Lower Action

I'm a real beginner at doing a setup but unless it involves the nut (height of the nut or depth of the slot) it's not that hard but it does take patience and a little bit of a "delicate" hand (no ham fisted adjustments). After you mess with the adjustments you will at the end need to adjust (or at least check) the intonation and that will require a good electronic tuner.

There are plenty of sites out there on the web but one that I used when I was figuring this out was this one - http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial1.htm I would also google around for "guitar setup" and you will find a lot of pages and they will give you a different perspective and maybe different photos (sometimes that can be a big help). Dan Erlewine's books are also a good source - he recently came out with a new one. http://www.danerlewine.com/guitar_repair_books.html

+1 on the above, but I'l add that you probably want to check the neck isn't warped if the action is ridiculously high. Has your nephew used heavier strings on the gutiar? If so, this might cause some bowing to occur which would make the action appear higher.
hth

Thanks you both for the feedback, I'll have to double check the nut and the string guage next time I see him. I do, however, recall feeling that the strings seemed very heavy (almost like a set of acoustic strings) which could likely have made the action feel worse than it really was, although, I do remember being able to see the strings noticiably higher off the fretboard then I am accustomed to seeing so perhaps there has been some bowing to the neck over time. The poor thing (the guitar, not my nephew...lol) was so terribly out of tune that I wouldn't be surprised if he has just had the strings so tight all these years that it did ultimately warp the wood.

Fender has a nice site called Mr. Gearhead that will show you how to set up a Strat.

http://www.fender.com/support/stratocaster.php

Setting up a guitar is not difficult at all, it is all common sense really. If you look at the components of a guitar, you can see what they do.

There are several easy adjustments you can do, and you really do not even need tools.

Relief- this is the curve of the neck. Look down the neck from the headstock toward the body. Look on the bass E string side. You should notice a slight upcurve around the 3-5 frets. If you see a large upcurve (neck shaped like a smile), then you need to straighten the neck a little. Take an Allen Wrench and tighten (turn clockwise to tighten) the truss rod screw. This is found right behind the nut on the headstock. Loosen the strings a little slack before you make this adjustment. Go in small increments, maybe 1/8 turn at most. Then tune the guitar to pitch. You will notice the action came down a little. You can continue in this manner until you get the action fairly low. If you play the guitar between frets 1-5 and get string buzz you have gone too far, turn the truss rod screw back a little and test again.

If you hold the bass E string down at the 1st and 14th frets, you should be able to slip a paper matchbook cover between the 7th fret and the string. This is around .020 of an inch. So, no tools required. This is good relief.

Always mark the original position of the truss rod screw so you can return to this position if you wish.

Saddles- this is how you adust the action. You will see very small Allen screws on the side of each saddle.

You turn clockwise to raise the saddles, counter-clockwise to lower the saddles. Again, make sure you know your original starting point so you can return if necessary (count the number of turns you make). Also, make sure the saddles are level (don't lower one Allen screw more than the other on the same saddle).

Intonation- this means the 12th fret is half-way between the nut and saddles. When your intonation is off, your guitar will sound good down low, but the further you go up the neck the more chords will sound out of tune.

Tune the bass E string as perfectly as possible with a tuner. Now fret the same string with normal pressure at the 12th fret. If the fretted note is sharp (very common) then you need to move the saddle back toward the rear of the guitar. If the fretted note is flat (uncommon), then you need to move the saddle forward toward the headstock. The adjustment screw is on the rear of the bridge. Loosen the string slightly before adjusting the saddle. Then tune to correct pitch and check to see if the open string and the note at the 12th fret match. Try to get as perfect as possilbe. It will often take 3 or 4 attempts to get it correct, just be patient.

Notice in the photo above how the saddles are staggered, when your intonation is correct, this is how they should look. Your bass E and G string saddles will be back, your D and high E string saddles will be forward, the A and B string saddles will be about halfway inbetween. Don't go by looks, use your tuner, but they will come out this way every time.

Also, make sure the bridge floats parallel to the body when the guitar is tuned to correct pitch. If the bridge leans forward, take off the plastic cover on the bottom of the guitar and increase the tension of the springs you will see. If the bridge tilts back toward the rear, then the springs are too tight, loosen them a bit.

It sounds more complicated than it is, just look at each component and you will see how they work. If you get the relief, action, intonation, and spring tension correct you will have a guitar that is set up perfect and plays like butter. :wink:

Excellent!!! Thanks Wes.

Phillyblues

Thanks, but re-reading my post I see I made a mistake.

When you tighten the truss rod, it forces the neck straight, the headstock will move downward. If you go too far your neck will be shaped like a frown. This will cause fret buzz in the early frets 1-5 not 5-12 as I mistakingly wrote. :oops:

The opposite is too much relief, this is when your truss rod is not tight enough. The strings will pull the headstock up, your neck will be shaped like a smile. If you have too much relief, this is when you will get fret buzz usually between frets 5-12.

And think about it. If you suspended a string over a bowl and then pressed the string down over the center of the bowl, eventually the string will touch the outer rim of the bowl. And this is exactly what happens when you have too much relief, you fret in the middle frets and the string will touch frets higher up the fretboard.

Like I said, it is really very simple and makes common sense.

Sorry about the mistake, I corrected it. :D

I'll just add: CHECK NECK RELIEF BEFORE CRANKING ON THE TRUSS ROD.

I know a guy who mistakenly believed that the truss rod lowers the action- which ain't quite true. It adjusts neck tension, giving more or less relief, which might lower action...but no necessarily.

So with his fairly new guitar, with fairly high action, he started turning the truss rod. Action was still high. Turned more. Still high. Kept turning. CRACK! Turns out, as far as I could see from what was left, that his action was high due to an overthick nut, and a bridge that needed a little lowering. But of course, one you've snapped the truss rod loose, this is pretty much irrelevant.

Set-up isn't rocket science. But it isn't weight lifting either. Do things in small increments, and if somthing seems to hard to turn, don't freaking turn it until you talk to somebody who knows more.

Best,
Ande

And read any instructions in full 3 times before beginning.

It's easy.

However, before you do it, know what lower action will get you and also what you will give up. If you like big bends and vibrato, for example, a lower action might be exactly the wrong choice.