Chords for String action/bridge radius set-up with Ken Mercer
Tempo:
95.125 bpm
Chords used:
D#
F#
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hi guys, Ken Mercer here.
In my last video I showed you how to make a truss rod adjustment.
In this video today I'll show you how to set up the string height correctly and how to make
the radius on the bridge to match your fretboard.
Ideally to do this job you will need these two
gadgets here.
This first one is called a string action ruler and these are called under string
radius gauges.
You could if you wanted to also have these.
These are very handy to have.
They're called notched radius gauges.
These are used to identify what radius your fretboard has
and I'll show you how they work in a minute.
If you don't know what radius your fretboard has you
can search on google and for your particular guitar and you'll definitely find what radius
you're working with.
Okay the first thing I'm going to do is show you how the radius gauges
work.
These notched radius gauges they come in a pack of four.
You get wide ones and narrow ones.
The narrow ones fit over the strings at this end of the guitar but because the strings get wider
as they go up towards the bridge you need the wider ones at a certain point to take over.
I'm going to demonstrate with a 15 inch radius.
I know this guitar isn't a 15 inch
and I'm using the narrow one up at the top end of the guitar and it's rocking around far too much
so that's obviously not the correct radius gauge for this particular neck.
I know that the neck is
a 9.5 inch radius so I'm going to put that one on now and as you can see it fits perfectly.
There's no movement.
You need to establish what radius your fretboard has and then select the
radius tool that you need.
In this case mine's a 9.5 so I've put my radius gauge under the strings
there and it's ready for me to use.
The next thing I'm going to do is use my string action ruler.
On the back here it gives you a rough estimate of where your strings need to be for electric,
acoustic and bass guitars.
The sixth string at the 12th fret is telling me should be 1.5 to 2 mm.
I will measure at the 12th fret the space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string
and I will be using this guide here at the side of the ruler.
I'm going to place the ruler on
and it's at 1.5 to 2 so we have 2.
It's about 2 there.
This guitar I know is already set up
because I've already done it but sometimes you'll find your string is too high.
Sometimes you'll
find your string is way too low.
This is just a rough guide of where you need it to be just to
start with and then you can fine-tune it later.
[N] In order to adjust the string height you'll need
to come here to the bridge and find the appropriate sized tension wrench or allen key and put it in
the height adjustment screws like this and just twist them to raise and lower these little
parts of the saddle.
What we're aiming to do is set the height of the two outer strings first.
We want this one to be as we saw before 1.5 between 1.5 and 2 mm.
This other string
at the 12th fret it says it should be between 1 and 1.5 mm.
[D#]
So again we use
our ruler and measure at the 12th fret and I'm at 1.5. [F#] We then play all the frets
on these two strings just to make sure we don't have any fret buzz.
If you do have fret buzz
you can just gradually fine-tune and keep raising [E] them slightly just a tiny bit at a time until you
get rid of the fret buzz until these two strings are playing nicely and you're comfortable using
them.
Once that's done what I normally do is detune these four middle strings just to take
off a little bit of the tension because then I come up here and I raise the height of these
I bring them up right almost to the top and that pulls a lot of tension on the string.
The reason
I do that is because with my radius gauge when I lift up my radius gauge I only want the two
outer strings to be touching the radius gauge.
Then I gradually lower each of these when they're
all seated nicely on the top of there you know you have a perfect [N]
radius that matches your fretboard
and it's as simple as that.
So that's how you set up the string height and how you get a correct
radius at the bridge.
It's important your guitar is set up correctly if your strings are too low
you're going to get fret buzz and especially when you're bending the strings or playing at the top
end of the guitar you're going to notice the fret buzz a lot more.
If your strings are too high off
the fretboard they're going to cut into your fingers and you're going to have a lot of
a lot of pain in your fingers when you're playing and that's one of the reasons why a lot of people
don't play the guitar or they give up.
So if your fingers are really hurting when you're playing
then maybe you need to get your guitar set up properly.
My next video will be about intonation
how to fine tune your guitar so look out for that.
Check out my channel if you like my videos
please subscribe.
I have a lot of performance videos and guitar tutorial videos.
I also do
online Skype guitar lessons so if you're interested in having a guitar lesson with me
please email me at mersymusic at hotmail.it. Thanks for watching!
In my last video I showed you how to make a truss rod adjustment.
In this video today I'll show you how to set up the string height correctly and how to make
the radius on the bridge to match your fretboard.
Ideally to do this job you will need these two
gadgets here.
This first one is called a string action ruler and these are called under string
radius gauges.
You could if you wanted to also have these.
These are very handy to have.
They're called notched radius gauges.
These are used to identify what radius your fretboard has
and I'll show you how they work in a minute.
If you don't know what radius your fretboard has you
can search on google and for your particular guitar and you'll definitely find what radius
you're working with.
Okay the first thing I'm going to do is show you how the radius gauges
work.
These notched radius gauges they come in a pack of four.
You get wide ones and narrow ones.
The narrow ones fit over the strings at this end of the guitar but because the strings get wider
as they go up towards the bridge you need the wider ones at a certain point to take over.
I'm going to demonstrate with a 15 inch radius.
I know this guitar isn't a 15 inch
and I'm using the narrow one up at the top end of the guitar and it's rocking around far too much
so that's obviously not the correct radius gauge for this particular neck.
I know that the neck is
a 9.5 inch radius so I'm going to put that one on now and as you can see it fits perfectly.
There's no movement.
You need to establish what radius your fretboard has and then select the
radius tool that you need.
In this case mine's a 9.5 so I've put my radius gauge under the strings
there and it's ready for me to use.
The next thing I'm going to do is use my string action ruler.
On the back here it gives you a rough estimate of where your strings need to be for electric,
acoustic and bass guitars.
The sixth string at the 12th fret is telling me should be 1.5 to 2 mm.
I will measure at the 12th fret the space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string
and I will be using this guide here at the side of the ruler.
I'm going to place the ruler on
and it's at 1.5 to 2 so we have 2.
It's about 2 there.
This guitar I know is already set up
because I've already done it but sometimes you'll find your string is too high.
Sometimes you'll
find your string is way too low.
This is just a rough guide of where you need it to be just to
start with and then you can fine-tune it later.
[N] In order to adjust the string height you'll need
to come here to the bridge and find the appropriate sized tension wrench or allen key and put it in
the height adjustment screws like this and just twist them to raise and lower these little
parts of the saddle.
What we're aiming to do is set the height of the two outer strings first.
We want this one to be as we saw before 1.5 between 1.5 and 2 mm.
This other string
at the 12th fret it says it should be between 1 and 1.5 mm.
[D#]
So again we use
our ruler and measure at the 12th fret and I'm at 1.5. [F#] We then play all the frets
on these two strings just to make sure we don't have any fret buzz.
If you do have fret buzz
you can just gradually fine-tune and keep raising [E] them slightly just a tiny bit at a time until you
get rid of the fret buzz until these two strings are playing nicely and you're comfortable using
them.
Once that's done what I normally do is detune these four middle strings just to take
off a little bit of the tension because then I come up here and I raise the height of these
I bring them up right almost to the top and that pulls a lot of tension on the string.
The reason
I do that is because with my radius gauge when I lift up my radius gauge I only want the two
outer strings to be touching the radius gauge.
Then I gradually lower each of these when they're
all seated nicely on the top of there you know you have a perfect [N]
radius that matches your fretboard
and it's as simple as that.
So that's how you set up the string height and how you get a correct
radius at the bridge.
It's important your guitar is set up correctly if your strings are too low
you're going to get fret buzz and especially when you're bending the strings or playing at the top
end of the guitar you're going to notice the fret buzz a lot more.
If your strings are too high off
the fretboard they're going to cut into your fingers and you're going to have a lot of
a lot of pain in your fingers when you're playing and that's one of the reasons why a lot of people
don't play the guitar or they give up.
So if your fingers are really hurting when you're playing
then maybe you need to get your guitar set up properly.
My next video will be about intonation
how to fine tune your guitar so look out for that.
Check out my channel if you like my videos
please subscribe.
I have a lot of performance videos and guitar tutorial videos.
I also do
online Skype guitar lessons so if you're interested in having a guitar lesson with me
please email me at mersymusic at hotmail.it. Thanks for watching!
Key:
D#
F#
E
D#
F#
E
D#
F#
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hi guys, Ken Mercer here.
In my last video I showed you how to make a truss rod adjustment.
In this video today I'll show you how to set up the string height correctly and how to make
the radius on the bridge to match your fretboard. _ _
Ideally to do this job you will need _ these two
gadgets here.
This first one is called a string action ruler and _ these are called under string
radius gauges.
_ _ You could if you wanted to also have these.
These are very handy to have.
They're called notched radius gauges.
_ These are used to identify what radius your fretboard has
and I'll show you how they work in a minute.
If you don't know what radius your fretboard has you
can search on google and for your particular guitar and you'll definitely find what radius
you're working with.
_ Okay the first thing I'm going to do is show you how the radius gauges
work.
These notched radius gauges they come in a pack of four.
You get wide ones and narrow ones.
_ The narrow ones fit over the strings at this end of the guitar _ but because the strings get wider
as they go up towards the bridge you need the wider ones at a certain point to take over. _ _ _ _
I'm going to demonstrate with a 15 inch radius.
I know this guitar isn't a 15 inch
and I'm using the narrow one up at the top end of the guitar and it's rocking around far too much
so that's obviously not the correct radius gauge for this particular neck.
I know that the neck is
a 9.5 inch radius so I'm going to put that one on now and as you can see it fits perfectly.
There's no movement. _ _
You need to establish what radius your fretboard has and then select the
radius tool that you need.
In this case mine's a 9.5 so I've put my radius gauge under the strings
there and it's ready for me to use.
_ _ The next thing I'm going to do _ is use my string action ruler. _ _
_ _ On the back here it gives you a rough estimate of where your strings need to be for electric,
acoustic and bass guitars.
_ The sixth string at the 12th fret is telling me should be 1.5 to 2 mm. _
I will measure at the 12th fret the space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string _
_ and I will be using this _ guide here at the side of the ruler. _ _ _ _ _
I'm going to place the ruler on
_ and it's at 1.5 to 2 so _ _ _ _ _ we have 2.
It's about 2 there.
_ This guitar I know is already set up
because I've already done it but sometimes you'll find your string is too high.
Sometimes you'll
find your string is way too low.
_ This is just a rough guide of where you need it to be just to
start with and then you can fine-tune it later.
_ [N] In order to adjust the string height you'll need
to come here to the bridge and find the appropriate sized tension wrench or allen key and put it in
the height adjustment screws like this _ and just twist them _ to raise and lower these little
_ _ parts of the saddle.
_ _ _ _ _ What we're aiming to do is set the height of the two outer strings first. _
We want this one to be as we saw before 1.5 between 1.5 and 2 mm.
_ _ This other string
_ _ at the 12th fret it says it should be between 1 and 1.5 mm.
[D#] _ _
So again we use
_ _ _ our ruler and measure at the 12th fret and I'm at 1.5. [F#] _ _ We then play all the frets
on these two strings just to make sure we don't have any fret buzz.
If you do have fret buzz
you can just gradually fine-tune and keep raising [E] them slightly just a tiny bit at a time until you
get rid of the fret buzz until these two strings are playing nicely and you're comfortable using
them.
_ Once that's done what I normally do is _ detune these four middle strings just to take
off a little bit of the tension _ because then I come up here and I raise the height of these
I bring them up right almost to the top and that pulls a lot of tension on the string.
The reason
I do that is because with my radius gauge when I lift up my radius gauge I only want the two
outer strings to be touching the radius gauge.
_ Then I gradually lower each of these when they're
all seated nicely on the top of there you know you have a perfect [N] _
radius that matches your fretboard
and it's as simple as that.
So that's how you set up the string height and how you get a correct
radius at the bridge.
_ It's important your guitar is set up correctly if your strings are too low
you're going to get fret buzz and especially when you're bending the strings or playing at the top
end of the guitar you're going to notice the fret buzz a lot more.
If your strings are too high off
the fretboard they're going to cut into your fingers and you're going to have a lot of
a lot of pain in your fingers when you're playing and that's one of the reasons why a lot of people
don't play the guitar or they give up.
So if your fingers are really hurting when you're playing
then maybe you need to get your guitar set up properly.
_ My next video will be about intonation
how to fine tune your guitar so look out for that.
Check out my channel if you like my videos
please subscribe.
I have a lot of performance videos and guitar tutorial videos.
I also do
online Skype guitar lessons so if you're interested in having a guitar lesson with me
please email me at mersymusic at hotmail.it. Thanks for watching! _ _ _ _
Hi guys, Ken Mercer here.
In my last video I showed you how to make a truss rod adjustment.
In this video today I'll show you how to set up the string height correctly and how to make
the radius on the bridge to match your fretboard. _ _
Ideally to do this job you will need _ these two
gadgets here.
This first one is called a string action ruler and _ these are called under string
radius gauges.
_ _ You could if you wanted to also have these.
These are very handy to have.
They're called notched radius gauges.
_ These are used to identify what radius your fretboard has
and I'll show you how they work in a minute.
If you don't know what radius your fretboard has you
can search on google and for your particular guitar and you'll definitely find what radius
you're working with.
_ Okay the first thing I'm going to do is show you how the radius gauges
work.
These notched radius gauges they come in a pack of four.
You get wide ones and narrow ones.
_ The narrow ones fit over the strings at this end of the guitar _ but because the strings get wider
as they go up towards the bridge you need the wider ones at a certain point to take over. _ _ _ _
I'm going to demonstrate with a 15 inch radius.
I know this guitar isn't a 15 inch
and I'm using the narrow one up at the top end of the guitar and it's rocking around far too much
so that's obviously not the correct radius gauge for this particular neck.
I know that the neck is
a 9.5 inch radius so I'm going to put that one on now and as you can see it fits perfectly.
There's no movement. _ _
You need to establish what radius your fretboard has and then select the
radius tool that you need.
In this case mine's a 9.5 so I've put my radius gauge under the strings
there and it's ready for me to use.
_ _ The next thing I'm going to do _ is use my string action ruler. _ _
_ _ On the back here it gives you a rough estimate of where your strings need to be for electric,
acoustic and bass guitars.
_ The sixth string at the 12th fret is telling me should be 1.5 to 2 mm. _
I will measure at the 12th fret the space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string _
_ and I will be using this _ guide here at the side of the ruler. _ _ _ _ _
I'm going to place the ruler on
_ and it's at 1.5 to 2 so _ _ _ _ _ we have 2.
It's about 2 there.
_ This guitar I know is already set up
because I've already done it but sometimes you'll find your string is too high.
Sometimes you'll
find your string is way too low.
_ This is just a rough guide of where you need it to be just to
start with and then you can fine-tune it later.
_ [N] In order to adjust the string height you'll need
to come here to the bridge and find the appropriate sized tension wrench or allen key and put it in
the height adjustment screws like this _ and just twist them _ to raise and lower these little
_ _ parts of the saddle.
_ _ _ _ _ What we're aiming to do is set the height of the two outer strings first. _
We want this one to be as we saw before 1.5 between 1.5 and 2 mm.
_ _ This other string
_ _ at the 12th fret it says it should be between 1 and 1.5 mm.
[D#] _ _
So again we use
_ _ _ our ruler and measure at the 12th fret and I'm at 1.5. [F#] _ _ We then play all the frets
on these two strings just to make sure we don't have any fret buzz.
If you do have fret buzz
you can just gradually fine-tune and keep raising [E] them slightly just a tiny bit at a time until you
get rid of the fret buzz until these two strings are playing nicely and you're comfortable using
them.
_ Once that's done what I normally do is _ detune these four middle strings just to take
off a little bit of the tension _ because then I come up here and I raise the height of these
I bring them up right almost to the top and that pulls a lot of tension on the string.
The reason
I do that is because with my radius gauge when I lift up my radius gauge I only want the two
outer strings to be touching the radius gauge.
_ Then I gradually lower each of these when they're
all seated nicely on the top of there you know you have a perfect [N] _
radius that matches your fretboard
and it's as simple as that.
So that's how you set up the string height and how you get a correct
radius at the bridge.
_ It's important your guitar is set up correctly if your strings are too low
you're going to get fret buzz and especially when you're bending the strings or playing at the top
end of the guitar you're going to notice the fret buzz a lot more.
If your strings are too high off
the fretboard they're going to cut into your fingers and you're going to have a lot of
a lot of pain in your fingers when you're playing and that's one of the reasons why a lot of people
don't play the guitar or they give up.
So if your fingers are really hurting when you're playing
then maybe you need to get your guitar set up properly.
_ My next video will be about intonation
how to fine tune your guitar so look out for that.
Check out my channel if you like my videos
please subscribe.
I have a lot of performance videos and guitar tutorial videos.
I also do
online Skype guitar lessons so if you're interested in having a guitar lesson with me
please email me at mersymusic at hotmail.it. Thanks for watching! _ _ _ _