Tech it easy – Anleitung zur Gitarreneinrichtung

Before the bench: Read this first

A setup is a chain — relief affects action, action affects intonation. Work the order below and change one thing at a time. Skipping around is how good guitars end up buzzing.

Step 1: Diagnose before you touch anything

Most people reach for the truss rod when the real problem is somewhere else. Spend ten minutes finding the root cause first — it tells you which chapters you actually need.

• Buzz on open strings only: Nut slots cut too low, or not enough relief. → Check relief (Step 3), then the nut (Step 4)
• Buzz low frets (1–5), fretted: Too little relief (neck too straight / back-bowed) or low nut. → Add relief (Step 3)
• Buzz everywhere / action feels low: Action set too low at the saddle, or relief too flat. → Relief then action (Steps 3, 5)
• Buzz high frets (12+) only: Not enough saddle height, or a high/worn fret. → Action (Step 5); if local, suspect a fret
• One spot, one fret, dead/buzzy: Likely a single high or worn fret — not a setup issue. → Fret rocker check
• Sharp/odd intonation up the neck: Old strings, wrong action, or saddle position. → New strings + intonation (Steps 2, 7)

Step 2: Clean & restring

Always set up on the strings you'll actually play. Fresh strings of your chosen gauge are the baseline for every measurement that follows — old or different-gauge strings will throw off relief and intonation.

1. Loosen and remove the old strings — one or two at a time on an acoustic or any guitar with a floating/tremolo bridge to keep tension on the neck stable.
2. With the board exposed, clean the frets and fretboard. On unfinished rosewood/ebony, a light conditioning oil is fine; on maple/finished boards just wipe clean. Don't soak the board.
3. Fit the new strings, winding cleanly down the post (2–3 wraps) so the string locks against itself. Neat windings hold tuning.
4. Stretch each string gently and re-tune. Repeat until it holds pitch.
5. Tune to concert pitch (or your target tuning). Every spec from here assumes the guitar is tuned to where you'll play it.

Step 3: Set neck relief (truss rod)

Relief is the slight forward bow in the neck that gives strings room to vibrate. Set it first — it changes action at every fret, so everything downstream depends on it.

1. Capo the 1st fret (or hold the string down there).
2. Hold the same string down at the last fret where the neck meets the body. The string is now a straight edge.
3. Look at the gap between the string bottom and the top of the fret around the 7th–9th fret — the middle of that span.
4. Slide a feeler gauge into that gap. The feeler that just fits is your relief.
5. Compare to the target below. Adjust the truss rod, let it settle, re-measure.

1. Find the adjustment nut — headstock (behind the nut, under a cover) or at the body end of the neck.
2. Tighten (clockwise) to reduce relief — straightens the neck, lowers action. Loosen (counter-clockwise) to add relief.
3. Move in small steps: ⅛ to ¼ turn at a time.
4. Re-tune (adjusting tension shifts pitch), then re-measure. Repeat until you hit target.

Step 4: Check the nut

The nut sets string height at the first few frets. Slots that are too high make the low frets play sharp and feel stiff; too low and the open strings buzz. This is the most over-looked — and the easiest to ruin.

1. Fret each string at the 3rd fret.
2. Look at the gap between the string and the top of the 1st fret. There should be a tiny sliver of clearance — barely there.
3. Better: slide a feeler gauge into that gap while holding at the 3rd fret. Compare to the target below.
4. Or play test: open string should ring cleanly with no buzz, and the 1st-fret notes shouldn't feel noticeably stiffer or play sharp.

Step 5: Set the string action

Action is string height at the 12th fret — the headline feel of the guitar. With relief and nut already set, this is where you trade playability against buzz and choose your comfort.

1. Tuned to pitch, measure at the 12th fret from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string.
2. Use a string-action gauge — like the FRTLZR Checkcard — on the low E and high E first; the inner strings fall in between.
3. Set the two outer strings to target, then match the inner strings to the fretboard radius.

5-string basses: give the low B a touch more room — roughly +0.2–0.3 mm over the low-E figure.

Step 6: Set pickup height

Pickup height balances output and tone across the strings — and, on single-coils, keeps magnetic pull from fighting the strings. Quick to set, easy to get wrong by going too close.

1. Fret the low E and high E at the last fret and hold them down.
2. Measure from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string.
3. Set the bass side slightly lower (further from strings) than the treble side — the bass strings swing wider and have more output.
4. Balance pickups to each other by ear: play and switch between them; raise the quieter one or lower the louder one until volumes match.

Step 7: Set intonation

Intonation makes the guitar play in tune all the way up the neck. It's last because it depends on fresh strings, your final action, and a settled neck. Change any of those and you redo this.

1. Use an accurate tuner — a strobe tuner or a good clip-on. Make sure the open string is perfectly in tune first.
2. Sound the 12th-fret harmonic, then fret the note at the 12th fret normally. Compare the two on the tuner.
3. If the fretted note is sharp → the string is too short → move the saddle back (away from the neck, toward the bridge end).
4. If the fretted note is flat → the string is too long → move the saddle forward (toward the neck).
5. Adjust the saddle's intonation screw a little, re-tune the open string, re-check. Repeat until the harmonic and fretted note read identical.
6. Work string by string. Fret with normal pressure — pressing hard skews the reading.

Step 8: Final check & maintenance

Play the whole instrument as you normally would and confirm the chain holds together. Then keep it that way — a setup is a snapshot, and wood moves with the seasons.

Fret fixes: High frets & fret sprout

When the setup is dialled but one note still dies, or the fret ends bite your hand, you are past setup and into light fretwork. Here is how to spot each problem and fix it.

1. Lay a fret rocker (or any short, dead-flat edge) across three frets centred on the suspect. If it rocks, the middle fret is high.
2. Cross-check with the string: if the note frets out against the next fret up, that next fret is the high one.
3. Spot-level just that fret down to level with its neighbours — a few light passes, then re-check with the rocker. Take the minimum.
4. Recrown the flattened top back to a dome, then polish. Re-check relief and action afterward, since fret height changed slightly.

1. Most fret sprout is slight — you usually do not need to re-cut the bevel. Just file the protruding ends flush with the edge of the fingerboard.
2. On lacquered / finished necks, protect the finish first (tape or a fingerboard guard) so the file cannot scratch it.
3. Switch to a fret-end file and round the corners until nothing catches your hand along the neck.
4. Polish the ends smooth — e.g. with the FRTLZR fret-end polishing block.