DIY: How to Set Up a Fender Stratocaster Page 1 of 2

DIY: How to Set Up a Fender Stratocaster

John LeVan
October 08, 2012
1
AA

Step 1
Measure the Action

1. Tune the guitar. Usually thats standard E tuning, but as weve discussed, for this setup it was a
whole-step below that.

2. Clamp a capo on top ofnot behindthe 1st fret (Photo 1). This creates a zero fret and
temporarily removes the nut from the action equation, allowing you to initially focus on neck
relief (the amount of forward or backward bowing in the neck itself ) and bridge and saddle
height.

3. Use a string action gauge (available from stewmac.com) or precision metal ruler to individually
measure the string height at the 12th fret (Photo 2) for all six strings. The distance youre
measuring lies between the bottom of the string and top of the fret.

1. Before measuring action and neck relief, clamp a capo over the 1st fret. This temporarily removes the nut from the action equation. 2.
Using a string action gauge to measure the action at the 12th fret.

On this Strat, the distance from the 1st string to the 12th fret was 6/64", and the 6th-string gap was
also 6/64". This is very high action!

Step 2
Measure Neck Relief

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DIY: How to Set Up a Fender Stratocaster Page 2 of 2

Its important to determine if the neck has forward (concave) or backward (convex) bow. Along
with saddle height, neck relief also affects the guitars action. Heres the process:

1. With the capo still clamped on top of the 1st fret, hold down the 6th string at the last fret.

2. Using your action gauge or metal ruler, measure the greatest distance between the bottom of the
6th string and the top of the frets. The largest gap typically occurs somewhere between the 7th and
9th fretsessentially in the middle of the neck.

3. Measure the relief at the 1st string.

On this Strat, the relief was .022"a little more than necessary.

Step 3
Measure Action at the 1st Fret

Playability is also affected by how high the strings sit in their nut slots. The guitar feels stiff when
the strings are too high. Conversely, if they sit too low, youll get a buzz when you play the open
strings.

1. Remove the capo and measure the distance

between the bottom of the 1st string and the top
of the 1st fret (Photo 3).

2. Repeat the process for all six strings. When

the guitar is set up properly, the gap should
incrementally increase from the 1st to the 6th
string to accommodate their progressively
thicker gauges.

At the 1st fret, I measured a 2/64" gap between

the fret and string, and for the 6th string, the
gap was just over 2/64". Again, this is rather
high, especially on the treble strings. Overall,
this meant I needed to slightly tighten the truss
rod (i.e., turn it clockwise) to reduce neck
relief, lower the bridge saddles, and re-cut the
slots in the string nut.
3. Measuring the distance between the bottom of the 1st string and the
While taking these preliminary measurements, I top of the 1st fret.
noticed that the custom pickguard butted up
against the tremolo base plate. This prevented the tremolo from moving smoothly when tipping
forward to slacken the strings. When the trem arm was depressed, the base plate would get hung
up on the pickguardthats what was causing the tuning issues the client was having with the
trem! Before proceeding, I made a note that Id have to trim the pickguard before completing the
setup.

Armed with the information gathered in the previous steps, now were ready to begin the process
of adjusting the action.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/DIY_How_to_Set_Up_a_Fender_Stratocaster... 06/04/2017