Neck relief??

[the guy who invented fire]

What do you guys like and why?

I started looking at my various guitars the other day and started noticing a lot of differences in set up from one to the other.

I ordered some measuring tools and other implements of destruction but just looking with the naked eye I can see that some of my guitars have little to NO relief while others have a fair bit...

Anybody have any advise, tips or just general thoughts???

[Ball&Chain]

I use .010 at the 7th fret as a starting point. Not all guitars are the same, so its not a surprise if that measurment varies from guitar to guitar.

[eschoendorff]

I set up all of my own guitars. Then, I take them to Tom Pellerito and he works his magic. They come back playing and feeling beyond awesome.

More to the point, I use measuring tools as a starting point and then adjust by feel. If I start analyzing the measurements, I get all hung up.

[Jessie's ghost]

I've found some guitars sound dramatically better with no relief at all; my Faded V is a good example. Others, it doesn't seem to matter as much -- just crank up the action a little, put a little up-bow in it, and it's good.

[eschoendorff]

I use .010 at the 7th fret as a starting point. Not all guitars are the same, so its not a surprise if that measurment varies from guitar to guitar.

Just out of curiosity, why measure at the 7th fret?

[JeffB]

I dont measure. I had a set of gauges at one time, but its just eye, and feel. I like as little relief as possible, and I would rather raise the action than go with more relief.

[uOpt]

As far as I can tell I like straight (little or no relief).

[STRATDELUXER97]

I set all of my guitars up by feel and prefer the least amount of relief I can get at the 9th fret that doesn't cause buzz...I also like my action kinda medium/high for bending..Like you say though,each of my guitars has a different feel,relief,etc..

[gibson175]

Once i set the action so there is no buzz on the frets from the neck body join and higher, i set the truss rod as straight as it will go before i get fret buzz one the freths from 1 up to the body join. Measuring instruments cant hear buzz, or tell you how hard you are picking.

[Ball&Chain]

Just out of curiosity, why measure at the 7th fret?

Because thats about the mid point between the first fret and the point where the neck meets the body. This cany vary, obviously.

[MetalManiac]

In general I know very next to nothing about this. I have talked to one skilled Luthier, and I think it was Tommy at USACG( but dont quote me on that) and he said ideally, that neck radii should be dead flat on a properly made neck..no personal preference about it.
I had been led to believe all along to dial in just a bit of relief , and so I do on most of my guitars.
One of my guitars truss rod wont loosen, the neck is dead flat, and to paraphrase Jimi-
"I can't get no relief", and it still works well. I'm wondering of the neck radius doesnt have somthing to do with it?

[the guy who invented fire]

In general I know very next to nothing about this. I have talked to one skilled Luthier, and I think it was Tommy at USACG( but dont quote me on that) and he said ideally, that neck radii should be dead flat on a properly made neck..no personal preference about it.
I had been led to believe all along to dial in just a bit of relief , and so I do on most of my guitars.
One of my guitars truss rod wont loosen, the neck is dead flat, and to paraphrase Jimi-
"I can't get no relief", and it still works well. I'm wondering of the neck radius doesnt have somthing to do with it?

[frankfalbo]

Assuming the frets are perfect, what you're really controlling is how much the fret tops will "choke" the initial vibrations. If you had 1/2" action from nut to last fret, the string would vibrate freely no matter how hard you hit it. But the reality is that even necks with lots of relief still graze the string upon the first revolution of a hard, heavy pick attack. So it's really about hard limiting, limiting the midrange strength in the sound, and limiting the mids on the early envelope. It's really a chance to shift the EQ in a way. So in addition to feel, generally if a guitar is thin sounding, you can fatten it up with a little more relief and string height. On the other hand, if it sounds a bit clumsy and unrefined, lower action and a straighter neck can even things out. That's my experience.

[ItsaBass]

Assuming the frets are perfect, what you're really controlling is how much the fret tops will "choke" the initial vibrations. If you had 1/2" action from nut to last fret, the string would vibrate freely no matter how hard you hit it. But the reality is that even necks with lots of relief still graze the string upon the first revolution of a hard, heavy pick attack. So it's really about hard limiting, limiting the midrange strength in the sound, and limiting the mids on the early envelope. It's really a chance to shift the EQ in a way. So in addition to feel, generally if a guitar is thin sounding, you can fatten it up with a little more relief and string height. On the other hand, if it sounds a bit clumsy and unrefined, lower action and a straighter neck can even things out. That's my experience.

Indeed. I primarily play rhythm or simple, "percussive" leads, and I have a heavy hand (and a heavy pick with the Dunlop purple an blue Tortex picks). I can make any guitar buzz like mad. I have to play with higher strings and more relief than the typical lead player, or else I lose a huge amount of tone and sustain. I can't play most people's guitars without insane buzz and poor tone, and they almost literally can't play mine because they play so stiff.

As for how much, it depends. Usually I let it get more and more relieved the more and more the lower frets wear. Some necks that need fret leveling look like bananas. Then, when I dress the higher frets to match, I can straighten it a bit.

[Scott_F]

I hold down the first fret and the last fret and look around the 12 or so. I try to keep it just at the minimum point where it still plays good up and down the neck. Kinda varies from guitar to guitar a bit (fret size/height?)

[Gearjoneser]

Frank Falbo put it better than I could, because it's a feel and tone thing.

I usually start with almost straight, then nudge it back and forth until the tone is as bold and buzz free as possible. I also mess with individual string heights on Fenders, and generally spend hours at night tweaking guitars. Then, I can pick up any guitar I own and it plays as good as it possibly can in my hands.

On top of my computer tower is a Jack Daniels tin full of guitar setup tools. When I'm in the mood for tweaking setups, it's right there.

[eschoendorff]

Because thats about the mid point between the first fret and the point where the neck meets the body. This cany vary, obviously.

Roger that.

[Myaccount876]

I like my neck relief so there is a little underbow. This avoids fret buzz the most because of the way the string vibrates, like so:



I just love physics.

[zenmindbeginner]

The flatter radius guitars of mine tend to sound a little better with some extra relief.

[ErikH]

For me it depends on the scale of the guitar. My 25.5 inch guitars start with what Fender recommends in their setup manuals. I then adjust from there. Same with 24.75 inch scalers (but I start with the Gibson recommended measurement). Sometimes I need more relief, sometimes less.