Gibson set-up specs

Captain Bb · Little Guppy Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 32 Location: UK

Just got myself an ES-339 which, it has to be said, didn't arrive with the best set-up in the world.

I managed to tweak it myself and I'm now happy with the way she plays but I was wondering if there's a standard set-up spec for Gibsons (to use as a reference point at least). I can only find specs for Fenders on the web.

Can anyone help with some info please to get me started?

herb · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:35 pm Post subject:

Well, string height spacings are about the same as Fender's; but there is much more tweaking involved because the pickups are stronger, so the sweet spot can be a little more varied. Gibson has never really completely set up any guitar out of the factory. Mostly because of the way guitars were shipped in the old days, any set up would be wasted. Remember, Gibson's been around since the late 1800's. They would ship the guitars to the stores and then count on the stores to provide qualified technicians that could properly set up a guitar before it went to someone's home. And it was a great system until a little over a decade ago when the "big box" stores pushed all the quality shops out of existence and hired the cheapest help they could get to sell, sell, sell. Finding a qualified tech in a music store nowadays is very difficult. Finding a qualified mechanic to work on cars and trucks is almost as hard, too. Sorry, separate rant...... Embarassed

Do a little searching here (I think in repairs/mods section) and Jack Daniels explained much of what you're looking for to someone else here.

Captain Bb · Little Guppy Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 32 Location: UK

Thanks Herb. I checked JD's advice and my guitar is currently set to within those specs, so I'm on the right track.

The B string seems to be more prone to fret buzz than the others but the nut looks to be in great shape slot-wise, so I'm wondering whether the Tune-O-matic bridge allows independent saddle height adjustment or is height adjustment only possible by using the thumbwheels at each side (which is all I've done so far)?

I've not had the strings off the guitar yet to see if there's any adjusting screws underneath the saddles or not.

herb · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject:

The saddles only adjust for intonation, the thumb wheels are all you have other than truss rod adjustment.

Captain Bb · Little Guppy Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 32 Location: UK

Okay, thanks for that.

SAguitar · Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:26 pm Post subject:

The only way I've found to adjust the saddles independently on the bridge was to try some judicious use of a file. Same tools as you would use doing a nut, but the principle as is backwards. If you want to raise the action for the B string, you have to lower the action on the rest of the strings by filing their notches lower. It's kind of a pain but it works.

You can test this by simply raising the entire bridge and only concentrating on playing the B string. When you get its action nice, then you can lower the other strings with the files. Comprende?

Captain Bb · Little Guppy Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 32 Location: UK

Comprende. Gracias amigo.

SAguitar · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject:

Actually, I don't know if anyone else even does that trick. It isn't one that I learned anywhere. I was just thinking hard one night on what to do with one of my guitars that had a similar problem, and I tried getting the files out and going for it. It actually worked. I figured the worst I could do was to ruin a set of saddles and that wouldn't be much to replace. Cool