The ultimate step in a setup

[sirmyghin]

I sure wish the micro tilt was still on G&L necks. My G&L always played stellar, since I got it, but it was missing that little something to keep it exceptional in terms of setup. That was a neck shim. Now I got the action down to a ridiculous about 1.5mm on the bass side, .6-.7mm on the treble side. A tiny bit of buzz around 12 but nothing large, this guitar seems to have a bit of buzz to it regardless of setup, none of which is amplified. Didn't take much, probably added about 1 degre total to the neck. For reference similar setup had 2mm on the bass side, 1.5 on the treble side before the shim (with very slight buzz).

Overall I will probably tweak it more another day, but it is great for now.

[darwinohm]

Sirmy, I am assuming that you are measuring at the 12th fret. That is low and the buzzing may not be caused by fret problems, but picking style. Lower action works great if you are a soft picker. If you have some relief in the neck, you will not notice buzzing until you get up where the truss rod no longer has an effect. If you are looking for perfect playability on the whole neck I would focus on removing any relief that you may have on the neck and make it perfectly flat, and then find your sweet spot for action. A flat neck will require checking more frequently, especially this time of the year as you generally have more relief at the end of winter. Any relief that you have may diminish as you get into summer, and accordingly if it is adjusted flat now you could end up with some backbow as you go into summer. This kind of thing is fun to experiment with and yes, i do not know why they eliminated the micro tilt. It is very functional when needed. Sometimes it is better to shim a little more that you need and then raise the action a bit at the bridge and be sure that a saddle is not bottomed out.-- Darwin

[Craig]

i do not know why they eliminated the micro tilt.

Here's the reason, found in the G&L Knowledgebase: When and why did G&L switch to a four-bolt neck?.

Hope this helps.

[sirmyghin]

Sirmy, I am assuming that you are measuring at the 12th fret. That is low and the buzzing may not be caused by fret problems, but picking style. Lower action works great if you are a soft picker. If you have some relief in the neck, you will not notice buzzing until you get up where the truss rod no longer has an effect. If you are looking for perfect playability on the whole neck I would focus on removing any relief that you may have on the neck and make it perfectly flat, and then find your sweet spot for action. A flat neck will require checking more frequently, especially this time of the year as you generally have more relief at the end of winter. Any relief that you have may diminish as you get into summer, and accordingly if it is adjusted flat now you could end up with some backbow as you go into summer. This kind of thing is fun to experiment with and yes, i do not know why they eliminated the micro tilt. It is very functional when needed. Sometimes it is better to shim a little more that you need and then raise the action a bit at the bridge and be sure that a saddle is not bottomed out.-- Darwin

Thanks for the tips Darwin, this guitar does play with flat neck, however not as well as it could. It is finding that critical point between saddle height and neck relief that makes it comfy for me. On my carvin it is at neck relief about .008". On the G&L around .01 works currently. I just have never been able to get this one 'perfect' until now, if you know what I mean. I am no stranger to setups, and I do pick fairly light most of the time (with rigid picks) and do some hybrid picking, I know it will buzz if I did in, thing is that can be used dynamically (hence why I pick light, if you pick heavy all the time you can't just magically pick heavier for emphasis, at least not easily or as dramatically).

I live on the great lakes, I know all about seasonal BS in terms of guitars, no worries there. the saddles are in pretty good position, bout 1/2 height in the center. What really shocked me here was I have heard of the fabled tight G&L neck pocket, yet there was no friction here, a perfect fit yes, but not a friction fit. Lifted out with tension removed, no hastle at all. No neck date stamp, just a body one (sept 14 2010, makes sense as I orderred a non standard ASAT body, 2 cuts) and all my order info was on the neck heel. (graphite nut, locking tuners, colour, #3 neck, etc).


Craig, I do not think that a 4 bolt neck negates the ability to have a micro tilt.

[Elwood]

I do not think that a 4 bolt neck negates the ability to have a micro tilt.

The peavey T-60's had 4 bolts and a tilt feature IIRC, maybe someday we'll see it return to a G&L.

[sirmyghin]

I do not think that a 4 bolt neck negates the ability to have a micro tilt.

The peavey T-60's had 4 bolts and a tilt feature IIRC, maybe someday we'll see it return to a G&L.

Dang, caught my wordo- I went to remove really, and removed think instead

[Elwood]

Dang, caught my wordo- I went to remove really, and removed think instead

hehehe..edited..but you might have to play the whole track over again

[sirmyghin]

hehehe..edited..but you might have to play the whole track over again

Excellent, now all evidence is removed (not that it really mattered).

[darwinohm]

Fender still uses the Micro-tilt 4 bolt on the American Standard, American Deluxe and some Custom Shop models.-- Darwin

[Craig]

Craig, I do not think that a 4 bolt neck negates the ability to have a micro tilt.

I never said nor implied that it did. I was just answering Darwin's question about why G&L chose to eliminated it.

And guys, yes, I am quite aware of other manufacturers which use a neck tilt device with their 4 bolt necks.