This became more of a referb’ than just a setup. A bit of a mess to be honest, a prime example of what can go wrong if you don’t really know what you are doing.
The guitar was also rather grubby so the first thing it will need is a good cleanup.
At some point the truss-rod has been overtightened considerably to the point where the neck is bending the wrong way, no wonder it wasn’t playing well.
The tremolo unit has its springs far too tight, the unit is was sitting flush with the face of the guitar which means you will only be able to bend notes down rather than up and down.
When I went to open the cover for the springs I realised that whoever re-fitted it last mounted it upside-down.
One of the neck screws was also very loose.
Before starting on the setup I had a go at the electrics. The volume and both the tone controls were very crackly and intermittent to the point where I decided to just change them for new ones. The pickup selector switch wasn’t too bad and seems OK once I added some switch cleaner.
With the neck off the guitar and mounted on the jig I fitted a new set of strings so that I can set the truss-rod with the neck and strings under tension.
Once the set is right I had a look a the nut. At some point it’s had a new one added but rather badly. It’s not very tidily fitted and I measured the string height at the first fret at 0.05″. That’s about 10 times what I would aim for, I try for between 0.005″ – 0.010″ (Fender custom shop settings). As a start to the setup I filed the slots down.
After that I fixed the neck back on the guitar to continue the setup.
Next I adjusted the springs for the tremolo. One of the screws has stripped out and needed fixing, perhaps that was why they were screwed in too tightly? Anyway it sits about right now. It’s a little difficult to tell as I don’t have the arm but the pitch should raise by about one complete tone when you pull up on the arm.
I also put the cover over the springs the right way up this time!
After that it’s a simple case of adjusting the height of the bridge, measuring the height of the strings at the 17th fret.
First set the height of the two “E” strings then adjust the rest of them to give the same curve as the fretboard.
After that a final adjustment of the intonation..
Last of all a look at the pickup height. Each pickup should give about the same volume and the same level on the bass and treble side.
Another job done!
A comment from the owner:
Hey George!
Just wanted to say thank you for an incredible job on my Encore Strat. I recently inherited the guitar from a mate who didn’t want it anymore as he had a fairly decent collection and I wanted an electric to go alongside my Crafter acoustic. Being a songwriter and drummer more than a guitar expert I figured I’d bring it in to get looked at just to see if it needed any work doing. I had no idea it was in such a state and would need so much work doing. I will certainly be taking much better care of it than it must be used to after you’ve done such a fine job. Just wanted to say thanks again mate!
Cheers,