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New LP Owner...help with tailpiece setup

FiggyPudding18

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2019
Messages
3
Hi All,

I just bought my first Les Paul!:
Absolutely loving it so far. Only thing is, the high E string has a buzzy sitar-like quality, I'm guessing just due to a setup issue.

I adjusted the tailpiece a little bit, and tried to make the angle from the bridge to tailpiece less drastic to remedy this (pictured: ).

The sound improved but there is still a little buzz which I'm guessing is just regular fret buzz or something.

I'm going to take it for a pro setup today, however my question is in regards to adjustment of the tailpiece. I noticed that the low string side has a steeper break angle then the treble strings, though each side of the tailpiece seems equally high (see pictures above). Is it ok that each string isn't exactly parallel to each other from the bridge to the tailpiece? Do you all strictly measure tailpiece height, or is it more an eyeball approximation kind of thing?

Pictures if the above links didn’t work

Forgive the potential OCD here, as a new LP owner I just want to make sure I'm not going to damage anything etc.....!

Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

EpiLP1985

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Messages
113
Hi All,

I just bought my first Les Paul!:
Absolutely loving it so far. Only thing is, the high E string has a buzzy sitar-like quality, I'm guessing just due to a setup issue.

I adjusted the tailpiece a little bit, and tried to make the angle from the bridge to tailpiece less drastic to remedy this (pictured: ).

The sound improved but there is still a little buzz which I'm guessing is just regular fret buzz or something.

I'm going to take it for a pro setup today, however my question is in regards to adjustment of the tailpiece. I noticed that the low string side has a steeper break angle then the treble strings, though each side of the tailpiece seems equally high (see pictures above). Is it ok that each string isn't exactly parallel to each other from the bridge to the tailpiece? Do you all strictly measure tailpiece height, or is it more an eyeball approximation kind of thing?

Pictures if the above links didn’t work

Forgive the potential OCD here, as a new LP owner I just want to make sure I'm not going to damage anything etc.....!

Thanks all!

How low is the action?
 

brandtkronholm

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
2,737
The slots on either the nut or bridge are too big. This will require non-trivial attention. Possibly a new nut, or new saddle, but maybe simply reshaping the slot will fix it. A luthier will know how to resolve it.

This is a common problem.
 
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