classical guitar set up

[Robert Weston]

First and foremost: Thank you Frank Ford!

Some history. About twelve years ago I came across Franks website. Emailed him and bought his CD. The reason was, I had a Yamaki Deluxe 12 string that I had bought new when I was 15 in 1974.

The thing was folding in two. It was firewood. Having read Franks articles it gave me the confidence to try. I experimented on my first guitar (a sears special student size). I steamed off the neck and re set it and it worked! The Yamaki was not so easy, the neck was not dovetailed but doweled and glued I think it would be like the Spanish heal I saw in Franks articles.

The whole story is long (bridge separation, back removed to re brace, and many other things. But in the end, when I had strung it up, and the action was right and the relief and the intonation.....WOW! I gotta tell you that the first three chords made me cry! It was like seeing an old friend that you thought was dead. The articles from that sight with the great pictures was what did it.

Again, thanks Frank for giving me my old friend back.

It's been together for 11 years now and still sounds and plays like the first day I strung it up.

Which brings me to my newest old guitar

I was at a pawn shop for something else and I saw this nylon guitar for 60.00 Picked it up, played it, checked it over and made an impulse buy (knowing that it needed a little tlc)

I'm very familiar with steel string set up, and I've done some searching for nylon set up and boy are there a lot of opinions!

So! question 1.

Is it possible to check and set up the nut action using the 3rd fret method that Frank explains in his article. It has worked like a charm for all my steel stringed guitars and it's WAY faster than having to get out the feeler gauges!

There is no truss rod so the relief is what it is (I haven't measured it yet)

What sort of action height should it have at the 12th fret and is it measured (as I have seen some suggest) with the string fretted on the first.... or no?

I very much appreciate your inputs and the help this site and Franks has been over the years. I has helped me help others who can't afford new, or expensive repairs (including my own ; )

Regards,

Rob

[David Farmer]

The classical crowd  generally measures action height at the 12 fret in millimeters.

3mm treble-4mm bass is a  typical classical height. Just divide by 25.4 to convert to decimal inches.

Steel string players tend to like the action little lower, which will work if the fret plane is even and the relief is not too goofy.

 If the nut height is down where it should be, putting a capo on won't change the height at the 12th much.

Fretting between the second and third and checking clearance over the first works, but only if the second fret is in line with the rest of the frets, and again a, "fuzz" more clearance is needed. Especially on the G I find.

 Nylon string necks usually have, and need, a bit more relief, .010"-.020" between frets 1 and 12 is typical.

One thing to look out for if you file the nut slots, straight off the file, the sides of the slot can nick or cut nylon strings. I usually buff the slots ever so slightly so they are less likely to damage the strings. You have to be carful putting the strings in and out of the slots while you are working.

Just my two cents. I'm sure others will have more tips.

One more thing, Make sure you have a handle on how to melt a little ball on the end of the unwound strings and tie them to the block properly. Few things are as needless and irreversible as a nasty welt on the top from a string slipping its mooring.

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[Robert Weston]

Thanks for the input, I will hopefully get some time this weekend to do this and will get back with the results.

Regards,

Rob

[Robert Weston]

Worked great! Thanks for the help!

Rob