WayneJohnson

Thanks for the input gents. I don't believe it is truss rod rattle. It doesn't rattle when I play open strings regardless of how hard I play them. I could be wrong, but I am thinking that would rule out truss rod or other hardware related issues. The bridge is a wraparound Gotoh 510, so no trem springs to worry about.

sorry, I only posted the first part of the measurements for brevity (and laziness). I couldn't find a way to add a table here, Here is the complete measurements of the two instruments. Keep in mind the home build action is pretty high right now. Also, yes, I am measuring as @Curtisa recommended. I prefer using a straight edge rather than a string as a straight edge. I find that the string will move and can throw off my measurements, giving me a false reading if I am not super careful. The straight edge is very rigid and you can "feel" if the feeler gauge is a good fit or not, without worrying if there was some movement in the string while measuring, or needing to worry about the nut height. Just my preference, I'm sure many out there get along fine with the string method. Charvel: home build 2nd fret: .003 .004 3rd fret: .006 .004 4th fret: .008 .008 5th fret: .009 .010 6th fret: .010 .013 7th fret: .011 .014 8th fret: .011 .015 9th fret: .010 .015 10th fret: .009 .015 11th fret: .009 .015 12th fret: .009 .015 13th fret: .0008 .014 14th fret: .007 .014 15th fret: .007 .011 16th fret: .006 .009 17th fret: .005 .008 18th fret: .003 .004 19th fret: .025 .003 20th fret: -- -- 21th fret: . -- --

Hey guys, sorry to take so long, I have measured one of my builds vs a well playing commercial instrument. The commercial guitar is an older 1987 Charvel with a compound radius and a Floyd Rose floating trem. My build that I measured is not even close, more of a PRS style, with a one piece wrap around bridge. The bridge and the neck are 12 degree radius ( not compound). So, understandably, this might not be a great comparison. Measurements were taken when outside temp was 82 degrees and relative humidity was 53. Charvel: home build 2nd fret: .003 .004 3rd fret: .006 .004 4th fret: .008 .008 5th fret: .009 .010 6th fret: .010 .013 7th fret: .011 .014 so there is a lot more relief in this home build. The difference in the 3rd fret seems strange. The obvious next step would be to lower the relief and try to get it to match better, however, this build is off to the paint booth once the humidity calms down, so I will wait until it is painted, dried and buffed to remeasure this particular instrument. In the mean time, I'm going to measure one of my strat style builds. However, I have the same issue where it is not apples to apples based on the straight string pull of the strat style vs the super start Charvel measurements. Guess I need to somehow get my hands on a few more commercial builds to complete the comparison.

Sounds silly, but I never thought of doing this. I love this idea! So simple yet repeatable. I woke up this morning and immediately created a new "set up" form word document adding the action of every single fret. I'm going to measure all of my builds with this new method and see if I can pin point the issue. Hoping to see a raised tongue or "s shape curve under tension that is causing issues. Will report back. Thanks for the great idea!

So this is something I've been hunting down for months. On every guitar I build, there is a buzz when playing power chords on the wound strings. I have older guitars that do not buzz and I'm fairly confident it is something I am doing wrong rather than playing technique. I set my relief to about .010 at the 7th fret (straight edge across the length of the frets) I set my action high, aim for 4/64th of an inch on the low E string (capo on the first fret measure the 17th). I typically raise it up much more because of the buzz. There is no buzz on any individual notes, Only when playing power chords fairly hard. I have the frets to what I believe is level (fret rocker doesn't rock). Open strings dont buzz, so the nut I presume is fine, same with the hardware (tuners, saddles, etc.) I realize this is hard to troubleshoot over a forum, but if anyone else has this issue, Or can think of a better way for me to learn how to fix without just paying a pro to do it, I would be very appreciative to hear. thanks