Guitar action

Hello

I have some questions regarding how to set up your action properly on the guitar.

So i have 3 Les Pauls which i want to optimize by lowering the action on them so they get easier to play and stay's totally in tune. is there any special measurement i can do myself to see if they are set up correct on my Les Pauls?

It would be really great if you told me how i can do it myself the right way, cause i don't have the economy to send them to a professional.

Thanks in advance

Hi, Caponi. There are many websites that will illustrate and explain exactly what you need to do. Better to go to one of these sites where the explanations are prepared and included with photos and diagrams. Here is just one:
http://www.icepoint.com/guitar/Setting%20up%20your%20electric%20guitar/

However, the Quick & Dirty for a Les Paul set up is

Set relief to .005 - .012" (.012 is factory, .005 is leaner & meaner if your style and instrument are capable. Most experts will aim you as flat as you can get it.)

Set action as 2/64" on the treble E, up to 4/64" on the bass E. (I forget what factory setting is offhand). This is a starting point. From there lower your action (if you want it lower) as far as you can or raise it to eliminate buzz. With TOM bridges this is pretty easy.

I recommend slackening your strings before making any truss rod or bridge adjustments.

That was pretty Alien to me :eek:

Thank you for taking the time tho :)

Originally Posted by: caponi14That was pretty Alien to me :eek:
Thank you for taking the time tho :)

Heh, don't worry about remembering it all at once. If you have a set of feeler gauges and an allen key for the truss rod you can do this. Be real careful to follow instructions and especially the warnings.

Probably the Gibson website has specs that you could use. Maybe even Slash's specs ;) And probably a good tutorial as well.

Originally Posted by: caponi14
...cause i don't have the economy to send them to a professional.

Not to nit-pick.....but just say "money". Economy doesn't really make sense.

To stay on topic, if you don't know what you are doing and are comfortable messing around with your guitar, you could damage it. Setting the action can't really screw your guitar up but when you get to stuff like the truss rod, DON'T mess with it if you don't know what you are doing. I suggest just reading a lot online. Google has tons of info on this stuff.

Originally Posted by: hunter1801Setting the action can't really screw your guitar up but when you get to stuff like the truss rod, DON'T mess with it if you don't know what you are doing. I suggest just reading a lot online. Google has tons of info on this stuff.

A good comment. Warnings like this are what I'm talking about. There could hardly be a simpler instrument design, but it's quite possible to screw it up, nevertheless.