Regarding my John Petrucci signature guitar, when I drop my strings so that my guitar is in Eb standard, I experience some issues with my action, mainly for the 6th string. For some reason, around the 5th fret, the string does not produce a sound due to it not lifting up off of the neck; it still slightly touches the 6th fret. This happens with every fret below on the 6th string as well. I have put this guitar into Drop C tuning before and did not have this issue. The guitar certainly doesn't look any different than it did at that time and it hasn't had any work done on it. I have a friend with the same guitar who doesn't have this issue. What could it possibly be, and what can I do to fix it?
Question Eb standard on a Petrucci
- Thread starter beineken
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koogie2k
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Kind of tough to diagnose a guitar on the 'Net. However, adjust the truss rod. If not comfortable doing that...take it to a shop and have them show you. 
King Loudness
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Firstly, what gauge of string are you using? Secondly, perhaps try taking the back plate off, and adjusting the tension on the trem springs. Tightening them brings the bridge closer to the body, and loosening them brings the bridge up.
ProtoChicken
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As Koogs said you will need to adjust the truss rod. It's a floating bridge so you will need to adjust the spring tension as well, and possibly a slight tweak to the bridge height to keep the bridge level after adjusting the springs. Assuming your saddles were already set at the proper radius you should not need to touch those, though you will more than likely have to adjust the intonation.
It's perfectly normal and expected that on a guitar with a floating bridge that changing your tuning will require adjustments.
It's perfectly normal and expected that on a guitar with a floating bridge that changing your tuning will require adjustments.
GHWelles
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My JP6 is at Eb. Plays incredibly well.
ProtoChicken
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I should amend what I wrote by saying I'm assuming you tuned to Eb after the guitar was setup to play in E.
TheShreddinHand
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As previously posted you need to make some adjustments whenever changing tuning or string gauges. Please please, adjust the screws underneath the back plate first and make sure the bridge is level. Don't start wrenching the truss rod until you've done this and adjusted bridge height. Going from standard to Eb shouldn't require a truss rod adjustment.
ProtoChicken
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There's no issue in adjusting the truss rod first. It would make sense that you would need to adjust the truss rod going to Eb. You are decreasing the amount of tension that is pulling on the neck. By lowering the tuning and decreasing the tension, the neck will have less relief than it did as there is no longer the same amount of force pulling it upwards and therefore it will have less relief. If his neck was already at "shredder" amount of relief, say .004 mm (almost a straight neck) at the 7th fret then you would expect some buzzing if he tuned down a half step. You would generally compensate for this change in relief by adjusting the truss rod.
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TheShreddinHand
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Unless he increased the string gauge. But I do agree a slight adjustment will most likely need to be made, however since the OP sounds as if he doesn't have much experience setting up guitars, I'm hesitant to recommend the truss rod adjustment first. The last thing he wants is a twisted neck on a JP!!
And going off of his post (without any further information) it sounds as if the tuning change was made and the bridge is now dipping down into the cavity causing the strings to lay on the frets. So, I personally would level the bridge first and then recheck neck bow, intonation, action.
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ProtoChicken
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Unless he increased the string gauge. But I do agree a slight adjustment will most likely need to be made, however since the OP sounds as if he doesn't have much experience setting up guitars, I'm hesitant to recommend the truss rod adjustment first. The last thing he wants is a twisted neck on a JP!!
Fair enough.
The best suggestion is to take it to a luthier. But call ahead and ask if he has a block of time available when he may able to show you how to set it up. You can offer to pay an additional charge for the lesson. Having someone show you how to measure relief, site a neck, adjust the truss rod, and everything else is one of those things where once you see it everything it makes more sense. Especially if you have a beater guitar you can practice on.
It's really an invaluable thing to learn, and will save you time, money and frustration in the long run.
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TheShreddinHand
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Just for some added help, I typed this up from some information I had from ESP on truss rod adjustment:
Correct truss rod adjustment is determined by the amount of bow or relief that is in the neck. To check neck bow, hold your guitar in playing position and check the low E and high E strings using the following method. With you fretting hand, hold down the string at the first fret. Now with your picking hand thumb, fret the same string at the area where the neck joins the body (around the 16th fret or so). While holding both sections of the string in place, stretch your index finger of your picking hand as far as possible into the middle area of the neck (frets 7-9) and tap the string down to the frets. The amount of distance that the string is travelling to reach the frets is the amount of bow that is in the neck. It is desirable to have a slight amount of bow, but not too much. About .3 mm - .5 mm (.010” - .020”) is usually plenty of bow. Having too much bow will cause excessive buzzing in the center area of the neck and will cause the strings to be farther away from the frets in that area making it harder to play. Having too little bow or backbow to the neck will cause excessive buzzing on open notes and fretted notes near the nut area, and will bring the action down too low across the entire fretboard. Once you have determined the amount of bow that is in the neck, then adjust the truss rod accordingly. Loosen the truss rod if your neck is backbowed (middle of neck is bent towards strings). Tighten the truss rod if your neck is underbowed (too much bow bent away from strings). Never loosen or tighten more than a ¼ turn at a time, tuning and rechecking neck bow until your neck is properly aligned.
Now check string action and then intonation.
Correct truss rod adjustment is determined by the amount of bow or relief that is in the neck. To check neck bow, hold your guitar in playing position and check the low E and high E strings using the following method. With you fretting hand, hold down the string at the first fret. Now with your picking hand thumb, fret the same string at the area where the neck joins the body (around the 16th fret or so). While holding both sections of the string in place, stretch your index finger of your picking hand as far as possible into the middle area of the neck (frets 7-9) and tap the string down to the frets. The amount of distance that the string is travelling to reach the frets is the amount of bow that is in the neck. It is desirable to have a slight amount of bow, but not too much. About .3 mm - .5 mm (.010” - .020”) is usually plenty of bow. Having too much bow will cause excessive buzzing in the center area of the neck and will cause the strings to be farther away from the frets in that area making it harder to play. Having too little bow or backbow to the neck will cause excessive buzzing on open notes and fretted notes near the nut area, and will bring the action down too low across the entire fretboard. Once you have determined the amount of bow that is in the neck, then adjust the truss rod accordingly. Loosen the truss rod if your neck is backbowed (middle of neck is bent towards strings). Tighten the truss rod if your neck is underbowed (too much bow bent away from strings). Never loosen or tighten more than a ¼ turn at a time, tuning and rechecking neck bow until your neck is properly aligned.
Now check string action and then intonation.
bkrumme
Well-known member
Sounds like you need a good set-up. Take it to a reputable guitar tech or luthier. You can also follow the instructions here if you are comfortable:
how-do-i-set-up-my-john-petrucci-guitar | music-man-guitars | faq
how-do-i-set-up-my-john-petrucci-guitar | music-man-guitars | faq
Thanks for all of the aid, guys! I'm not the most experienced person in the world when it comes to setting up guitars so I'll probably end up taking it to a luthier and seeing if he can show me while he makes the proper adjustments. I'm playing some Ernie Ball RPS 10's so I doubt the gauge of the strings are the issue. I probably should have stated that before :/.
Thanks again for all of the advice. I'm sure it will all come in handy!
Thanks again for all of the advice. I'm sure it will all come in handy!
