I’ve had a US Strat for a few years now … Won it with a tenners worth of tickets on one of those Facebook raffle sites! It was pretty much set up perfectly when it arrived, so I haven’t really tinkered with it that much.
That wasn’t going to last, though … I’ve been playing it exclusively for the last few weeks now, and I can feel myself itching to mess with it. I’m trying to resist ripping the pups, pots and switches out for the sake of it for now, cos it sounds kinda nice, even though the low end is kinda muddy for me. Top end is lovely and glassy, though … So I’ll bugger about with the pickup heights before anything drastic first.
Anyway … There’s a 9.5" radius on the board … so I want to see how far down I can go without choking the strings out on the bends, then set it somewhere sensible. There’s a little leaway on the relief there, so I thought I’d give that a tweak … Only there’s no adjustment wrench in the bloody case!
It’s a 1/8 hex … and I’ve got 1/8 hex wrenches … just not long enough to clear the plug and give me some comfortable leverage. So I thought I’d just buy one.
Believe it or not, but it worked out more economical to buy a pack of 12 Fender Original Part tools than just one for the job. So … Anyone in the UK needs one … I’ve got a sh*tload
Seriously, though … I’m really trying to talk myself out of ripping the guts out of this guitar and seeing what happens
You don’t adjust the action by the truss rod. If the neck relief is correct (the only thing you should be adjusting with the truss rod) the action is lowered by adjusting the saddles. I’d suggest getting the proper tools, like those from Music Nomad. Their kits include all the tools, gauges, and instructions you need. Available on Amazon or from their own web site.
You dont but you should make sure the relief is set correctly before setting the action, if the guitar hasnt been touched for years that may well be out
Guys… I’ve been setting my own guitars up for the last 35 years… I’ve definitely figured out that tweaking the relief isn’t how the action is set
I said there’s leaway in the relief cos I can almost slip a 5p coin under the 7th. It hasn’t bugged me cos it played well enough when I got it, but now I’m starting to feel the guitar needs setting up a little tighter. My Agile LP has been my go to guitar for the last 8 months, but it’s heading for a fret level and recrown so I thought it was time to get better acquainted with the Strat and the last few weeks have told me it needs tweaking closer to my style: which is low action and play light.
I was just rambling … and trust me … I’ve got tools, ranging from enough to strip an engine out and rebuild it, all the way down to PCB reworks under a microscope and everything in-between
The temptation I’m avoiding right now, is pulling the pups, replacing them with tapped, overwound single coils … replacing the pots with CTS push / pulls and setting up with a bundle of tone options on the switches. So I’m telling myself to set the guitar up and mess with the pup heights first.
I do have a surplus of 1/8 Fender official truss rod wrenches if anyone really need one, though
Sorry. Your original post jumped around to so many topics that I got a little lost about just what you were asking, so I thought your thread title (and the comment that the guitar didn’t come with a truss rod wrench) indicated that you were wanting to use said wrench to adjust the action. Forgive me.
Simon, I would love one Just came across this post I like your crack mate I can just about get a piece of paper in my relief on my Gibson SG, I am just doing my 89 USA strat up and god she needs it man its amazing how much the deteriorate cheers Hec
PM me your addy and I’ll send one over for you, mate
Luckily enough, I have drawers for guitar specific tools. If they’d gone into my usual tool stores, I may have had to do a few mental contortions to remember where they were
Mate, they cost buttons … and the postage is a second class stamp … hardly worth the bother … Honestly, don’t want anything from you. Just paying it forward … and making sure you have the right tool for that truss rod
But my good friend told me all budding guitar players should try to use a rusty pair of needle nose pliers their first time. Dont yah know, right of passage.
Thats really cool of you to help out others Wishbone. What a rad prize too. Maybe I need to enter more raffles.
