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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Ehhhh....i Think I Screwed Up
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 12:11 PM
Okay, in a nutshell: I had my new guitar set up. I didn't care for the height of the action (too high) so I took it back. They were very nice and sat down with me, showing me the clearances it was set at and went over it with a fine tooth comb. It sounded great. They told me it probably felt too high because I have never played a guitar with jumbo frets. Late Saturday and Sunday, I just had to tweak it myself and see how low I could get it. Now it sounds like crap and I have no idea how to get it back where it should be. My pride and lack of money won't let me take it back to have it set up again. Any way to fix this on my own? If it matters, it has a Floyd Rose and the frets are compound radius (?). Not sure if that is the right terminology but the frets are higher in the middle (G and D strings) than on the sides (E strings).
Posted by: dark dude Mar 12 2012, 12:41 PM
Hey JT, what do you mean it sounds like crap? The notes cut out?
Also, what exactly did you change, just the height of the bridge?
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 12:51 PM
Also, what exactly did you change, just the height of the bridge?
fret buzz and some notes cutting out. No problem on distortion but clean is bad. Yes, just the height of the bridge. I'm looking through the old forums and finding some good stuff. I think I was adjusting it too fast. I'm not used to having a rounded (?) fretboard. It felt fine when I tried it out but I'm still trying to get used to it.
Posted by: dark dude Mar 12 2012, 12:54 PM
If you only changed the bridge height, it should be as easy as putting it back up. I assume you've tried this - what's going wrong here?
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 01:14 PM
well, I read in my owners manual if the action is adjusted to the wrong height, it will void my warranty. I never heard of that before and it sounds like hogwash, but now I am worried about messing up the guitar itself.
Just found the settings in the manual! That's what I was looking for and read right over it. It also says "any problems arising from lowering the string below factory specifications will not be covered." I never heard of it messing a guitar up before.
Posted by: SpaseMoonkey Mar 12 2012, 01:22 PM
Just found the settings in the manual! That's what I was looking for and read right over it. It also says "any problems arising from lowering the string below factory specifications will not be covered." I never heard of it messing a guitar up before.
If you didn't touch the truss rod or mess with your springs I wouldn't worry about it. Just slowly raise that baby back up till the noise goes away and re-tune it and all is back to normal. I wouldn't worry of what you did as anything that can hurt it, just sound bad. Easy way is to make the floyd look straight from the back to the front.
As seen in I.
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 01:33 PM
As seen in I.
Cool! Thank you and thank you DarkDude as well!
Posted by: mad Mar 12 2012, 01:39 PM
hi jt,
could you post a pic from your bridge? I did the setup for my FR-Guitar by myself last year and adjusting the string action wasn't a problem at all..
Posted by: dark dude Mar 12 2012, 04:18 PM
No problem, that's a great diagram SM posted.
If you had fiddled with the truss rod or the intonation, you'd have way more work to do, but as SM said, just raise it up a bit, tune it back up, let it sit for a while and check if it's better. Repeat until it's back to before, no worries at all. Just don't rush this process, the floyd needs to adjust, so take your time, at worst you'll end up with a bit higher action if you rush it.
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 05:21 PM
I think she is all better now! 
Thanks again guys! I found some of the problem was that I was playing through my computer speakers which, while playing music just fine, can give a totally different sound than my amp. I adjusted the rest and it sounds fine (no buzz).
PS mad: I don't think it's gonna be possible to post a pic of it just yet (my camera doesn't like to cooperate sometimes) but thanks for being willing to help out! 
Posted by: derper Mar 12 2012, 07:45 PM
Also, I wouldn't be worried about the warranty not covering that, JT. I think they just want to avoid thousands of people each year doing exactly what you did, and bringing it back for "warranty service", when it's not really a warranty issue.
In my opinion, unless you have the tools and knowledge to perform an accurate setup, it's best to go to someone who know what they're doing, and also will be patient enough to listen to your needs and perhaps explain a bit about the setup process along the way!
I used to be addicted to the "lowest string height possible" for years! Eventually, I grew away from that. I would suggest attempting to adapt to the height suggested by your tech. I play a parker nitefly with jumbo hardened steel frets (and a very unique shape/edge), but fortunately I just fell in love with the action immediately! The guy I bought it from works on guitars (amazing work....cheap!) and it was set up perfectly....until I "locked" the bridge!! Then I had buzz everywhere! Ick! Anyway, he fixed in for free and also "blocked" my bridge with a wooden block, since the parker "locked" bridge isn't truly locked! He taught me a bunch about guitars while performing the setup. More than anything, I learned that a mere 1/64th of an inch makes a HUGE difference! So, I don't adjust my own setups anymore, and leave it to the pros! 
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 12 2012, 08:28 PM
In my opinion, unless you have the tools and knowledge to perform an accurate setup, it's best to go to someone who know what they're doing, and also will be patient enough to listen to your needs and perhaps explain a bit about the setup process along the way!
I used to be addicted to the "lowest string height possible" for years! Eventually, I grew away from that. I would suggest attempting to adapt to the height suggested by your tech. I play a parker nitefly with jumbo hardened steel frets (and a very unique shape/edge), but fortunately I just fell in love with the action immediately! The guy I bought it from works on guitars (amazing work....cheap!) and it was set up perfectly....until I "locked" the bridge!! Then I had buzz everywhere! Ick! Anyway, he fixed in for free and also "blocked" my bridge with a wooden block, since the parker "locked" bridge isn't truly locked! He taught me a bunch about guitars while performing the setup. More than anything, I learned that a mere 1/64th of an inch makes a HUGE difference! So, I don't adjust my own setups anymore, and leave it to the pros!
Thanks! Yeah, I think I learned my lesson on this one!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 12 2012, 11:13 PM
Thanks again guys! I found some of the problem was that I was playing through my computer speakers which, while playing music just fine, can give a totally different sound than my amp. I adjusted the rest and it sounds fine (no buzz).PS mad: I don't think it's gonna be possible to post a pic of it just yet (my camera doesn't like to cooperate sometimes) but thanks for being willing to help out!
That would do it
It's tough to trust computer speakers. If at all possible, try to get a starter set of studio monitors at the next possible juncture. Anything, Bday, xmas, graduation, etc. You'll be glad you did Fireball recently got a pair of Alesis MK2's and it really changed things for his recording/mixing. Posted by: JTaylor Mar 13 2012, 02:10 AM
It's tough to trust computer speakers. If at all possible, try to get a starter set of studio monitors at the next possible juncture. Anything, Bday, xmas, graduation, etc. You'll be glad you did Fireball recently got a pair of Alesis MK2's and it really changed things for his recording/mixing.I never knew that before now. Almost all of my REC's have had distortion but there is no way I can submit one that is clean with this setup. I'm learning Sinisa's brand new lesson and, when I do that REC, I am just going to have to use my regular mic and run through my multi-effects and amp. I've worked on that this evening and, while it doesn't sound the greatest, it certainly sounds infinitely better than running through Audacity. Unfortunately, I just got laid off, so monitors are nowhere in the near future. However, my wife wrote down our new budget and (without me even asking her to) kept GMC in it! What a girl!
Posted by: Alex Feather Mar 13 2012, 06:48 PM
Here is a good article about setting up the guitar
http://www.playrecord.net/resource/articles/set-up-a-guitar.php
Let me know if it works! If it doesn't you can Skype me and I will help you to figure it out!
Posted by: JTaylor Mar 13 2012, 11:33 PM
http://www.playrecord.net/resource/articles/set-up-a-guitar.php
Let me know if it works! If it doesn't you can Skype me and I will help you to figure it out!
I'll check it out Alex! Thank you! I'm really hoping I can get some better clean sound out of this. I got the Jackson JS32R and the Boss ME-25. Both are way better (or so I thought) than the Ibanez GSA-60 and the Digitech RP-80 I replaced them with. I'm just not understanding why I cannot get a full clean sound
.
Posted by: Alex Feather Mar 14 2012, 12:07 AM
.I understand how frustrating it can be! Just try a few things and if it still doesn't work let me know!
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