Adjusting Action

[Tuco]

Hi,

I just received my first GL guitar. Its a Legacy, Lake Placid Blue. The guitar is very nice with the exception of the action, its too high. Everywhere I have read, the action should be low, but mine is very high. Over an 1/8th inch on the high frets, over 1/16 inch over 12 th fret.

I would love to keep this guitar, but unless I can get lower action without buzz, Im going to have to return this guitar. There are no instructions, so I could use some help with how to adjust the bridge so that it is lower. It appears that it will go lower, I just hope I can do this without messing up any other adjustments.

I will keep looking over these posts to see if I can find info.

Thanks

Jim

[KenC]

Jim,

If there's that much of a difference between the 12th and higher frets it will probably require more than a simple saddle adjustment. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, as this is pretty routine maintenance and most quality guitars need it now and then. Any competent tech should be able to set it up if you aren't comfortable with doing it yourself. Check a recent thread on "Setup Tool Kit" or some such in "Let's talk G&L Products". We were just discussing this last week. I think Michael-GnL-Michael started the thread if that helps you find it. If you do feel like taking on a full setup, the factory setup procedures are posted in the Gallery.

If you need to find a tech in your area you could check with other forum members for recommendations.

Ken

[Tuco]

Thanks for the quick reply. Its my first new guitar, so I figured it would already be adjusted with the lowest possible action... Once I lowered the bridge all the way it plays very nice, no buzz. I used the two alan screws. The action is now the same as on my SG2000. I put my glasses on this time when measuring the action, I dont think it was over an 1/8th as prevously mentioned!

This guitar rocks!

[Craig]

Thanks for the quick reply. Its my first new guitar, so I figured it would already be adjusted with the lowest possible action... Once I lowered the bridge all the way it plays very nice, no buzz. I used the two alan screws. The action is now the same as on my SG2000. I put my glasses on this time when measuring the action, I dont think it was over an 1/8th as prevously mentioned!

This guitar rocks!

You should check out the G&L Knowledgebase, G&L Tech Tips sub-forum.

Here's a good post to start with: Current Factory setups for DF vibrato G&L guitars or, if your Legacy was build prior to 2009, see: How-To Guide.

Hope this helps.

[louis cyfer]

i would highly recommend going to a good tech. you want to adjust the relief, the action and the intonation in that order. for example now that you have adjusted the action, time to do the intonation. guitars do not automatically come with the lowest action and 1/16th (or 4/64th) is pretty low at the 12th fret. a lot of people prefer higher action for a variety of reasons. a new guitar always has to be set up to your preferences, and from the sound of it, going to a quality tech and learning about all the available adjustments, such as break angle over the saddles, down pressure, neck tilt, float height, etc, and have them get it to where it is perfect for you. 99% of guitar players have never even seen an optimally set up guitar, and of course they don't know what they are missing, but the difference, when a good tech gets done with it, can be incredible.

[Craig]

i would highly recommend going to a good tech. you want to adjust the relief, the action and the intonation in that order. for example now that you have adjusted the action, time to do the intonation. guitars do not automatically come with the lowest action and 1/16th (or 4/64th) is pretty low at the 12th fret. a lot of people prefer higher action for a variety of reasons. a new guitar always has to be set up to your preferences, and from the sound of it, going to a quality tech and learning about all the available adjustments, such as break angle over the saddles, down pressure, neck tilt, float height, etc, and have them get it to where it is perfect for you. 99% of guitar players have never even seen an optimally set up guitar, and of course they don't know what they are missing, but the difference, when a good tech gets done with it, can be incredible.

Good point, but make sure that the tech has setup G&L instruments before
and know's the current factory specs. He/she will then be able to adjust it
to your preferences.

[desertrat07]

The g&l vibrato bridge really shouldn't be lowered all the way. I would also recommend you take it into a good tech. Whatever you do DON'T SEND IT BACK! G&L makes great guitars and you'll really come to love that legacy once you get it dialed in.

[Kit]

You have a Yamaha SG2000? Well, I have it's little brother, a 1976 SG2000, bought brand new 35 years ago. A G&L single coil guitar would be a nice complement to the SG.

[Kit]

You have a Yamaha SG2000? Well, I have it's little brother, a 1976 SG2000, bought brand new 35 years ago. A G&L single coil guitar would be a nice complement to the SG.

[Tuco]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I ended up raising the bridge back where it was or slightly lower. I don't think the intonation was affected, at least not noticeably so. I just needed to get used to the feel of a new and different guitar. Once I find a good tech I will have them set it up for me, for now I just love playing this guitar. It sounds and plays great, not to mention it is a very nice looking instrument.

I guess I should have posted this in the Knowledgebase area. I will look through those pages before posting.

[Tuco]

Thanks for moving this thread to the correct forum...

Now that Ive had the guitar for a week or so I have found all the information I needed in this forum to make the necessary adjustments myself. This guitar is definitely a keeper!

After the guitar got acclimated to our climate where we are very dry, I needed to go thru all of the adjustments. It was a lot of fun to set the guitar up myself, the adjustments are easy to make and I got the action the way I like it (medium I think), I started with the relief and tremelo springs then adjusted the action and last the intonation. To get the relief and bridge orientation I needed to go back and forth with the adjustments and string tension a few times, but it definitely settled in to the desired position indicated in the setup procedure.

High E: I set it so that the distance from the top of the 12th fret to the TOP of the string is about .065 in, so about .055 in to the bottom of the string. I raised the G and D a bit higher successively to follow the 12 inch (flat) radius. However, I needed to set the A and low E strings a bit higher to reduce buzz on some lower frets. Low E is at about .15in to the TOP of the string and about .065 in to the bottom of the string. Im still waiting on my tuner to arrive so I can fine tune the intonation, but by ear it sounds good enought to play.

Now that I have it dialed in and have been using the guitar more, Im really impressed with how nice it plays and sounds. What a great "strat" sound. I find I sometimes push the high and low strings off the fretboard more than on my other guitar, this could be because the neck is flatter than my yamaha. Im sure I will correct this after I get used to the feel.

My SG2000 I bought in 1980 when I was 15 years old. I got it used in SF, CA and it was made in 1979. I had some fret work done and some fancy Seymour Duncan pickups installed that have the little cut switches to turn the pickupls into single coils. But that is not enough to get a strat sound. I love the SG humbucker sound, you are right that it is a good compliment to the Legacy.