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15
Final setup
Turn the truss rod nut
counterclockwise to bring
the neck up, adding relief.
Measure string relief
at the 12th fret.
Turn clockwise to pull the
neck back, reducing relief.
Go slow: a little does a lot!
Set the action at the nut
Lower your string nut slots for better playability, using
gauged nut files. Measure string height over the 1st fret,
between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret.
A comfortable medium action is:
Unwound strings (G, B, E): 0.012" at the 1st fret
Wound strings (E, A, D): 0.020" at the 1st fret
Use feeler gauges to measure the gap. If you don’t have feeler
gauges, you can use a guitar string that closely matches the
size of the gap you are shooting for. Stop when the string
sits on your feeler gauge. Go slow and check your work fre-
quently—it’s easy to go too far in this step and ruin the nut.
Straight neck or a little relief?
Neck relief refers to adjusting a neck so that it has a very slight
upbow, rather than being perfectly straight. This relief allows
a little more room for string vibration, reducing the chance
of hitting the lower frets and causing fret buzz.
Depending on your playing style, and how perfectly level
your fret tops are, a neck should be anywhere from perfectly
straight to having 0.012" of relief. This measurement refers
to additional string height over the 12th fret, compared to
a perfectly straight neck.
A straight neck tends to play and sound better, but very few
guitars end up with no relief at all, and several thousandths
of an inch or more is perfectly normal.
