New JP7: Need Help

[John Matrix]

New JP7: Need neck relief related help

I bought this second hand and the string height is a bit messed up and I'm worried that the neck might be a bit bowed. The string height at the 1st fret is about 1mm and at the 24th fret it's 5mm! I guess tweaking the saddle height will fix this as the saddles are at a wierd angle (I think anyway, I'm only used to Tunomatic style bridges). The neck looks a bit bowed to me where it meets the headstock but I'm not sure if thats because it's actually bowed or just because it looks a bit different from my other guitar (I really hope its the latter). Is it supposed to be a bit thinner at the headstock? Here are some pics (appologies if they are quite big):

Does it look bowed there at all?

It didn't come with any allen keys and I know nothing about them so can anyone tell me what size of allen key I would need to buy to play around with the saddle height?

Also the three way switch for piezo/mag seems a bit loose. Is the whole casing for the switch supposed to move around when you flick the switch? There's a bit of "wiggle" room it seems.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

The saddles look fine, they use a 1.5mm wrench.

Check the neck for proper relief, hopefully you only need to adjust the truss rod.

 

[John Matrix]

So the saddles are supposed to angle slightly upwards then yes? In order to change the action would I adjust the height of the whole bridge using the two large nuts or adjust the height of the saddles themselves using the two tiny nuts on the saddles?

I'm not too hot at all this so I followed this guide for checking the neck relief:

How do I Check the Relief (Bow) in my Guitar Neck?

I don't have a very accurate ruler for measuring but the gap between the strings is approximately 2mm. Is this fixable by adjusting the truss rod? If so can anyone give me an idiots guide to adjusting it?

Perhaps I would be better off taking the guitar to someone to get a full set-up but I'd rather avoid that if at all possible.

 

[fbecir]

There are some Scots here on this forum. Perhaps it's a good occasion to meet one or two who will help you to adjust the truss rod. It's not difficult, you jst have to dare and to know a bit what you are doing.
Highlanders ! Where are you ?

 

[John Matrix]

I don't think I could really ask of anyone to trek all the way down to Dundee just to give little old me a hand. I think I know of someone around here who could do a setup for about £20 so maybe that's more realistic. I'd also be willing to give it a bash myself if I find a decent tutorial somewhere.

 

[MusicManJP6]

If you are not well versed with setting up a EB it is probably best to let a professional set it up for you. Although, you could do it with a little patience.

If you decide to try to set it up yourself then the saddles look fine to me. You should turn the truss rod slowly to the right to straighten the neck out. If it starts creating too much buzz in the lower frets you can bring the whole bridge down using the two bolts on either side instead of using the truss rod to drop the action entirely. Just be sure to move the truss rod in small amounts and let it sit for a good 30 - 60 minutes between adjustments so the neck can move on it's own slowly. I've never seen a EB with that much bow in the neck, so just take your time and don't force it to straighten out in the course of an hour. That's my .02 . Good luck!

 

[John Matrix]

Just to clarify, by turning the truss rod to the right you mean right in terms of looking from the bridge towards the headstock? Because I suppose it depends how you look at it.

 

[candid_x]

John, with the headstock facing up and facing the fretboard, turn the truss adjustment wheel to the right/clockwise. Go 1/2 turn at a time, then check it each time. This looks to be a 2 minute adjustment, unless the saddles also need adjustment, which I doubt.

Tune again between each adjustment.

 

[John Matrix]

Ok this might be a really stupid question but to adjust the truss rod do you actually have to push something right down into one of the adjustment wheel spokes or do you simply need to turn the wheel?

I gave it a bit of a tweak and left it overnight but haven't really noticed much difference. I didn't push anything right down into the hole, I just applied a bit of pressure at the very top of the hole to turn it.

 

[mbgreene]

Yes - use a thin tool (i.e. thin handled screw driver or a thin allen key) and insert it into the hole. When doing an adjustment I will typically turn one to two holes, or roughly going from one side of the fretboard to the other. If you think of the wheel as a circle you'd be making up to about a 90 degree or 1/4 turn adjustment. Usually you can see the difference immediately and and then see how it settles.

 

[John Matrix]

This neck just won't seem to move. With the strings too high I should be turning it this way right?

But the strings are still miles of the fretboard:

Here's a pic of the truss wheel:

Is it too close to the neck to give any more relief now maybe? If so that's bad news isn't it so what would my next step be?

 

[MusicManJP6]

if the adjustment wheel is tight to the neck and will not turn anymore to the right then you might have a problem or the rod could be in a bind. Maybe this will help:

Try this. Put your left hand behind the headstock then push down on the fret board side of the neck with your right hand around the 5-7th frets. Although the trussrod is coated, it still can bind up inside the neck, and doing this can free it up.

Hope that helps!

 

[fbecir]

What's the strings gauge ? Before adjusting the truss rod, be sure to check that the gauge is good for you, otherwise you will have to adjust the truss rod again.
If you turn the wheel, you have to wait in order to see the effect on the neck.

 

[John Matrix]

Yeah the guage on there is the one I want. I tried pushing down on the fretboard while holding the headstock then turned the rod again last night but it still didn't have any effect. I've turned it a fair bit over the last few days and it just seems to have done absolutely nothing. The wheel does still turn to the right despite being quite close to the neck though.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I wish I had more tricks - but I dont. Might want to take it to a tech and see what they think about the situation...

 

[John Matrix]

Well thanks a lot for your help anyway!

I was going to take it to a tech tomorrow but I've been put off the idea after being told that the "techs" in the local stores tend not to be techs at all, just any old worker that knows how to restring a guitar. I don't know if I'll be able to find someone who I can trust and preferrably knows Ernie Ball's.

I suppose this is all a good advert for not buying 2nd hand gear off the internet...

 

[starsky]

Hey John, I'm close to Dundee, so may be able to help you out a bit if you're still stuck.

 

[John Matrix]

That would be really good actually, I'll give you a PM.

 

[starsky]

PM replied to...

 

[MusicManJP6]

That's awesome. Hope you two are able to get it straightened out (literally)! Keep us informed...