Neck Relief Gauge from StewMac

[carlo3874]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has this:

http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/2004

[cnltb]

Looks like a handy little thing.
It looks a little short tho for a bass neck, no?

[rrybicki]

Carlo,

It looks pretty nice, but an eighteen-inch straightedge and some feeler gages will do the same thing, be just as accurate, and save you a bunch of money.

Russ

[carlo3874]

I just called their customer service and it's not recommended for bass.

[carlo3874]

Actually, when the rep emailed me backed and said it can be used for bass but requires some shifting...

[ByF]

And it requires a flat plate to be used to zero the indicator. I can't think of anything in my house that would be flat enough.

I guess it would be pretty nice if you were setting neck relief on a production line basis, but it doesn't seem like the average person tweaking their truss rod every few months needs one.

Ed

[McStuff]

Originally Posted by ByF

And it requires a flat plate to be used to zero the indicator. I can't think of anything in my house that would be flat enough.

I guess it would be pretty nice if you were setting neck relief on a production line basis, but it doesn't seem like the average person tweaking their truss rod every few months needs one.

Ed

Plus it only goes from the first to twelth fret. I'd want something that could span the entire fretboard. Especially for the 100 bucks they're asking for.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by carlo3874

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has this:

http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/2004

That strikes me as another solution, searching for a problem. That said, I use my Stewmac top deflection dial indicator, the same way, reading the board.

For that matter, you could clamp a digital micrometer to a straightedge.

Or, use the strings as straightedges.

[Rick Auricchio]

Why would you need to measure relief so accurately? Most manufacturers specify "thickness of a credit card at the 7th fret" or a similar measurement.

When you fret a string at the first fret and the highest fret, the string itself forms a straightedge. Two ways to do this:

1. Use a capo at the first fret, right hand at the high fret, and your left hand is free to depress the string to touch the fret where you're measuring relief.

2. Use your left hand at the first fret, your right elbow near the pickups to hold the string to the top fret, and your right hand is free to depress the string.

Test relief in playing position, not with the instrument lying on its back on the bench. I usually set the bass on its bottom edge (near the output jack), on a cloth, holding it roughly in playing position.

[JimmyM]

Ya, once you get comfortable with setting the relief, it's pretty easy to do it just by sight. I started with using a feeler gauge, but now I just sight it. It's semi-critical but not THAT critical. Stew Mac has a lot of great stuff for working on guitars, but this isn't one of them. Sometimes I think they go a little overkill with the goodies.