I had my Sire P7 at dealership for its 6 month tune up. My complaint was that the there was fret noise at the 12th fret and the double stacked knobs did not move independently.
I just noticed that that all the strings are not at the same height now. it was hard for me to take picture of strings showing the height difference. Please see picture of bridge. The string noise has been fixed. Is this a normal type fix and is it acceptable?
Knobs are much better but 1 is not perfect.
In your opinion is normal and acceptable that stacked knobs do not rotate independently and that it is the ānature of the beastā.
If you havenāt already checked it out, here the manual for the controls. The illustration is for a V series but Iām guessing applies the same to a P.
Stacked knobs should absolutely turn independently. It may be the top one has been pushed too far down and is pressing on the bottom one causing them to ālockā together. If they are just push on them simply pull the top one up a little. If they are screwed on then loosen the top one, lift it a little and tighten.
My Ibanez EHB came with one of the stacked knobs sticking like this. Only took minutes to fix it though.
Regarding string height it is exactly as @Bassic says. You can get little metal gauges with different radii which you use specifically to set them to match your fingerboard radius.
Depends what you mean. Canāt tell from the picture.
The fretboard is curved, so the middle strings should be higher than the outer ones, but close to the same height above the frets. If you look up manufacturer specs, higher strings usually have slightly more gap standard.
Iām pretty sure what it is though, is that the middle of each string is supposed to be roughly the same height above the pickups.
I canāt tell if thatās the case with yours or not.
I would get a strings action gauge (theyāre cheap and very useful) and measure the height yourself:
I love my EHB1000S, but I didnāt like the plastic knobs. I replaced them with inexpensive, but very nice Harley Benton knobs. Two each of part number 284070 (single black metal knob; 3,49 ā¬ each) and two each of part number 339884 (stacked black metal knobs; 5,90 ā¬ each).
Jumping in
Your picture is great
I have a similar tool but I have no clue how to use it !
Based on your picture you measure the string height at the top ?
Yup. Guitar or bass the string height should adjusted to the radius of the fretboard. The radius gauges shown above are on the the easier ways to do this. Anyone doing their own restringing and setups should invest in a set. Theyāre not that costly.
Iām looking up fret rockers. I gather they are a tool for being sure that fret heights are even after re-fretting a finger board. Is that correct?
I donāt see that as something Iād get much use out of. I donāt think Iām likely to get to the point of refretting my own guitars. That seems like the kind of job Iād farm out.
No, they are simply for ensuring the frets are even at all.
Much like changes in humidity and temperature can bring out fret sprout due to slight wood contraction, the frets can also slightly come up a bit. Eventually, after owning an instrument for a while, you will likely notice that no matter how well you set it up, you still get buzz. This is usually due to a high fret. This happens more often with older instruments.
You use the fret rocker to find them, and a fretting hammer to tap them back down.
Additionally, sometimes new instruments have a high fret or two.
Also, over time, frets wear and lead to similar situations. The rocker finds them, and you can fix it with a crowning file.
All in all I would say a fret rocker and fretting hammer are important tools to eventually own. I use them after each bass purchase and a couple times a year after - and I find high frets pretty often.
He illustrates a really extreme case but a slight rising is not uncommon at all on older instruments. Usually it just takes a tap or two with the fretting hammer.
