string gauge ruler

I have the Stew-Mac & it works fine & it's well made, but I also got this one & it's equal in quality, but I find it more useful.

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Don't care for either. It's hard to see and parallax will lead you to false readings. IMO it's much better to use feeler gauges. I use them for everything from setting neck relief to string height to following the fretboard radius to setting pickup height. Mine range from 0.005" to 0.25" (0.13mm to 6.35mm)

 

I use one of the pocket engineers rule with the slide. It makes it very easy to set string height, I just slide the stop to the desired marking and use it as a gauge. A lot easier to see.

 

I use a 6" metal ruler I got from Canadian Tire. It was about $5. You should be able to find something similar at a tool shop. You just need to ensure the ruler starts measuring at the end of the ruler and not a couple cms in.

 

interesting! you gotta show us what the big feeler gauges (2mm +) look like!

i've always been a "little metal ruler" guy myself but i can see the appeal of a nice "go/no go" feeler gauge to tell you when the string is the right height over a fret.

 

I own the StewMac but usually rely on a General Ultra Rule pocket rule and dead-reckoning.

Riis

 

I've used this broken off 1" piece of a Starrett Rule since 1978......and yes the masking tape wrap is vintage original. The 1978 vintage Altoids box goes in my gig bag tool kit. The piece of masking tape on the lip of the lid keeps it closed so there's no need for rubber bands, velcro or other nonsense. It's not vintage. The toothpicks are for the guitar players in my life that have the occasional strap button problem. I always tell them to glue a piece in when they get home but they don't seem to remember.

 

I make most of my gauges. Some, like the five on the left are made from various sizes of rod, bent and ground to thickness. They are labelled with their thickness in thousandth - so these run from 70 to 90 thou. These just happened to be at hand from setting up my 5 string, but I have them running up to well over 1/8". For larger ones I grind down various hex keys.
The one on the right is one of a bunch I made from scrap pieces of plastic. Every time I get something packaged in plastic, I cut out the flat areas and collect them in a box. When I get a bunch, I use a micrometer to measure their thickness, cut them into the size I want and label them. This one is 12 thou.