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Your action and intonation doesn’t change. Ever. By itself. It’s your relief that is changing. This is obvious and common sense. You never need to touch anything but the neck relief. And this in actuality should be checked frequently. I’m adjusting relief, and relief ONLY oftentimes weekly.
Thank you, Dylan. I have always struggled with guitar setup and things like neck relief. I don't know why it's so hard for me, but this video helped me.
Thanks for the great video Dylan! Do you know if the Kinman Surfmaster pickups are also stacked humbuckers? I have never tried one but people swear on how they nail the Jazzmaster single coil sound with no downsides. They are quite pricey so that is why I haven’t had a chance to try them. I have tried other stacked from companies like Seymour Duncan I totally agree with you that there was something missing in the sound. My strat with gear shielding is quite silent. However, my Jazzmaster is noisier even with good shielding!
"Gibsons and Epiphones just FEEL different" Do you mean that, because its the same as saying woods and construction techniques make a difference in an electric guitar? But i know thats not true because you've argued with me against that idea!
In both audio gear/instruments and photo/video lenses(my other expensive hobby) I find that money also buys consistency from one copy to another. I've played really cheap guitars that sounded amazing, and a seemingly identical copy hanging on the wall next to it sounded and played horrible.
Using a notebook or similar to actually take notes of things you work on, whether it's guitars or computers or whatever, is always the best idea. But the truth is, I would imagine that relatively few people will actually engage in such good documenting practices, especially non-pro home tweakers. People tend to be kinda lazy. XD And what happens then without decent self documentation, people's perceptions tend to get twisted, they remember things incorrectly, which then causes them to come to often wildly incorrect conclusions. If we all engage in some of the similar practices that scientists employ, perhaps we'd argue less, especially with gear. Facts always beat out memory and opinions. Good stuff here!
Oh man, I'm 100% guilty of reaching for the tiny wrench first, or the screwdriver. I know, I know... I've always heard you're supposed to adjust the truss first. But I took that to mean: do it first because it'll mess everything else up if you do it last. And usually I'm not planning on doing it anyway. So, I was admittedly skeptical of where this was going, but this cleared a lot up for me, honestly. (In fairness, I've also been experimenting with higher/lower action because I still can't decide what I need and prefer). But generally speaking, I'm going to make a point of checking the relief with a string before doing anything else (not just eyeballing it down the neck - I don't think that helps very much, tbh). Thanks for the video. Makes a lot of sense.
I use a super tone master. Sounds amazing. But in terms of direct recording, as you explored, it sounds terrible. Awful tone. How are you using tone masters for recording? Are you using 3rd party IR’s?
I have a P-Rail in the neck position of a guitar I use for slide, although I wind up using it for regular playing as well. It works great for what I do. It has its own sound, which I love. But a side benefit is that it also can mimic a guitar with a small radius that is tricky for me to play slide on. But above all it’s fun. Of course no one pickup, guitar, amp, etc works for everybody, which is cool, as it would be boring if we all used the same gear. So no need to be upset if someone doesn’t like the gear you do, or loves stuff you don’t. I learned that years ago, it can be fun to talk about, but no good purpose is served to get upset over it.
Hey Dylan just wanted to mention about Rumble, people can watch videos on it without signing up or having an account. it's just like YT watching videos.
Does the Gator work better with the LP headstock than the mono? I've just got a mono vertigo but the head touches a the bag, that makes me nervous a bit
You are correct. The only thing that can change itself is neck flatness... not action, not pickup height (though I did have an old guitar that would lower the bridge pickup on the bass side, due to sympathetic vibration).But, I find myself tweaking intonation on practically every string change. Typically on the B & G strings. I think that tolerances in manufacturing create this delta, even to the point that I have had brand new strings that were wildly out of tune... only to mount a new string to find the problem eliminated. Granted, I play a lot of upper register triads (with extensions) while using the lowest note I can find in that neighborhood. The upper register stuff really reveals and sharpness or flatness, because the frequencies are very close together, but also, high enough that you can hear the 'beating' between non-consonant intervals ( I didn't say dissonant, because a M3 isn't dissonant... unless out of tune.). Otherwise, great video. I had some guitars that used to punish me if I left them in the case... high action, or buzzing everywhere.... My response was to let them go. WIth all the gigs and sessions, and a family.... I don't want to console my guitar.... Kind of like a carpenter consoling his hammer.
I just went through this with a new to me Knaggs. I was going crazy chasing intonation and action height and one saddle was maxed out in one direction and wasn't in tune. I wound up adjusting the neck and normalizing the bridge height and it's now perfectly intonation and plays better than ever. Spent 2 days on a 2 minute fix. Thanks for sharing Dylan!
I knew that it mattered (I guess) but I honestly had no idea that neck relief affected everything *that* much - like, to the point that saddles could be maxed out and STILL the intonation is off. I've had that problem before as well, on my first ever guitar and never would have thought to adjust the truss rod. I was also scared to do it, if I'm honest lol. I was told not to mess around with it!!
I agree to every piece of advice here, thank you so much! It took me years of trial and error, to come up with ~same approach , to understand which adjustments matter, _and in which order_.
Efficiency is the goal. I achieved the longest drive at an annual company golf outing. I was among the smallest and least experienced but concentrated on minimizing loss of power off the tee.
You can do more than you are currently convinced. But, increase in care for the quality of your efforts is the foundation. Learn to trust by increasing your skills.
If you have become dependent upon others stimulating your interest have you forfeited your own? Rediscover your own interests with as little advice as you can manage. Then, you may re-awaken your own motivation toward which targeted advice may benefit.
I'm always surprised some of mine drift a little and others are solid as a rock and we don't have anywhere as much issues with humidity as you guys. Big argument for roasted necks to get all those pockets of moisture out before the build.
I just wound my guitar with 7s yesterday, I always used 9s and 8s, they’re nice feeling but i still need to get used to them, I used the ernie ball zippy slinky and the D strings sounds a little too quiet for my liking
did a similar thing on my tele..... I tend to think theres a little more harmonic content, or more prominent partials especially on the bridge pickup. an opinion. Grok the guitar you have, learn its strengths and try to exploit them. I play with my fingers, no pick and string thru feels tighter near the bridge to my right hand. peace
I've had guitars for over 30 years... different ones over that time... and back in the day (late 90s to mid 2000s) guitars didn't need constant adjusting. You dialed them in how you like them, and that's where they remained for years. I have pretty much all newer guitars now (covid-era made ones) and I can tell you they don't stay put worth a crap (2022 Gibson LP Classic, 2020 Fender Am Pro Strat, 2021 Am Pro Tele). I have to constantly keep adjusting the truss rod (and in so doing re-establish the mid-neck action a bit) to keep them where they need to be. Not sure if that's because the timber they used was rushed thru the process to meet demand and they simply weren't cured properly, or what. I'm guessing that's the main reason. If I don't constantly (meaning every month or two.... and at every string change) re-dial the truss rod, the guitars will drift thru various stages of unplayability. I have a 1999 Am Std Tele and a 2003 StingRay bass I haven't had to adjust for 10 years. While it is true that I probably have a higher degree of sensitivity to changes in set up (set up/feeler gauges do me little good beyond roughing it in because i can feel 100 different actions between the finest marks on those things lol), the fact that my older guitars drift hardly at all, and the newer ones do a lot (to me) says there's a difference going on... perhaps age? Curing process? The general quality of timber they are using now compared to then? I dunno. My 2 cents.
