it_ITComplete Les Paul setup video:
The purpose of this guide is the complete setup of our Les Paul, clone or Gibson it doesn’t matter, at the base of every subsequent successful customization there is the respect of the indications given by those who first designed and built this instrument. The different calibration steps will be proposed so that none of them will have to be repeated due to the changes introduced by the next operation.
STRING CHANGE:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Now do what is reported in point 1 of the chapter dedicated to ADJUSTING THE HEIGHT OF PICKUPS, this is because the operation of adjusting the magnetic poles would be more difficult with the strings mounted.
It is a good idea to change the strings during the complete Les Paul setup, there are many reasons, one for all that worn strings would distort the adjustments, you can also perform a thorough cleaning of all those places that are normally not very accessible, see frets, pickups, bridge, the product I recommend you to use is undoubtedly the D’Addario brand lemon oil cleaner, cheap, a lot of yield.
Use it with a lint-free cloth.
WHICH STRINGS:
My advice is to try at least once the D’Addario EXL110BT 10/46 which are unrivaled for any of the characteristics of durability, tuning hold, pleasantness to the touch, sliding and intonation, these used are the Balanced Tension in the 10/46 scaling, most suitable in my opinion for those who use bending a lot.
They are also offered in 10/52 scaling and without prejudice to the same qualities of the previous ones I think they are more suitable for strumming because of the deeper bass.
The cost is perfectly in line with the competition if not a lower thread.
LUBRICATION:
One thing that we often forget is the lubrication of the nut with a non-oil graphite compound, as a consequence we will find ourselves tuning our guitar with that very unpleasant having to go back and forth with the key because the string not sliding freely tends to jam freeing itself when we have already exaggerated with the tension or vice versa, although it was not specifically intended for this use, it is a product with the same components as the one intended for guitars, but it costs a fraction and will help you for the complete Les Paul setup.
KEY TIGHTENING:
With the headstock free from the strings and the keys without tension we now proceed to tighten the nuts of the bushings passing the pegs, do not exceed in the tightening, the sensation maneuvering the key must be that of “gentle friction”, with a Phillips screwdriver we proceed to tighten the screws that hold the key to the mechanics.
KNOTTING:
Personally I hate the accumulation of coils on the pegs of the keys, I have always immediately choked the string on the first half loop, immediately returning from the exit hole of the peg, with the result of having ¾ of the coil wound, even on the E treble. Nothing has ever come loose nor have I ever lost the tuning due to this choice. Trying to explain in words how to do it is quite difficult, I refer you to the specific chapter of the video. Tune your guitar now.
STOPBAR:
It will be interesting to delve deeper into some aspects of this component, some favor assembling the strings in the classic way, i.e. inserting them from behind and continuing their travel towards the bridge and the nut, this solution however implies an angle of attack of the strings to the saddles rather “steep” with the risk that the rope becomes stressed on the contact point, this could be remedied by acting on the stopbar height adjustment screws but why not try inserting the ropes from the front and then walking a half turn above the bar and then continue towards the bridge at a less critical angle. This solution is particularly pleasing to me for at least two reasons, the first because I had the impression that the sustain and resonance of the body increase, the second because feeling the strings already under the cut of the right hand combined with the contact of the fingers of the left seems to give me greater feedback on their position in space, try both methods and find the one that best suits you. To continue with the complete Les Paul setup, tune the guitar now.
ADJUSTING THE NECK BEND USING THE TRUSS ROD:
The truss rod is a particular metal rod, threaded at the ends, which slides inside the neck of the guitar and serves not only as a reinforcement but also to regulate the curvature of the neck itself in case external agents have compromised the minimum curvature in the center necessary to prevent the strings at the point of greatest dynamics from interfering with the keys. Leaving aside empirical measurements made with unlikely credit cards, telephone cards, bus tickets, etc., what we will need will be a blade feeler gauge, with a few euros we will have the definitive tool for all our measurements during the complete Les Paul setup.
We will then couple the slats of the feeler gauge to obtain the desired measurement, making sure to use the smallest number possible and favoring the larger ones in the order, so to obtain, let’s say 2 mm, we will couple the 1 mm slats + the 0.9 mm one + the 0.1 mm one, I recommend separating the affected slats from the rest of the others to gain ease of handling and inserting the 0.1 mm slat which is particularly flexible between the two larger ones.
We proceed by placing a capo on the first fret and pressing the low E string with one finger on the last available fret of the neck. With the help of the feeler gauge we will measure the space created at the height of the 8th fret, the specifications Gibson recommends between 10 and 12 hundredths of an inch or between 0.25 and 0.30 mm. If the slats of the feeler gauge pass without interfering with the string everything is fine otherwise it will be necessary to act on the screw or adjustment nut of the truss rod located underneath the protection plate screwed onto the headstock. Wanting to increase the curvature of the neck and therefore the distance between the string and the 8th fret, we will adjust the truss rod register counterclockwise, observing it from the side of the headstock, exactly the opposite if we want to decrease it. Re-tune the guitar to continue with the full Les Paul setup.
NUTS HEIGHT CONTROL:
If everything is going smoothly, the height of the low E and high E strings at the first fret should be very close to what Gibson recommends, i.e., in order, “2/64th of an inch” and “1/64th of an inch” which converted they become 0.8 mm and 0.4 mm. A slight deviation limited to +/- 2 tenths of a mm will not disturb the setup at all, more marked differences will imply processing by adding or subtracting material from the base of the nut, for completeness of information we will subtract material from the nut, to reduce the distance between the first fret and the strings MI, placing its base on a sheet of extra-fine abrasive paper which in turn rests on a certainly flat surface and working it until the desired size is obtained. However, if the amount is smaller we will have to add some material, if we are setting up a guitar that we want absolutely keep it original then we will place some scraps of calibrated sponge paper which is nothing other than brass sheet metal of known thickness, there really are all thicknesses in increments of 1/100th of a mm, otherwise if we can afford to sacrifice the nut we will be able buy a taller one and work it with the abrasive cloth until it reaches the desired height. Tune the guitar now.
BRIDGE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT (ACTION):
This is the adjustment that most influences our way of playing, comfort and speed of execution depend on it. If you have a bridge with height adjustment via slotted head screw, the situation is different if to raise the bridge you have to act on the ring nut placed between the body and the bridge itself because having to use parrot pliers it will remain dangerously close to the paintwork with the risk of scratching it, so be very careful not to let the grip slip out of your hand.
Gibson has always indicated, as a standard setting, “5/64ths of an inch” or 1.98438 mm which, when approximated to the nearest integer, becomes 2 mm for the low E, while “3/64ths of an inch” or 1.19062 mm to the nearest 1.2 mm are expected for the high E. The measurement must be carried out for both strings at the height of the 12th fret, more precisely between the upper surface of the fret and the lower surface of the string.
At this point we will place the feeler gauge between the string and the fret and carefully check the distance, if the string lifts it means that the bridge will have to be raised, if there is slack we will lower the bridge until the fret, feeler gauge and string are touching. That’s all, the same work will have to be done for the E treble by adjusting the slats of the feeler gauge. These measures are not written in stone but constitute the starting point for obtaining the action of your heart, personally they have always worked out well for me. Retune the guitar.
PICKUPS HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT:
1* Another setting that will have a profound effect on the character of the guitar;
Let’s get a series of calipers for measuring the radius, that is, the radius of curvature of the strings on the fretboard.
Once the radius we are interested in is known or obtained, Gibson uses a curvature radius of 12 inches, my Eko as well but other clones could use different measurements, we adjust the magnetic poles of our pickups taking advantage of the lack of strings which simplifies the operation, it must be said that currently even a total flat adjustment of the poles obtains good results thanks to the construction and design techniques which have significantly improved, however, especially in the case of PAFs, it is good practice to proceed with the adjustment. We proceed like this, 1st and 6th poles at the same height with the curvature of the screw head just outside the PU protection plate, the height of the remaining poles will be adjusted respecting the radius of curvature of the caliber identified previously. That’s all, it took longer to write it than to do it.
We now continue by returning to the CHANGE STRINGS section to continue setting up the guitar and return to this chapter after having completed the required steps in succession.
Having returned to this chapter, we continue with the adjustment of the height of the PUs with respect to the strings. BOTH MEASUREMENTS MUST BE CARRIED OUT BY KEEPING THE STRING AFFECTED BY THE ADJUSTMENT PRESSED ON THE LAST KEY OF THE KEYBOARD, the 22nd. For the PU on the bridge Gibson recommends 3/64ths of an inch which we can easily approximate to 1.2mm to be measured, with the blade feeler gauge, between the lower surface of the E strings and the respective pole placed on the PU. Same work for the PU on the neck but following the Gibson recommendation of 4/64ths of an inch which becomes 1.6mm when approximated.
INTONATION of the guitar
The intonation is used to ensure that each key plays the note for which it is intended and is performed with a tuned guitar by positioning a capo at the 12th fret. Now check with a tuner that each of the strings plays its own basic note, if the note is sharp, you will have to move the relative saddle back by acting on the appropriate adjustment screw, we will move it forward if the note is flat, naturally we will move the saddle, if necessary, only after having loosened the relative string to avoid stressing it, it will be necessary to re-tune every time we will act on the registers.
Now we have finished our setup and we will try the guitar, in my case I found it perfect and I didn’t need to change anything, those with a more refined ear can instead proceed to carve out a setup to their own measure, certain of having started from a very solid foundation.
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I hope I have been of help to you with the complete Les Paul setup, Salvo.