Adjusting String Height and Action Setup

Adjusting String Height on my guitars
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[@flamethrowercandle2354]

There's low action. There's high action. Then there's no action. Like what I get.

[@discoshart]

I hear ya

[@manbird2184]

Oof

[@hadleymanmusic]

Hahaaa

[@guitarofrage7685]

It be like that 😔

[@86rattlehead]

At least you don't have to bend your neck...

[@trejomorales6015]

Couple of notes from my experience with a truss rod. 1) make small adjustments and tune the guitar. You also should let the guitar sit for a few hours after adjusting the truss rod. It takes time for the neck to fully adjust to the rod. Adding tension is also best (whether recreating back bow or relief) helps with truss rod movement. 2) A newer guitar or one that has been stored with care should have a truss rod that turns easily. If you have a truss rod that will not turn, be careful. It could be a rusty nut or it could be a bad neck. I posted a video of me cranking a rusty truss rod. Fortunately, i didn't break it. 3) if your frets are in good condition, you should be able to have a relatively flat neck with little to no string buzz. Aside from uneven frets and poor action, I would say the number 1 culprit of string buzz is poor playing. 4)) I have bought and played many used guitars. Number one issue I have seen is crappy set up. I'm with Ola, when I pick up a guitar and the strings are half an inch off the fretboard (talking to you music go round), that guitar goes right back on the rack 5) finally, clip your string tips after you put in new strings. You people that leave your strings unclipped after anstring change are inhumane.

[@monkeydshark4017]

@ognilouD driB but do you leave them just because or do you have a reason?

[@traceur694]

@eniatsuM evaD You must not care about how clean your sound is, they always wiggle and make noise... Also, I had a friend who sat down at his desk, reached down to turn his amp on, and jammed his eye on one of the uncut strings. I used to always leave mine uncut and keep one set of old strings (in case I broke a string, I could restring an old one easier in a pinch)...theni started doing studio work and a friend almost lost an eye. Don't be stubborn for no reason.

[@12south31]

@eniatsuM evaD Just like no one gives a fuck about your personal preference. Or that one blind eye you got from it.

[@brewed544]

@eniatsuM evaD Do you pick the gritz from your teeth with the excess? So hardcore man.

[@SCBiscuit13]

Also always tune your guitar to the target tuning after each adjustment of the trus rod.

[@Aeronaut1975]

Ola, if I may be so bold. I was once taught by a very experienced luthier that you should only set your intonation, string height and tuning if your guitar is in the playing position. It's kind of hard to believe, but when your guitar is lying flat, the effect of gravity on the neck, combined with string and truss rod tensions, is enough to very slightly alter the intonation and tuning, very slightly of course, but when you're aiming for perfection, it kinda makes sense. If you use a super accurate tuner, you will see this effect yourself. Secondly, when adjusting your truss rod, ideally you should do no more than 1/4 of a turn before leaving it for a day or two for the neck to re-settle, before checking it again for the final time and tweaking again if necessary. I love your channel, thanks for the awesome videos!

[@SSGSativa]

mezsh Totally true! I always setup and especially tune my guitars in playing position. If not, the tuning (and lots of other things) won't be the same. Thanks for putting this up for everyone. I was going to but I don't have the time because I already commented about how some people are probably going to break their necks due to improper explanation. And my phone's about to die. Have a good one!

[@rigriggerson4949]

I just removed the truss rod in my guitar

[@89SamT]

I've found that to be the case, especially on super low end crappy guitars

[@rfdc]

Mine has a floyd rose bridge and what you describe is completely true.

[@exscape]

@@rfdc Yep! It had a waay bigger effect than I could've guessed when setting up a friend's Ibanez Edge (original) guitar. It could be +20 cents when flat, in tune when in playing position and -20 cents when upside down!

[@Synathidy]

I did an action adjustment on my Les Paul Classic recently. The tunomatic bridge made it pretty easy. I think action makes a big impact on ability to play fast leads - particularly on the high frets. I lowered my action quite a bit. No noticeable adverse effects and now I can play a bit more effortlessly.

[@redcloudshaman2509]

I'm new to Les Paul's, but I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Thank you for your advice!

[@94SexyStang]

I agree, just got my first Les Paul and WOW that bridge made it easy.....I'm used to shredder guitars and what a pain in the ass.

[@JustAWanderer17]

Ola, thank you so much, I became a follower of you because of your recording tips, the fact that you're sharing tips again makes me very happy, it would be great if you share more tips and advices! :D

[@jerryboy3301]

Glad to see you again Ola

[@Nusca93]

Ola you my friend are a life saver. I needed to adjust the action on my Ibanez and this vid helped tremendously!

[@johnchristou2060]

A very straightforward and no nonsense explanation. Thx, I appreciate it.

[@firmans12]

Its feels weird watching ola's old videos. Ola seems to very serious about it lmao

[@robertedwards7695]

Very handy information! Thanks for your time in sharing. I will be saving this for future reference. Thanking you Robbbert from Melbourne Australia.

[@Slayerized2701]

More videos like this please! Guitar setups and adjustment are always necessary.

[@BalashToth]

Awesome show again. Great riffs in the beginning. Chug project pre-ordered🔥

[@ernestogaytan9299]

Great! Thanks for a solid, precise, and concise tutorial!

[@DarkSoulx7]

I use to be able to do pinch harmonics but for some reason I can't anymore. I wonder if that has something to do with my intonation or action. 🤔 I've been playing for years but I'm new to such things as I've never really taken my music seriously until now. After years of being in shitty bands that just want to smoke pot (the drummer) or party, I'm taking a step forward to doing some solo stuff. I'm happy to have come across this video. 6 years out so I doubt he'll read this but I would like to thank you for all you do for us beginners Ola. You're the man.

[@AvnerRosenstein-ULTRA-LXV]

"This is how I prefer my guitars being set up, it might not apply to you"...probably the best advice that can be given but virtually never is in most tutorials. Great job man! As a later edit...I cannot play without 1.2mm both sides lol.

[@artlessdiamondmedia]

Thank you for the basics and straight to the point. I love you

[@unknownuser3.33]

Thanks Ola, I was going to sell my old Ibanez Gio that I’ve had for almost six years and I never knew how to set up the action/string height. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot.

[@gibsoadstudios648]

Ghost 幽霊 I also had problems with my gio. The high e string was always dead after the 14th fret so soloing sucked

[@unknownuser3.33]

Gibsoad Studios Well this was my first year playing and I was too scared to travel anywhere past the 6th fret lol.

[@iGoober]

I had an ibanez s series...i dont remember the exact model but anyways..i brought it to a tech and he set it up and i still had fret buzz on the higher frets. Turns out the neck had a warp in it. So that could always be a factor as well...sucks so bad when that happens lol. I hope that isnt the case for you though!

[@unknownuser3.33]

iGoober Yeah my Ibanez had 1st and 2nd fret buzzing

[@lancepage1914]

My Ibanez Gio always had fret buzz somewhere around 5-7 fret on D string. Only way to counteract this was adjusting to a very high action. Change the nut and relieved the neck some what, wasn't straight at all. Now I just use high action on all guitars.

[@Burnin-U]

Short and to the point. Thanks, Ola!

[@DragonofLimerick]

Wish you do some more of these instructional videos, good teaching!

[@tcrane8630]

This video is still useful and still viable... the Ola... bought a matt red G series.. Amazing

[@raumarottweiler82]

Thanks man! Im amateur guitarist and these tips are golden for me. Also youre funny guy, love to watch your chanel!

[@1972bacosta]

Great video, rapidly becoming my favorite you-tuber!

[@gamesmaker1]

next quick tip on how to setup the height of pickups?

[@JE12334]

Fret the last fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pickup screw. Bass side: 4/32. Treble side 3/32.

[@teosaksida6543]

John Dick in mm?

[@twohornedpuppet85]

That's up to preference. I like high gain but a clear clean tone. So I set the bridge pick-up as close as it sounds clear when I pick hard. Then set the neck pick-up to match volume.

[@guillaumeaudet3139]

Thanks M. Dick!

[@kevinerickson84]

TwohornedPuppet i take the same approach!

[@nramos6393]

Great video ola, it really helped me a lot.

[@kenhomeier8629]

Good stuff Ola. It's nice to see guitar tech how -o on something other than a Fender playing soft rock.

[@vickyvance6530]

This helped me so much. Thank You!

[@thomasbaldiscola4671]

I just setup my 7 string with your help, thanks Ola!

[@shokid95]

Your playing is awesome

[@CaptnBadassary]

Ola, I love your channel.

[@hellbillyaustin6883]

This vid has come along at the right time, just changing strings on my new guitar, and was on the net looking for guides on setting up guitars the right way!( not my way, which involves loads of swearing and flying allen keys!!lol!) Thanks for the tips matey!. All the best.

[@BWMGuitar]

Awesome, straight to the point video. I linked this video in one of mine! 🤘

[@SuperJiggawhat]

I love watching everyone's take on this subject. I am able to learn from you easier because you are funny and cool as shit. Thanks for helping us out.

[@TimMer1981]

Very important: if you raise or lower the saddles you also need to intonate them again. In other words: correcting the distance between the nut and the saddle. You can do this by checking whether the note on the 12th fret is perfectly in tune and the exact same note as the open string (not flat or sharp for instance), followed by moving the saddle forward or backward if it needs to be corrected; this is usually done with a small hex key or Phillips-head screwdriver. Forward (towards the nut) is higher, backward (towards the bridge) is lower. Ofcourse each time you've changed a saddle (higher, lower, forward, backward) you need to retune your open string first before checking.

[@lancepage1914]

Best advice here.

[@amann2507]

I've been playing guitar the majority of my life (40y); I successfully used this video today. 😅 🤷‍♂️ Thanks, Ola!👌 String height adjustment for a dead note on 14th fret.🤦‍♂️

[@beltermedia]

You shouldnt just raise each saddle until theres no dead notes or your saddle radius will not match the radius of the fretboard. If you have a dead note and your truss rod has adequate relief then you have to raise each saddle equally to keep the radius matching. And then intonate!

[@netenemy]

Thanks, Ola! Very helpful.

[@jeremygutridge2078]

Thank you Ola that was very informative

[@SlickD217]

I like it as low as possible. I don't mind a tiny bit of buzz actually. The main down side of keeping the action so low is that you are constantly fiddling with things to find the sweet spot. Temperature, humidity etc all have an impact when you have the action super close. Doesn't take much to go from a tiny taste of buzz to total loss of half your fretboard.... takes practice just like anything else.

[@lancepage1914]

That's the beauty of it. I like high action and cannot deal with fret buzz. No dead notes and intonation is always the priority.

[@blukrr]

I believe if you setup your guitar while it's lying on its back (or on it's hand and body like in the video), the weight of the guitar itself will bend the guitar neck and not reflect how it's going to be when you get it to normal playing position. I always try to setup my guitar when I have it on my lap as if I was playing, it's a bit harder but it gives you the final result you are looking for.

[@HarrellEngineDyno]

Dude! You have a heavy guitar!

[@kotymccallister5150]

@@HarrellEngineDyno my guitar is bad about this. Of course, it's an mkh les paul custom lmao. Weighs about 10.5lbs lol

[@fireonhigh100]

SETTING INTONATION,, YEP

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

i think it's the magnetism but i'm sure weight is a factor too and i wonder if having a whammy bar especially a floating trem would make a bigger difference

[@ludvigottosson8023]

I’d love more videos like this!

[@kornnrok6642]

Hi Ola, great and very useful video, thumbs up! I wanted to ask you, what is the better (safer) way for setting up the truss rod, with strings in tune or we need to loose them first? How do you prefer to do it? Most clips I watched, they say we have to loose strings first. In my case, truss rod is not the same when I loose the strings (it looks pure flat) and when the strings are in tune (I see little curve). Thanks!

[@gourabbanerjee6347]

Love you Ola

[@SuperJiggawhat]

The tress rod is very simple to adjust, just make sure you do everything in small adjustments. I start off like with a completely straight neck. Once the neck is dead straight I will give it a 1/4 turn of relief tops. This give' just enough room for the strings to do there thing and not buzz. Some acoustic buzz from the string's is completely normal for low action, but you will not hear it through the amp if set up correctly. Also keeping your neck clean, dust free and conditioned will ensure the fret's don't pop up and create dead spots up and down the neck. Measurements at the first fret for most guitars like a Gibson go like this: On the Bass E string: 2/64" (.030") on the A string : 2/64" on the D string : 1- 1/128" (.022") on the G string : 1-1/128" on the B string : 1-64" (.015") On the treble E string : 1/64"

[@JE12334]

SuperJiggawhat Damm that's low. The Gibson's I've seen have had: bass-4/64 treble-3/64

[@SuperJiggawhat]

Hi John Dick, The measurement's i posted are when measuring at the first fret. At the 12 fret you want (Gibson Pecs) 5/64 bass and 3/64 treble. I like my bass string at 4/64 for a quicker attack.

[@fmdangelo]

Great man,cool vid, thanks!

[@WarframeCrunch]

Thanks OLA for tips. I never known how do they check it to make it good.

[@elavance723rl]

Excelente sonido amigo te felicito por tus Guitar

[@jamesdalian8774]

Ola is apparently a man of action (adjustment)!!

[@chriscrooks8617]

Good tip bro going to try it tonight after work. Cause I set the action by using a card an rubber band an still get a buzz dead note .

[@vincentrandles8105]

Solar Guitars Yes!! I just watched you on "Coffee with Ola" (good stuff!) I'm a beautiful, beautiful member of his channel. And I'll be looking into John Browne's (hopefully I spelled that right! If not - call me an ass!) RiffArt - I may just learn something! I too started my own Metal journey with Hetfield's strumming technique, so... Not sure where I'm going with this, but Metallica, Metalchurch, King Diamond/Merciful Fate, Pantera, etc. is VERY MUCH in my wheelhouse! Thanks! I'm now a subscriber of your channel as well!! 🤘😎

[@Magostudiorecording]

Hi Ola... do you remeber the times we wrote in the Andy Sneap forum ? I enjoy your vids and I wish you the all the best 😉

[@OlaEnglund]

Of course I do man!

[@wonkytonk352]

Thanks for the tips, now im a happy new Solar guitar owner! :)

[@URKOVAI97]

Interesting... I like a slight neck curve with low-mid action on my Ibanez Jem. This gives me the best sustain, still comfortable to play and I don't get any buzz when wacking the whammy bar sharp which is a common issue with floatin trems. On the other hand, I like non floating trem guitars with an almost straight neck but not all the way, and lower action. Strats are another different story. Slightly curved neck with mid-high string action give me that SPANK I love about strats.

[@deathbleu5741]

Great tutorial. Thanks.

[@spinalcorde2705]

an old Video but it was useful for me today, setting up my Solar E1 6C. thanx

[@nicksteinhoff8117]

Listen to the clean part on “Spark” by The Haunted. IMO the metallic buzz of the strings on the frets due to low action make that whole riff even better & it’s something I always listen for every time I jam that track!!!

[@RadityoPramAdi]

if you put lot of bass in the amp usually the buzz won't be noticeable..... Agree, a little bit of buzz is ok!!!

[@rpf23543]

Great video! Would love one about how to check intonation....

[@skunk3572]

dude your so right about just getting turned off by how the strings are i just got a new guitar and i was so confused why i hated it thank you sm🖤

[@bloodhavenofficial]

Great vid!

[@metalsurge1363]

Now floyd rose setup on a G.2, lets go Ola the setuperer!!!

[@adrianjabs5752]

How about set up on a Kramer trem hahaha

[@joeelliott9281]

Funny and educational 👌 Top man!!

[@pancho1576]

I am planning on buying one of those Vs in the very near future

[@Raijin-RyuX24]

I’m absolutely terrible at these kind of adjustments. Thank you for sharing.

[@marcemile6346]

Great video! Will there be multiscale Solar guitars and/or more glossy Solar guitars (neck also)?

[@thetruthhurts2352]

I love you Ola

[@r1deftone]

Love that V

[@KunaevNS]

Thank you for this!

[@LarsBauer74]

thanks for this video! when you set up the action this way, do you take the fretboard radius into consideration at all?

[@BBGuitars]

Adjusting the saddle height and neck relief are great, but you will get so much more out of having the nut slots cut to the correct depth, lower action with no dead notes and better intonation across the whole fret board!!!

[@jayybirdberg6545]

I get fret buzz on my High E&B strings after a cranked my truss clockwise as far as she could go. And lifted my sadle a bit on the high side. Still too high and buzzy. Are you saying start shaving the High E side of the nut by the headstock? Seems like it would lower it. But without the fret buzz? IDK? Sounds like it would buzz up top now. And then you;re F'ed for life. But idk

[@linadecaseleycarloss5838]

Hi Ola. I'm playing left handed guitars, can you please tell me if the truss rod adjustment directions you refer to on your right handed guitars are the same way round for lefties or do you turn the opposite way? Dumb question I know, but... Cheers from the UK. Excellent channel btw!

[@timo9748]

for a long time you've always been the guy with sick groovy rhythm playing. lately you started to be a sick shredder too (imo). What exercises did you do to achieve that?

[@josefeld7164]

Timo Oertel he fought a swedish cave troll with an axe.

[@Katzekaze]

best answer ever.

[@wiseguy9202]

I prefer medium action apparently. I thought I preferred low, but after meeting a guitarist who played with low action, he showed me mine was medium because his grazed the top of the frets.

Hey Ola! Great Video! What kind of Monitor do you use on the computer?

[@theinfinitecalling]

Thanks for sharing this helpful info,Ola. I was initially hesitant to try this on my KM7, but it plays like a dream now. Btw, I also enjoyed listening to Feared. Awesome music. Be well.

[@johncook3265]

I'm 48, just started playing guitar, and don't have a hope in hell of getting 1/100th as good as Ola, but I still like watching this cagey bastard do his thing!

[@karunkomatpally]

All the best sir.

[@AR-mq5oz]

very nice, keep this kind of vids comming. but you should totally check the intonation after this . maybe make a video on that?

[@Slormer]

Check intonation after doing these adjustments! It will usually be thrown off after making big changes to action, neck bow, and string gauge.

[@TheRumbles13]

Ola! Big fan here! I bought a used IB RGA8. Decent guitar. Intonation and action is off. Somebody messed with it pretty hard. Is there a "starting spot" I can put the adjusters to before I set intonation? I've looked for paint Marks left from the bolt but it's been moved a few times. Thanks

[@Harbinger835]

also I recommend doing this set up with your guitar in the playing position, because the neck can bend a lot in the table and when you play you have a completely different experience.

[@EricAxel36]

I get some fret buzz on my low e string when I downtune (which is always) and I've tried raising the action but it doesn't seem to make a difference. It's not a big deal and it's not affecting the sound too much, but it's quite annoying to me. I'm wondering if I put on thicker strings if the buzz would be worse, better, or the same. Thanks

[@savoirfaire8979]

Also, nut slots need to be proper width and depth according to string gauge. If you change string gauges, the slots could pinch the strings if too narrow. If too wide, the strings could flop around in the nut slot and cause string buzz. Special files are used to adjust nuts. If you fuck up, the whole nut must be replaced and filed again. That’s why I measure the shit out of my guitar setups, unlike Ola. Lastly, nut sauce (lube) can temporarily fix buzzing until saddle height and nut slots are adjusted.

[@ChristianIce]

I have a tip that involves Thomann mic stands and Gaff Tape. Ok, ok, that's going to be the last one, I promise, no more mic stand's jokes :)

[@myrtorp]

"DELETE THIS" - Thomann

[@MxEnergyGreen]

Pls explain?

[@thrashislife2654]

Mark yes pls

[@jeremyjohnson9585]

Lol. I love how Ola explains what a smile means.

[@uskypg]

that's gigantic action! I have 1.25 mm for low B/1.00 mm for high E on my 7 string and 1.20 mm on Low E / 1.00 mm on high E and I feel I would prefer to go even lower

[@jayz6008]

Your tone must sound like shit . Low action is nice for playing faster but too low action kind of chokes out the strings regardless of how level your frets are . Slightly higher action sounds cleaner and fuller up to 2mm on the low B is totally fine some people go even higher .

[@someoneelse101]

That action is low enough. Take it from someone trained in this field. I like the action as low as possible with 1mm at lowest/1.5-2mm at highest. It really depends on how the frets react to the adjustments and unfortunately the truss rod won't always compensate

[@aliray1165]

Very cool video

[@kevinwhite6172]

If you’re scared to touch the truss rod I’d recommend therapy.

[@eddiem4868]

Kevin White if you're scared go to church

[@2Guys1ControllerShow]

@@JcastroCFH *truss

[@shekador]

If you touch it too much, you'll go blind

[@86rattlehead]

That's what she said!

[@madisonhands257]

But what if I snap my neck :c

[@guitashmurtz4772]

Thank you very much!

[@petepetrich7828]

Is that a Solar ruler?! 🤘🏼

[@MrDantener07]

i wish more of this kind of videos

[@chrisking6695]

All adjustments should be done in playing positions bc the neck moves due to the weight of the body when you have it on the bench. Also, you should always have an amp on clean when you set up action because you're not looking for acoustic buzz you're looking for audible buzz. All electric guitars buzz a little acoustically but it's important that it doesn't come through the amp. Some guitars can get really low without losing sustain and no buzz coming through the amp but acoustically it might buzz a lot.

[@Diggerdog2nd]

The people at Jackson need to watch this video. I bought a King V & an RR24 both from the factory in the $700 to $800 range each & the strings on both were a mile high. They're metal guitars & I don't know any metal players that like high action. Since that's been fixed I love both guitars.

[@ja7941]

I Sooooooo agree to everything you are saying it is so important to me thank you I just thought I was alone and weird

[@tcrane8630]

Great vid Ola.. Not sure if you read or answer these but, I find that in my neck of the woods (central Canada) I am constantly adjusting the truss. Like, every two or four weeks. As we share a lot of the same climate temps and humility.... Does this happen to you? Thx.

[@shredd5705]

Old post, but depends where your guitar came/is built from. If the woods are from some exotic country with very different (hot and humid) climate, and has been recently flown into Canada, it will "live" for some years more, then settle down. This happened with my Jackson Soloist, the fretboard is ebony and body mahogany, neither grow nowhere around here (northern Europe) so the humidity difference is big and the woods will live more. Even in high quality guitars

[@BatEatsMoth]

I play my 6-string bass with a straight neck and graduated action measured at the 12th fret: 2.75 mm B string, 2.5 mm E string, 2.25 mm A string, and 2 mm for the rest.

[@fndrn8]

Thanks for the Vid! I love to have kinda high action on my fender strat and very low on my charvel. i find the lower the action, the faster i can play rhythm parts and the higher the action, the easier i can do unison bends. is it true that the straighter the neck, the better overall tuning or does it matter?

[@lancepage1914]

Straight neck or not, that's a matter of action preference.

[@nicholasguglielmo8717]

Thx Ola!! :D

[@slayerdevil100]

Thanks so much for the information. I never messed with the truss rod before but after I watched you I decided to give it a try. I looked down my fretboard and was shocked it looked like a damn banana, no wonder why my chords sounded off. I made only small adjustments like you said, made a huge difference right away, I also let it hang on my wall overnight. Thanks again, I will be trying to adjust string height next.

[@BetweenNowAndForeverOfficial]

ty man!

[@Joachim_Sauer]

thank you so much

[@Fubetuck]

How about setting the string height without a truss rod on a guitar with a neck-through design, or bolted on design. Is just fiddling with the string height at the bridge going to be enough? What else is involved/do you do, to set up your guitars?

[@KunalKumar-jt1xl]

That smile, keep smiling