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seems like both my electrics have a slight bow when i have them set up optimally, i dont know if thats correct or not.

this is whati suggest
get a capo put it on the first fret.
hold down the low e string on the 13th fret
take a look at the space between the low e string and the top of the 6th fret
optimally for "rock music" you want it to be 1/100th of a inch from top of fret to low e string
so if its touching the fret, loosen your truss rod (counterclokwise) if its too high off the fretboard then tighten your trussrod
turn the trussrod in little increments, i do it in 1/8s of a turn, most books etc say 1/4s i think, but i like 1/8s
if you try to turn the trussrod and it doesnt budge, dont fuck with it, yo umight need a repair, but you probably knew that

nut height and buzz only comes into play on open strings - if you are buzzing while fretted, it's something else (frets)

traditionally, you need a slight bow out to avoid fretting out...various sources recommend anything from a few hundredths of an inch worth of space to the width of a dime between the bass string and the fretboard at the 7th/9th fret. you just have to mess with it in small installments in combination with bridge adjustments to get your optimum/the amount of fret-out you can stand. i tend to set my guitars up with rather stiffer action than is typical because i HATES the fret buzzessssssss.

As a reminder, turning the truss rod counterclockwise lowers the strings or raises them?

I do my own.
Lay my bass on its back and set dead flat using a 24” steel ruler then adjust my bridge so the buzz fretting the 3rd fret just goes away.
Yes I know “digging in” as the TBers like to say.
I got volume knobs and a bazillion pedals so I don’t need to “dig in” to get dirt.
Play softly and always carry a loud ass amp.

MM

The4455 wrote:As a reminder, turning the truss rod counterclockwise lowers the strings or raises them?

just like a screw, lefty loosy righty tighty

so counterclockwise loosens, or raises the strings

but, truss rod adjustments should not be thought of in the way of making your action better, or your guitar easier to play..at least this is what i read out of a legit old setups book (that i cant remember the name of)
u should really just adjust it to the appropriate height i described before with a capo on 1st fret, hold down 13th, measure at 6th fret. but differnt people have different ideas on how much relief you should have there, i like just a tiny bit

Just "set up" my jag, put flat wounds omit, which I just love. Was able to get the action where I wanted with zero buzz whatsoever, so really proud/happy. Took me a total of like 2 days of adjusting though haha

pigmaker wrote:

The4455 wrote:As a reminder, turning the truss rod counterclockwise lowers the strings or raises them?

just like a screw, lefty loosy righty tighty

so counterclockwise loosens, or raises the strings

but, truss rod adjustments should not be thought of in the way of making your action better, or your guitar easier to play..at least this is what i read out of a legit old setups book (that i cant remember the name of)
u should really just adjust it to the appropriate height i described before with a capo on 1st fret, hold down 13th, measure at 6th fret. but differnt people have different ideas on how much relief you should have there, i like just a tiny bit

Thanks, I hadn't thought of it as a standard thing, more of a per person type of deal. I learned on a Bass with extremely high action, which I've changed, but I don't mind playing a Bass with high action, it's like, oh just like my first bass.

I'll second what pigmaker had to say. I normally eyeball the neck, if it looks good I just adjust the bridge height or saddles to get the action where I want. If that creates buzz, I then mess with the truss rod or do a fret job as needed.

I'm in the school of people who want minimal relief. I like the action to be equal (perceptibly) throughout the length of the neck. This does require the fret height to also be near perfect though. you can check this without removing to much metal using magic marker and a 6" or longer fine whetstone. simply color the frets and then slide the whetstone along the neck. where the marker remains are low spots. I may be explaining this badly.

Psyre wrote:Just "set up" my jag, put flat wounds omit, which I just love. Was able to get the action where I wanted with zero buzz whatsoever, so really proud/happy. Took me a total of like 2 days of adjusting though haha

when i started doing them it took me way longer, now not so much

but i would always do a polish and stuff too, lemon oil on the freboard and gibson polish on the bodies, i dont really bother with that now

plus im not sure if lemon oil is good for old rosewood or ebony boards

AxAxSxS wrote:I'll second what pigmaker had to say. I normally eyeball the neck, if it looks good I just adjust the bridge height or saddles to get the action where I want. If that creates buzz, I then mess with the truss rod or do a fret job as needed.

I'm in the school of people who want minimal relief. I like the action to be equal (perceptibly) throughout the length of the neck. This does require the fret height to also be near perfect though. you can check this without removing to much metal using magic marker and a 6" or longer fine whetstone. simply color the frets and then slide the whetstone along the neck. where the marker remains are low spots. I may be explaining this badly.

agree totally...
the bridge is where you are supposed to adjust your action...and the nut i guess but i never have touched the nut.
totally agree with the action being equal all over the neck and also from low to high strings (which can sometimes be difficult)
i dont really understand your magic marker thing, but the only one i have is a permanent sharpie anyway. but i will definitely try this once i get an eraseable marker because i have a new (old) guitar and want to know how the frets are...

There's a pretty good explanation here- http://www.skguitar.com/SKGS/sk/fretcrowning.htm Does it a little different than me but same ideas. Permanent is fine if you plan on polishing the frets, or have some rubbing alcohol around.

I can just about everything but fretwork, so I put no. I usually pay for someone who's work I like to do everything for about $80 then I ever want anything different I could probably do fine from there. There's been lots of times I was unhappy with setups but I found a guy who does it pretty damn close to what I like.

so if a setup isn't exactly to your liking, would you say you just "deal with it" ?

I make adjustments! I get it to where it plays nice enough for me, I'm willing to settle for less than perfect but I don't want to slave over getting it flawless.