Wow! This is gold. I have a Epiphone ES 335 Pro. I bought it used and got a discount because of the fret slap. I followed the steps in this masterclass level video and now the guitar is an absolute joy to play. I'm an inexperienced guitar player but I have been a woodworker for around 30 years, I enjoy working on guitars almost as much as I enjoy playing them, maybe more if I cant get my damn fingers to stop flying off the fret board. An issue I still have is getting my D and G strings to not bind in the nut. I've tried TUSQ and TUSQ XL nuts, I've tinkered around with them trying everything I can imagine, I can't get them just right. I recently purchased the TUSQ XL adjustable nut and have been trying to fabricate a base with reasonable success but I cant get complete stability or an accurate break angle. I don't have a 3D printer so I'm trying to make one with blanks and my woodworking skills, not an easy thing to do. I would greatly appreciate any advice on how I would go about having one fabricated or better yet...I would be willing to part with a chunk of my wallet to purchase one from you:).
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Hi Sam, my epihone es 335 is giving me headicks as well, can't get the tusk right, the high e (and I feel the b string) have serious overtones/harmonics when fretted, especially the high frets. Before I get someone to file the frets, I'll be interested in purchasing a tusk from you.
Sam i think you are the only guitar tech that can get a guitar to play with a very low action in the country. from other peoples videos ive watched they usualy ignore the fret slap on the low e. also i don't see them testing if the strings can be bent without the notes going dead. Maybe other techs are stuck in their ways using the old method of fret leveling and fail to admit your way is better because i bet they watch your video's.
It's true.. I've not seen people making sure that the high E bends all work... But I don't watch many guitar tech videos and maybe they do anyway, off camera. The thing about low action is (as I've come to understand it) that you need to not only level out high & bottom out low frets but also to 'even' out the curve of the fretboard as a whole. Since the evenness of that curve is directly affected by the compression imposed by the tensioned strings, it follows that only a method of leveling with the neck curved and under load can be truly effective.
Recently replaced bridge on my Epi SG400 Pro with a Gotoh Nashville, and of course it is chrome, and yes the rest of the hardware is nickel!! Well at least my intonation worries are gone. We all have our DOH! moments
I've been on a stead diet of guitar tech & luthier videos since I started playing in 2018. I have only basic tools, so I haven't moved onto the complexities of fret treatments/replacements. Your work is by far the most 'intimidating', in that it affirms how much I've yet to learn. That was a compliment... Of several guitars, I own a satin black, 2018 Gibson ES-339 with which I've had an interesting battle to maintain tune since I installed a Duesenberg 'Les Trem II'. I have pretty good stability now, but only after several expensive (to me) parts/upgrades. After piecing together several aftermarket solutions (Les Trem 2 trem, Schaller roller bridge, String Butler string-angle corrector, new strings after each upgrade - sometimes 9.5-44 & sometimes 10-46), nothing really worked, even for very light trem arm wobbles. The solution, being of course the last thing I tried? A $13 Graphtech XL nut. I have no affiliation or financial interest with that company, they can go spit. However, that replacement worked great. I didn't do much 'nut compensation', since I'm still incredibly unskilled, but I was able to file the nut down to appropriate height at least. There is a question here - for any Bigsby or other aftermarket trem system, do you think a synthetic nut (like Graphtech) is a good idea, as opposed to a bone nut? Your preference seems to be standard bone nut & unless I missed it, you haven't mentioned roller bridges as a "nice to have". The roller bridge didn't improve anything, the 'String Butler' is a bit of a gimmick but admittedly, it did improve things slightly. The nut upgrade ended up being the silver bullet. Deep trem dives are NOT happening, but some moderate wobbles are proving stable. Did I just get lucky, or is that a worthwhile investment for anyone looking to stabilize tune? What would you have done instead?
Hi Baconator - thanks for your compliment! I am a convert to Tusq nuts and string trees. I had a customer last year bring me a Gibson Les Paul and a string butler... I said 'you won't need it..' and set up the guitar with a custom adjustable Tusq nut and stretched the new strings fully out. Result? Stable tuning without needing to use a string butler. The same applies to the Duesenberg tremolo. If your nut is Tusq, if the 1st fret action is the right height (0.3-0.4mm over the 1st fret) and if you have THOROUGHLY stretched all of the slack out of your new strings, the Duesenberg will play pretty well without putting the guitar out of tune. As I always say in my videos: tuning stability has nothing to do with your tuners.... it's 50% your nut and 50% the unreleased slack in your strings. If you go at it with that understanding, you will be able to create tuning stability for Duesenbergs, Bigbsbys, strat 6 screwe and 2 screw tremolos and so on. And yes, a roller bridge is a good replacement; partly because it reduces the string friction (dragging across sharp saddles) but actually MOSTLY because the roller bridge gives you a little more intonation travel for each saddle which can often come in very handy!
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Thank you, yes I will be checking the string height at the first fret. This is a long comment I know, so I don't expect you to join a long back & forth - and I will shut way the hell up & browse thru more of the vids silently. I did add Grover locking tuners the moment I got it home but I always do a few hrs of breaking in the strings (Ernie Ball 10-46) since I'm not yet a pro at re-stringing. Appreciate the advice re: roller bridges. I try to look at what hardware is included on higher-end guitars (Suhr, Paoletti, Music Man, Friedman, etc) then ask the pros what they suggest. The String Butler is a gimmick but it did improve things. I realized later that the intent is to resolve other issues so you don't NEED the String Butler. It makes tuning a bit weird, tbh, and I'll be removing it the next time I restring. I was so impressed with what the Graphtech XL nut did, I've been raving about it. Graphtech or whoever the company is, should be paying me for the shameless promotion I've been providing. I installed one on my American Performer Strat and I have a hard time forcing it out of tune. I installed one on my Tele Deluxe (as well as a roller bridge - it's a hard tail) & I've had to make micro-tuning adjustments on that maybe thrice since I put the strings on a month ago. I just have to get good at making the right nut adjustments & filing them properly. I was running low on 'Nut Sauce' for the bone nuts before replacing them with Graphtechs. Your vids go into a depth that I haven't seen in other videos. I'm a sucker for aftermarket parts so I thought I'd paste my collection below. I don't expect anyone to go through the list, it's just if your subscribers have tune stability questions, it might actually help if they have similar models. * 2018 American Performer Strat SSH, with Floyd Rose 'Rail Tail' & Fender locking tuners + 'GraphTech PQ500000 TUSQ' nut. * 2018 Telecaster Deluxe 'Troublemaker', HH pickup config, Schaller roller bridge, Fender locking tuners + 'GraphTech PQ500000 TUSQ' nut. * 2019 Gibson 'Satin' ES-339 with 2 '57 Humbuckers, Schaller roller bridge, Grover locking tuners, Les Trem II tremolo, 'Graphtech PT-6642-00 Black TUSQ XL' nut & a stupid 'String Butler' because hey I'll buy anything lol. * 2017 Epiphone ES-339. * 2021 Fender Noventa Strat w 2 P90s, hard-tail, Kluson style locking tuners.
I'm a complete novice when it comes to playing guitar...under a year. I have never thought of setting up a guitar. For my first electric I bought a Epiphone ES 335 used from a big box store at a low price. I thought I was just getting a deal:) Turns out the guitar was unplayable. Buzzing and slapping, multiple high and low frets, a rattling bridge and a worn out trash nut. I was very excited to play my first electric so I was very disappointed. I watched hundreds of set-up videos...hours upon hours to try and fix my hunk of firewood. I bought new fancy tuners, a new tailpiece. a new fancy bridge, tried 10 different types of strings, cut and re-cut probably a dozen nuts and still the guitar slapped and buzzed all over the place. I was about to give up and hang it on the wall as art when I came across Sam's video's.... Sam is an innovator and a highly skilled luthier. I watched this video 10 times and dove into my first fret leveling job. I am happy to say that my wall art/firewood now sings with zero buzz or slap, has a lower than factory action, stays in tune, and has near perfect intonation on every string. These videos are gold! The only place I'll be going for setup. It's not short but it is complete.
There's no getting away from the fact that when guitars are completed in the factory they are un-finished.The set up isn't a nicety; it's the process of 'completing the guitar' - ideally to YOUR personal tastes. Then it's complete. The good thing is that the adjustments needed to make a factory 'finished' guitar into a truly finished, playable guitar are TINY but which have a huge and wonderful impact :)
Hi Sam, great video yhank you. I've tried finding the fret sanding tool you use but come up empty coyld you please tell me what it is and where i can buy it? Thank you very much. Carver
Hi Carver - if you mean the 'Banana' fret levelling tool? It's simple to make and use - as with anything though it takes some practice to really get the best results out of it. But it costs almost nothing. I show how to make and use it in my extensive set up eBook - details here: facebook.com/relovedguitars/posts/pfbid0dVrJMrB1cKR8TxjfApyqWS2chNHeKuedJ5qZKAvqKeysQho26FyGCM1wTNpnNLCGl
Hi. I happened upon your video because have only one Epiphone guitar. My others are all high end Gibsons. My Epiphone has the same problems exact as the one you are working on. I only do my own work and have been using the sanding bar which I have gotten pretty good with, but hate the fact that so much material has to be taken off all the frets and still have some probles of ending up with low spots that you so wonderfully covered. I would like to ask the name of the tools you are using and do you have a web sight that I could join and be glad to pay for your perfect way of teaching. Sorry for the long comment but I was blown away. Please do more videos. I am honored to subscribe to your channel.
Hi Steve - I use 400 grit self-adhesive stuff called 'Rhynostick' but wet 'n dry paper + good double sided tape will work too. Send me your email address to samdeeks@gmail.com and I'll email you another link to the eBook.
Does having it lay flat increase the fret slap or does it not make a difference? I love the channel and have learned a lot and felt a great deal of satisfaction seeing you use roller bridges. On my old Epi LP plustop I stumbled across that solution as well and having Sam do it confirms I was right to do it because it did solve the high G string issue.
Hi - I test the 'fret slap' in the playing position and the neck is supported midway when I'm doing the levelling so there's very little difference courtesy of our friend gravity :-)
That's odd - played it back just now and it's only the last 10 minutes audio missing... Weird. Anyway I messed up exporting from Final Cut Pro by the looks of it... Ah well, takes on chin, moves on!
I was watching your video to see what you were doing to improve this guitar and hear the result. Then after an hour you shut down the AUDIO! So it would be impossible for viewers to HEAR the difference that all your actions made. Because I had come so far I decided to watch untill the end without SOUND only to discover that you didn't even test the result of your doings!! I do have a few qualifications for that , but I will not express them here. I do know that I'm not going to watch any more videos from you and will never bring my guitar to you for maintanance if it were only because you were damaging the instrument while working on it. Nevertheless: good luck.
The audio's gone as the result of a mistake in exporting the video from Final Cut Pro. Obviously I didn't know about that until you pointed it out - so thanks for that. Out of 800 videos... occasionally it happens. There's nothing I can do about it; I don't have time to watch the video back again after exporting it and I don't have room to keep old files to re-export things. You're entitled to your opinion: I don't need to play the guitar at the end a) because I've done this thousands of times and b) because the steps in my set up process tell me that the guitar plays perfectly well by the time I've finished working on it. I know ALL the signs I need to know. By the time I've levelled the frets I know there are no chokes on high bends etc. And so on.
