question for multiple guitar owners

[Dodgeball]

hey all,

I was just wondering if all of your axes are setup the same - same action height, string guage etc so that you can change between them without having to readjust?

The reason I'm asking is that my first ball (Axis) plays fantastically straight out the box, not even touched the setup at all! But my Luke just doesn't quite play so well, can't get the action as low without the strings choking out on the upper frets...well one fret in particular really, maybe that one is high. It's making changing between the two pretty hard.

Just wondering if anyone here has the same thing and if it's just something I gotta live with.

Many thanks guys.

C

 

[Jimi D]

I set my guitars up by feel... no measurements, just eye-balling and touch, but they all play pretty much the same and I switch between them effortlessly... If I had a guitar that was chocking out, I'd want to know why - take to the shop you bought it from and ask their resident tech to take a look at it...

 

[fbecir]

Hello

I have several guitars and each one has a different setup. Indeed, each guitar has its own characteristics (shape of the neck, width ...) so you cannot apply exactly the same setup. I use the same string gauge (one exception : one guitar is for slide so heavy gauge and high action) and more or less the same action. But every guitar has its own "feel" so I try to find a setup that suits this "feel".
When I play a gig, I stick to one guitar (my MM Steve Morse) so I don't have to adjust myself.

Bye

 

[spkirby]

Hey C,

My guitars are all sameish although like Jimi I apply the eyeball route as opposed to precise measurements.

Did you get my email to you a few weeks back?

Cheers
SteveK

 

[brett8388]

Yes

I keep everything in E flat, low action. The only exception would be some drop D tuned guitars.

Brett

www.gilaguitars.com

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

As all my guitars are pretty much the same, they are all set up by feel to be more or less the same.

 

[rrhea]

Same here. I keep them all about the same, especially when they have roughly the same radius. The flatter radii guitars in my collection are all about 1.5mm low and high E off the 12th fret. That goes a little higher on my rounder radius boards, like on my Strats, for example.

Each of my guitars has slightly different reflief and bridge height, as you might expect. Even my friends JP6 is setup slightly differently than my JP6 in terms of saddle height and relief to acheive the same action I have on mine.

So don't stick to any "formula" strictly. Often times the difference in fret size (and most certainly neck profiles) can make one guitar "feel" like it as different action than another even when they are the same height.

This is why I have so many different types of guitars. I love the variance in feel and tone from one to the next.

RR

 

[Sub1 Zero]

my Sub1 and OLP with floyd are setup about the same, and my hardtail $tr@t is a little higher. since it is my weird tuning guitar, and not my main one, i want it to take on any tuning gracefully

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I set all mine up to play as smoothly as possible in my hands, and so I can switch from one to another without any major issues. That means the action is slightly different on each model, because they all have different neck profiles and I grip each one differently (ever so slightly, that is). I prefer low action, but not all the guitars are set up "super low" - just the JP and my custom 7 -_o . I generally use .010s but I do have .009s on the Axis Sport and .011s on the Flying V

 

[hbucker]

If all my guitars were identical I'd set them up to be identical. But they aren't. I tend to let my guitars be what they are. My EVH is set up with 9's and low action. My Telecaster is 10's and low action but I don't sweat the action so much on the Tele.

Generally I like the action as low as possible and generally I like 9's. But I think certain guitars need to be treated differently to be what they were made to be.

 

[AVH]

If all my guitars were identical I'd set them up to be identical. But they aren't. QUOTE]
Exactly....different guitars, differnet set ups, different strings, different feel, different sound......how else to justify all the gear to the wife???

 

[brentrocks]

Being in Michigan, my necks move around quite a bit, so i just let them do what they will.

I will check the neck bow on my EVHs everyonce in a while...they are all setup w/ 9s.....if i do the 'ol finger on the 1st and 22nd, and the high E touches at the 12th...then i might adjust the truss rod a bit...otherwise, they all pretty much stay the same.

i can tolerate a little buzz...it usually doesnt get that bad.

 

[Larry]

i have my axis set up with Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9's and my G&L Legacy with regular slinky 10's and i just eyeball it i like the heavier gage on the strat but the light ones on the axis for the floyd

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Set up by feel, but allhave 9's and skinny action. They all have different fret sizes and neck profiles so all feel different.

Good thread though mate.

Jonny

 

[JDouglee]

If all my guitars were identical I'd set them up to be identical. But they aren't. I tend to let my guitars be what they are.

Well said. I like 9s on Floyd guitars & Lukes, and I have 9.5s on JPs, LPs & strat
vintage types. I tried heavier guages on my Lukes and hated it. Every guitar has
a different feel/tension and has to be set up accordingly.

That's part of the fun. I like how different guitars will make you play differently,
and sometimes your note choices will change depending on the axe.

 

[jaxadam]

I don't think a single one of my guitars is set up the same...

I've got my guitars ranging from standard e to drop b, all with different gauges, action, etc...

But I notice that I don't have any problem going from one to the next. I've got that 20 minute grace period of getting used to it, then I can pretty much do anything else I normally could on any of the others.

I think it just takes time to get used to the instrument as a whole and then adjust a little bit to however it is set up.

If I don't play my 7 strings for a while, there is a difference when I go to them. And vice versa. When I go to a 6 string after playing on 7 strings for a few months, they feel very skinny.