Hill Guitar Co. - Classical Guitar Set-Up
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8/11/2019 Hill Guitar Co. - Classical Guitar Set-Up http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/hill-guitar-co-classical-guitar-set-up 1/4 Kenny checks neck angle. By Kenny Hill Classical Guitar Set-Up From ACOUSTIC GUITAR , 07/2006 BACK to NEWS A guitar is only as good as it plays. The best sounding, most beautiful and most expensive guitar is of little use if it is too hard to play. And even an ordinary guitar can be your best friend if it's easy to play. Guitar makers – even famous ones – sometimes neglect playability. There may be the assumption that a higher action somehow produces more sound. Some players and builders adopted the attitude that if your guitar seems hard to play, you should practice harder. But today's performers often don't accept that. Most professional and touring concert artists now insist the guitar to play very well, to be a friendly ally with the demands of guitar performance. This is true for amateur players as well. The principles of set-up for classical guitars are basically the same as those for steel strings or electrics, but because of the different tensions, the fatter strings, and differences in the bridge and neck design, some of these principles need to be interpreted somewhat differently. The technical elements that determine guitar playability and set up are: 1. The neck angle, or pitch, in relation to the soundboard and bridge, 2. The thickness and shape of the neck, 3. The condition of the fret board and frets, 4. The height and shape of the bridge bone, or saddle, 5. The adjustment of the nut, 6. The type and tension of the strings, 7. The player's style. 1. The neck angle is built into the guitar, and there is not much the average owner can do about it. The top of the frets should project about into the middle of the bridge height. Normally a straight edge laid on the frets will give 4 – 5 mm clearance above the soundboard at the bridge. Or you can just sight down the edge of the fingerboard and see if it points to the middle of the bridge. If the neck angle is too high the saddle protrudes too m uch above the bridge, putting too much torque on the bridge, the top, and the strings at the bone. If the neck angle is too low, the bridge may have to be s haved down, or it may be impossible to adjust the strings close enough to the frets for comfort. There are some remedies to a badly pitched neck, but those are surgical, and beyond the scope of this article. 2. Neck thicknesses and contour can make a huge difference in the comfort of a guitar's left hand action, but the guitar maker will have already decided this. There probably are as many opinions about this as there are guitar
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Kenny checks neck angle.
By Kenny Hill
Classical Guitar Set-Up
From ACOUSTIC GUITAR , 07/2006
BACK to NEWS
A guitar is only as good as it plays. The best sounding, most beautiful andmost expensive guitar is of little use if it is too hard to play. And even anordinary guitar can be your best friend if it's easy to play.
Guitar makers – even famous ones – sometimes neglect playability. There maybe the assumption that a higher action somehow produces more sound. Someplayers and builders adopted the attitude that if your guitar seems hard toplay, you should practice harder. But today's performers often don't accept
that. Most professional and touring concert artists now insist the guitar to playvery well, to be a friendly ally with the demands of guitar performance. This istrue for amateur players as well.
The principles of set-up for classical guitars are basically the same as those forsteel strings or electrics, but because of the different tensions, the fatterstrings, and differences in the bridge and neck design, some of theseprinciples need to be interpreted somewhat differently.
The technical elements that determine guitar playability and set up are:
1. The neck angle, or pitch, in relation to the soundboard and bridge,2. The thickness and shape of the neck,3. The condition of the fret board and frets,4. The height and shape of the bridge bone, or saddle,5. The adjustment of the nut,6. The type and tension of the strings,7. The player's style.
1. The neck angle is built into the guitar, and there is not much the averageowner can do about it. The top of the frets should project about into themiddle of the bridge height. Normally a straight edge laid on the frets will give4 – 5 mm clearance above the soundboard at the bridge. Or you can just sightdown the edge of the fingerboard and see if it points to the middle of thebridge. If the neck angle is too high the saddle protrudes too m uch above thebridge, putting too much torque on the bridge, the top, and the strings at thebone. If the neck angle is too low, the bridge may have to be s haved down, orit may be impossible to adjust the strings close enough to the frets forcomfort.
There are some remedies to a badly pitched neck, but those are surgical, andbeyond the scope of this article.
2. Neck thicknesses and contour can make a huge difference in the comfortof a guitar's left hand action, but the guitar maker will have already decidedthis. There probably are as many opinions about this as there are guitar
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makers. My standard neck thickness is 21.5 mmat the 1st fret, and 24.5mm at the 10th fret. If the neck is too thick or too thin it will have areal effect on the comfort and playability. This issubject to the player's taste, and doesn't reallyaffect the procedures for optimizing the stringset up. But it does affect the net outcome.
3. The ideal fingerboard is not truly straight,but rather has a slight forward bend, called
relief. The reason is this: when a string is inmotion, it is curved. By having a little relief inthe neck there is a tiny bit more clearance forthe string to swing into without bumping into afret. Even though this clearance is miniscule, itis enough to allow the string to be adjustedlower before encountering string buzz. Relief can be anywhere from around .003” to about .010” measured at the 7th fret,
and in a perfect world there is more relief on thebass side than on the treble. If a neck is toostraight, or worse – with a back bow - thestrings have to be raised uncomfortably high to
reduce fret buzz.
A truss rod makes simple work of providingoptimum relief. Modern two-way action trussrods work very well. Although truss rods havebeen standard equipment for steel string andelectric guitars for ages, they're just beginningto catch on with classical guitar makers. This is
a welcome trend.
The frets must be in line with each other, that is, none should be higher (orlower) than its neighbors. This is checked using a short straight edge, checking
that it doesn't rock on the middle fret of any 3 frets.The frets should be nicely rounded and smoothon the top. This gives a clearly defined end tothe string on a fretted note.
4. The height of the bridge saddle determineshow far you have to push the string down to thefret, affecting the left hand playing effort andaccuracy. It should be low enough to make iteasy (and fun) to play, but high enough to avoidundue string/fret buzzes.
I measure the saddle height by laying a straightedge on the 1st fret and the bone saddle, and measuring at the 12th fret. Thiscan also be measured without a straight edge by just fretting the string at the1st fret, but since a string is flexible, and round, it's harder to get an exactmeasurement. My standard "average" height is 3.2 mm for the 6th string and2.7 mm for the 1st string. These measurements can go lower or higher,depending on the player, and depending on the exact condition of the neckrelief. More relief usually allows a lower setting with less buzz.
I also curve the saddle a bit, with the arc peaking on the 4th string. Thepurpose is NOT to accommodate a curved fingerboard, (it's not usually
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curved), but rather to accommodate thedifferent motion of the strings themselves. The3rd and 4th strings move more wildly, and havemore tendency to buzz. By setting them a littlehigher, the better-behaved 5th and 6th stringscan be kept at a more comfortable height.
The top of thesaddle should behalf-round in
cross section –the same shapeas the top of afret. This gives a
clearly defined end to the string, withoutcausing undue wear at that point.
String-break is the amount of downwardpressure on the saddle as the string crosses the bone down into the tie hole.There needs to be only enough angle so the string doesn't jump around on thetop of the saddle. Too much angle is unnecessary, and can cause excessivestring breakage, too much forward pressure on the saddle, twisting of the top,
and other undesirable side effects. String break is really determined by theoverall neck angle combined with the bridge design, which are determined bythe builder.
5. The nut adjustment is important. If the nut is even just a little too high itcreates extra tension in first position, and that can add a lot to the struggle of playing, not to mention its affect on intonation. If the nut slot is cut too low,the open string will buzz, and that buzz will go away when the string is fretted.
Nut adjustment is easy – measure it with feelergauges. Strings 1 and 2 are set at .052” abovethe fingerboard, 3 and 4 are .054”, and 5 and 6are .056”. This assumes a standard fret wire of .045” (?) high. If the first fret is lower or higherdue to wear or design, these specs can beadjusted accordingly. Use a nut file to cut theslot down to the level of the feeler gauge. Theslot should be filed back at the same angle asthe guitar head. This gives a well-defined end tothe string at the front face of the nut.
6. String tension is a matter of personal taste.I can't always sense the difference just byplaying. The assumption that a higher tension
string automatically gives more sound is not necessarily true. In fact, lowertension strings can actually allow a soundboard to move more freely. The rightstring tension and brand is a matter of trial and error, looking for the rightcombination for both the individual player and the individual instrument.
7. The player's style and technique is the final arbiter of action set up. Someplayers fixate on buzzes, and those players may have to live with a higheraction. Some players want the action to be as low as possible, and they mayhave to learn to work around buzzes. The final adjustment will be acompromise between those ends.
Flamenco guitar styles are not nearly as buzz-averse as classical styles. In fact
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fret buzzing is part of the flamenco "growl." For a flamenco guitar I look foralmost no relief in the neck, a low saddle setting (less than 3 mm) and shapethe saddle so the bass and treble almost the same height.
The right string action on your guitar can make all the difference in the world.A good set up can help you be a better player instantly, and make it fun tokeep practicing and getting better. A bad set up can present too muchresistance, discouragement, and even cause some people give up because it'stoo hard. Don't give up! Just get your guitar set up right.
© Kenny Hill, Felton, CA , November 2005An edited version of this article appeared in Acoustic Guitar Magazine July 2006.
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