Guitar action steel string acoustic

[Triple-o]

I see that Greg holds down or  capos the first fret before measuring the string height at the 12 fret. Some  techs don’t hold down the first fret when they measure and some measure at the end of the fret board, not the 12 fret. One would think that there would be a standardized procedure on setting the action.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Triple-o

[Plantsman13]

@Triple-o   I think standardization is a problem in the industry.  Greg really tries to seek technique that anyone can implement to achieve high quality setups.  Take into account where he practices his trade, I'll listen when he speaks!  I've have good results following his setup course on my acoustics.

Bryan

[Randy120]

Greg is not measuring string height when he capos at the first fret and holds the sting at the 12th. The video shows the 14th fret. He is using that step to judge how straight the neck is. He also taps at the 7th and uses a piece of paper to make sure the neck isn't too bowed or needs more straightening. I usually take a peek at parts of the DVD when I do my latest setups. There are a lot of steps during the setup especially on electric guitars which is why I review it. Adjusting string height (action) is done at the saddle on most guitars; Taylor NT necks excluded. If you think about it holding down fret 1 and 12 doesn't tell you about string height because now your holding the string down on the neck at two different points which will obviously lower the strings. He says hold down the string at the 1st fret and measure the distance to the bottom of the string from the top of the fret wire at the twelfth fret.

Greg made it very clear that there is not a certified standard for luthiers or guitar techs. Many techs can get by without following Greg's method exactly. I myself have all my guitars in great shape. Mostly I use Greg's method, but on my nylon acoustic I add Taylor's string tie method and a few other tips I learned along the way.

The bottom line is you can become your best guitar tech with a little research and a few inexpensive tools.  

Edited March 30, 2019 by Randy120
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