Very useful posts! Can someone post on how to set up guitar bridge, string height and pickup height...I'm a newbie and don't want to spend RM120 for inspection and setup at my nearby music shop. Thnx!

Coming up Next

Bridge Height Adjustment !!

As "tune-o-matic" style is the easiest , I'm gonna start with that , after that , its acoustic bridge height !

STay tune !

Be sure to "like" the FB page to get the LATEST DIY and VERY detailed work .

Detailed -DIY Step by STep Guide

HI =D i would like to ask bout wat is the measure for the pickup ? Mine is Ibanez JEM-JR (RM1890 ) d model , i would like to get crazy screaming tone for my bridge pickup and warm tone for my nexk pickup =D

Is there any guide on tuning pegs / machine head maintenance? As in how to disaseemble / oil / service them?

Thanks in advance.

Bridge Setting up . DIY style- Making the Radius Guide

Ok , This is one of the most exciting tutorial so far as it consist of the making of a suuuuper cool tool . I've yet to post this tutorial on Facebook yet.. So i guess I'll call it the
LOWYATNET Exclusive! This tutorial is SURELY PRO level stuff , but its perfectly do-able at home and specially easy .

Ever wondered why an those custom shop fenders , PRS , gibsons , James Tylers , Suhrs plays like butter? 40% of the
butterlikeness are actually contribution of a good setup work . The bridge setup , i stress alot on . Unfortunately , most 99.99%
of the guitars that comes from factories do not come with the right tools for you to do it at home .. They normally need you to bring it to
a local guitar shop or a Professional Luthier for it . Good news is , the tool is "make-able" at home..
All you need is this thing call a radius gauge . looks like this .


This is a pro version made of Aluminium and has 4 sides . You only need 1 side (assuming youre setting up 1 guitar ) .

This tool , is used to !



1. Setup Bridge Radius (Not bridge height ! ) - so that the strings have SAME distance to the fretboard.

2. Setup you pickup !!!! ( I'll cover this in the next session )


Step 1
First thing first .
Identify your fretboard Radius .
How??
Google it lor.. exp . Fender Tele 62 Re on the Website is 7.25" . please note that most american site's measure's in INCH not CM or MM .

See the Word Radius ? Thats your guitar's radius

Step 2 .
Grab a Compass. Not those for direction .. THis!

This Compass is meant to draw a 12" . Thats how you draw a 12" radius ! Easy .


Step 3 .
Draw it on a cardboard , Dont use a paper . Something Harder better. but make sure its "Cutable" Using a blade . (you dont need a full circle , just an Arc will do)


Here's what it looks like after a drawed using the compass.



Carefully cut it out using a scissors , you'll end up with 2 piece , one top , one bottom . As mentioned , we're only gonna use a small section .



Here are the section's i'm using . (make sure the section is longer then your bridge , youre fine ) . The extra's . Be nice , share and give it away to other LYN members !! You can keep them for future setup use too .


Cut it out to its section . and i normally label it . "12""

We're gonna double check if your neck is true to the radius .


Put the radius gauge to the LAST fret , if you see lights coming out of the middle like this .Your radius is not correct .



If no lights come through , we're good to go !!

Here's what the gauge is for... FINALLY

See the strings? ALL of it should be JUST NICE touching the arc . If its too low , take up the allen key and increase the height ! if some are high , some are too low ,
its good to consider lowering the higher strings (normally it reduce's bridge action ) . Get around and experiment with your favourite height!! There's no hard and fast rule of how high it should be . Stay tune ! I'll share with you guys how to do adjustments for the pickups to response well with the radius . KEEP THE BOTTOM CUT !! DONT THROW IT AWAY !!!

Hope you guys like it . Dont forget , keep this tool . i'll be using it for another 3-5 more tutorials .


Best Regards>
John Lau

Questions? Email me
john@munkeemusic.com

Just an addtion ,

Here's a quick Mod you can do to the extra radius gauge that you cut .

You want to make this !


all u need to do is .. use the extra cardboard arc that you cut ..

you need a hole puncher .


Punch 6 holes , about 10mm apart . use the "arc" side ya ...


Whats it use for?? Well , you can use to check the fretboard radius WITHOUT taking out the strings !!!





Hahah . hope you guys liked it. Remember ! Keep this tool . MANY MANY use of it later . Its essential to get a real "PRO"
job . And i mean REAL PRO !!!

Cheers!

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Added on November 13, 2011, 5:57 pmJo , could you share on your electrolysis rust removal?

This post has been edited by johnlauguitars: Nov 13 2011, 05:57 PM

感谢你们，这个外面绝对学不到 =) 谢谢

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Added on November 13, 2011, 6:54 pmCheck out my FB page for this !

Lubricating & Oiling of tuning machine

its here .

hope it helps .

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Added on November 13, 2011, 7:01 pmAnyone wanna learn this?


Make A head out of any amp !!

This post has been edited by johnlauguitars: Nov 13 2011, 07:03 PM

delete

This post has been edited by blacksunday: Mar 13 2012, 05:12 PM

dem, getting itchy. gonna try to DIY with the tutorials above soon.

This is very good tutorial.
I don't know how come the guitar tech charge too much for this simple setting.

Btw, if u don't mind, can u share the knowledge on how to change pickups, and setting the height of pickups.
So the person who wants to change their pickup don't have to take out so much money from their wallet anymore.

Thanks!

This post has been edited by firslash88: Nov 15 2011, 09:12 AM

oh yea while we are at it, im planning to install covers for my humbuckers...birdge and neck?...izzit neccessary to solder the cover to the pickups?

Nickel cover serve's as a shielding to EMF and the 60 cycle Hum , Also , if you solder the ground to it , it serves also as a grounding point . other use of the nickel cover is to spread even the magnetism (u might notice slight gain drop , very very very slight ) .
Apart from that , soldering it make sure it doesnt fall off . A good advice is to also wax pot it after you lock it in .
Wax and its parafin blocks microphonic feedbacks .
hope it answers your questions .

john, heres a question on the neck adjustment

what if the website of my guitar doesnt state the fretboard radius? how can i knw the radius

Speaking of which , for those who are changing pickups , here's a nice step by step for pickup potting.
VERY easy to do .

[B]Pickup noisy? -Wax Potting a Pickup STEP by STEP[/B]


What you need :
1. Wax - candle
2.Tin - Milkcan , aluminium one also can
3. A Wok
4. Water .

Costing - Below RM2.00

Step 1:

Arrange the items like this .

Put enough Candles (take out the wig ) around 10 Ikea teacup candles . Put in inside a metal tin .
Take a Big Wok , put water (not too much ) just enough to boil the tin .
Put the Tin into the Wok .


Why I'm I doing this "double" Boil . Plastic Melting point is around 200 degrees . We want the wax to melt , but not the plastic .
So , the boiling point of water is 100 degrees . Hence , if you double boil like this , max temperature will be 100 degree. Your pickup plastic is VERY safe .
*Thanks Cikgu Kimia Form 5 *


Boil the tin , wait till all the wax melts . this could take up to 15-20 mins .
Easy ? Next step .( keep the fire on the stove throughout )



Carefully take the pickups out



Take out whatever cover that comes with it (plastic ) , just make sure it exposes the coils .



Dip the pickup into the tin , take it out , and dip it in again . Like an "Tea Bag " untill the eentire pickup is covered with wax .
Let the wax wrap around the coil windings . Its ok if its a mess now , wax comes off easily clean .

It should look like this


The left if the potted one , right is the non potted .


cover back the plastic parts . And use a cloth to clean up the excess wax . Easy ?



Anything not sure ? Buy this "ah beng" an his favourite drink ! I'll teach u

Email me for questions . john@munkeemusic.com

Hope u guys like it .

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Added on November 15, 2011, 11:55 pmOk , you'll need to do a lil trial & error here then

here's what you do .

See the post i did on the radius guide? make a 10" one . Do the same check I did on the fret board . here's the 2 trial and error logic test.

IF :

You no light coming thru from both center and side - meaning its a perfect 10" radius .

If not:

IF

Light coming from center
meaning :
Your radius guide is too low value , increase it to maybe 12" . try again . continue increase until u see no light coming thru .

If light comes from the side
meaning -
Your radius guide is too high value , decrease it to 10" of so . try and repeat till no lights .
I've got a list of common radius here if your lazy to do it .


Modern Fender Stratocaster American guitar 9.5"
Vintage Fender Stratocaster guitar 7.25"
Gibson Les Paul guitar 12"
Jackson guitars 16"
Warmoth guitars Compound, from 10" (nut) to 16" (heel)[2]
PRS Guitars 10"
PRS Guitars Wide Fat and Wide Thin 1 11/16"
PRS Guitars Custom 22/12 11 1/2"
Most electric guitars with LSR roller nuts 9.5" to 10"
Most electric guitars with Floyd Rose bridge 10"
Traditional Classical guitars flat (no radius)
Martin acoustic guitars 16"
Gibson acoustic guitars 12"

Hope it helps.


This post has been edited by johnlauguitars: Nov 15 2011, 11:55 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

ok will give it a try...thanks john...

Anything else ? Sorry guys,can't only update once a week....

Oh mai john. this is really awesome. thanks alot mang

How to play it on Samsung Galaxy S PLUS ??

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Added on November 20, 2011, 10:09 amWhao..

This post has been edited by ShawnMamba: Nov 20 2011, 10:09 AM

wheres the bridge height adjustment tutorial?