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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ Lowering The Action On My Guitar

Posted by: eaglesnh4 Mar 20 2010, 12:22 PM

Hi Guys. to lower the action on your guitar i know you have to turn the two screws at the bridge to higher or lower depending on what set up you want. i have recently played a friends Gibson and his set up is great. the action is really low. however i have a gretsch. and it only lets me lower it to a certain point untill i get loads of fret buzz and i want it even lower. without having to pay a professional to do it for me, i wondered if anybody could guide me through what i have to do to save me pennys. [color="#8B0000"][/color]

Posted by: kaznie_NL Mar 20 2010, 12:34 PM

Hmm... You might want to set your neck in a better way, using the truss rod, but I highly recommend you let a tech do that, when you screw up, your guitar collapses

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Mar 20 2010, 12:37 PM

If you have no idea about how to do this I would also not really recommend an online guide. If at some point you get all that fret buzz and you want the action even lower you will for sure have to adjust the settings of your guitars neck and this is something that you should not just play around with, also you have to adjust your guitars intonation after all that, if you don't do this properly you will not be able to properly tune your guitar anymore, so I really think it is better to look for somebody that could help you with that job.

Posted by: stratman79 Mar 20 2010, 01:17 PM

Don't think you want the action on a semi as low as a solid body. got to be carefull that you don't move the bridge as it will mess up the intonation... you can do a little adjusting the screws but you want to stay away from playing with the truss rod on your main guitar, (you should play around with a cheap guitar if you want to learn). anyway search smbstressfest on youtube he does great videos on setups and guitar work.... but be warned you will mess it up when you do work on guitars at first... a local shop tech would only charge you £20 or so and a pro luthier set is about £75 where I am, money well spent tbh mate

Posted by: Sensible Jones Mar 20 2010, 01:35 PM

What kind of Gretsch is it? What kind of bridge does it have?

If you've dropped the action and you're now getting fret buzz then you've dropped it too far, although, as you say it's still too high it could well be that your Neck relief needs adjustment. Get a Tech to do this if neccessary!!
A good way to check is to fret your low E at the 1st fret with your left hand and then fret it at the same time at the 12th fret with your right hand. Now, if you look at the neck underneath the string (as if you were playing) then the neck should be slightly concaved away from the string between about the 5th and 9th fret by about a millimetre (or less). If the frets are touching the string then it means your truss rod needs tightening.
Again, you should get a Tech to do this adjustment!

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 20 2010, 04:56 PM

I would recommend taking the guitar to a tech to do the job...Maybe you can ask him to "watch and stick around" in order to see how its done. Later on when you know how it should be done you can try it yourself... Action is adjusted both with bridge saddles and with some neck adjustments (truss rod)...

Posted by: Emir Hot Mar 20 2010, 05:07 PM

A tech (friend of mine) did it on my guitar last year when I bought new floyd rose. He did many things from measuring something, aligning ... When he fixed the neck he left guitar to hang on the wall for 2 days so the neck can get used to the new "settings". There are many things to think of so I would also recommend an experienced person for that.

Posted by: eaglesnh4 Mar 20 2010, 06:01 PM

ok thanks.