What is proper relief for an Irish Bouzouki?

[Bob Steinarsson]

What would be the right relief for an Irish Bouzouki? I’ve got a Stephan Sobell for setup. The scale is 25 1/4”, and the relief at the 7^th fret is now 0.45mm (0.018”).

Thanks

[Paul Breen]

Depends on a few variables. Assuming a nice fingerboard, no twists, hump at the body or other problems, nicely leveled frets, I would use a range of .008" - .012". I take the player into consideration also. I do work for some very capable players and I set the relief flatter for them, with a few ending up around .005" and one guy that wanted the fret tops dead flat. More relief is used for players that pick hard. Pretty much the same values as you would use to set up a guitar.