 0.635.

 

Guitar Neck Straight Edge (Notched) Luthiers Tool

[psarkissian]

There's enough of a difference there between our spec and Gibson's

spec, to where I need to tell you,... do not assume they are close enough,

be very careful, there's a difference in specs. 

[cruisinon2]

I want to pickup a few more basic tools. I'm guessing that, besides reading here, Les Paul instructional sites might be the closest for a JTV59? I already have a String Action Ruler Gauge and Understring Radius Gauges,Set of 9, for bridge saddle adjustments. Also need feeler gauges.

 

These cover a wide range: Blade inches: 0.0015, 0.002, 0.0025, 0.003, 0.004, 0.005, 0.006, 0.007, 0.008, 0.009, 0.010, 0.011, 0.012, 0.013, 0.014, 0.015, 0.016, 0.017, 0.018, 0.019, 0.020, 0.021, 0.022, 0.023, 0.024, 0.025. Blades metric: 0.038, 0.051, 0.063, 0.076, 0.102, 0.127, 0.152, 0.178, 0.203, 0.229, 0.254, 0.279, 0.305, 0.330, 0.356 ,0.381, 0.406, 0.432, 0.457, 0.483, 0.508, 0.533, 0.559, 0.584, 0.610, 0.635.

 

Guitar Neck Straight Edge (Notched) Luthiers Tool

For the love of all that is decent and holy, just make it playable. We're not calibrating fusion reactors. You don't need a slide-rule, micrometer, or gas chromatograph. With the exception of intonation...which is the ONLY thing that is either "right" or "wrong"...everything else is subjective. Guitars...ALL OF THEM...need to be set up for the way YOU play. Magic numbers and a feeler gauge will not make an instrument "better". If it's comfortable, not buzzing, and properly intonated, then it's fine. "Specs" are not Gospel, and not universally suited to anyone who happens to pick the thing up.

 

Besides, you're just gonna keep hearing the same tired refrain that Gibson specs on a JTV will give you the clap...

[Indianrock2020]

Where's my penicillin  :-)    The only thing not quite right is 6th string buzz along the 3rd to 8th fret area.  I know some of this is ok, and it's mainly noticed on 12 string models, so in workbench I turned the parallel string volume for the 6th string way down.  But, assuming the nut was ok from the factory I'm always undecided about whether it's truss rod or raising one side of the bridge.      I backed off the truss rod 1/8 turn earlier since the neck seemed ruler-straight.  That helped a little.  Then I raised the 6th string side of the bridge, like 1/8 turn.

 

The thinking on the tools was to follow a good setup page because there is an order to do these things.  Don't have intonation problems and I haven't touched the pickup height.    I suppose another option is try to pick the fat strings with a lighter touch, compensating with volume/gain, but that would be some really old habits to break.

[snhirsch]

It would obviously be helpful if Line6 provided specs for nominal string height and neck relief.  You know, like absolutely every single other vendor known to Western Civilization does?  But, enough dreaming.

 

In any event, I highly recommend that you navigate over to the Stewart-McDonald web site and pickup a copy of Dan Erlewine's "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great".  While you're there, poke around the tool pages and request a print catalog.  If StewMac doesn't carry the tool you think you need, then you don't need it :-).

[cruisinon2]

But, assuming the nut was ok from the factory I'm always undecided about whether it's truss rod or raising one side of the bridge.

 

Unless you're spinning the truss rod like a roulette wheel, nothing you do is irreversible. The adjustments take a little while to settle in anyway. Wood moves slowly. Adjust it, put the microscope away, and just play the damn thing for a day or two. Then see where the neck is. If there's so much relief that you could limbo under the strings, tighten it. If you can't see any daylight between the tops of the frets and your ruler, loosen it. It ain't rocket science. And again...specs won't necessarily help you. Two guitarists walk into a bar: One beats the daylights out of his strings, the other picks with a feather duster. Any one set of specs is not likely to suit them both.

 

Of all the stuff you listed, the only things you actually need are a dead-straight shop ruler, long enough to span from the 1st fret to wherever the neck meets the body, a set of Allen wrenches, a GOOD tuner, and to not be an idiot...a radius gauge, in the absence of individually height-adjustable bridge saddles, is useless. If all you can do is raise and lower the bridge as a whole, and the saddle heights relative to each other are fixed, then there's nothing to check. Nut and fret files are nice, but if you don't know what your doing then it's best not to try. Those you can damage irreparably, but basic set-up adjustments can be done by just about anybody with an IQ above room temperature.

[Charlie_Watt]

Do normal setup checks.  Look for high frets, lack of relief, low strings, etc.  If you have any high frets, you need to have them leveled or raise the action until the buzz goes away.  This is a guitar!  Mechanically it's the same as any guitar as far as setup goes. 

[Indianrock2020]

Yeah I won't be filing on anything.   The thing with 6th string fret buzz in the middle of the neck is both relief ( truss rod ) and raising the bridge could fix it, but one method has to be preferred so that's where you need enough info/knowledge to choose.

 

If I had to choose it would probably be optimizing those strings for rhythm chording over solo/picking.   I don't beat the strings and don't need absolute lowest action, but like many of us did learn on an acoustic.

[cruisinon2]

The thing with 6th string fret buzz in the middle of the neck is both relief ( truss rod ) and raising the bridge could fix it, but one method has to be preferred so that's where you need enough info/knowledge to choose.

 

First of all, a buzz at one fret and nowhere else, is very likely being caused by a high fret. Too little relief, or low action will cause buzzing everywhere. So in this case, you could adjust the truss rod and action all day long, and it probably won't help much. Unless you add so much relief and action so high that the whole instrument becomes unplayable.

 

Secondly...no, and a rather emphatic "NO"...there is no "preferable" way to deal with a buzzing fret. It depends entirely on the cause, and the overall condition of the instrument, not merely what the problem du jour happens to be. There is no "for symptom X, apply fix Y" rulebook. You do what works. Two guitars with the same symptoms won't necessarily require the same fix. A guitar with a buzz and already high action won't benefit much from raising the action even further...you can't just keep pulling the strings further and further away, forever. Same goes for neck relief. It's a balancing act. One affects the other.

[psarkissian]

"... you're just gonna keep hearing the same tired refrain that Gibson specs on a JTV will give you the clap..."----

if you're getting STD's from a guitar, then someone is doing something wrong in the way you're playing it.

So then,... don't do that.

 

 

"It's a balancing act"--- right you are. Very much so. That's what set-up is all about.

[Smashcraaft]

Which screw-Type can be found inside the truss rod?

The Phillips screw or the star-type with the flat head on image one?

 

It's a bit difficult to see.

[psarkissian]

For Line 6 guitars,... neither.

There is a hex wrench kit that comes with JTV's that are specific

to the particular JTV that you have, that are used for adjusting different

items on your JTV (a good idea to let the tech use them, not for novices).

Good to know there are some experienced people here.

[Smashcraaft]

Okay, so it has to be a hex wrench. Do I have to try out which size fits or can you provide the information?

I bought my JTV59 used with everything on board, except the hex wrench for the rod.

[uartist]

4mm Hex Wrench

Neues Dokument 2017-02-04_1.pdf

 

Source: http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/guitars/james-tyler-variax-guitars/james-tyler-variax-and-variax-standard-accessories-r152

Edited February 4, 2017 by uartist

[Smashcraaft]

Much appreciated. Thank you

[psarkissian]

Thank you for that link, I had forgotten that I had added that to the

guitar section in the Knowledge Base.