Setup advice

MaximusVolumus

Hello all,
I know there are a lot of highly skilled luthiers floating around this sight, and if it's not too much trouble, I'm in need of advice:

What can I do to make my guitar more playable?

For starters, its an early 2000s DJ Hodson 503r.

This instrument requires a significant amount of effort to play. Because of the extra work required, it's putting a damper on my technique and creativity each time I pick it up.

I'm not entirely sure what the problem (or combination of problems) is.

Here are a couple of things I've noticed:

The higher strings buzz on the upper frets.
The action is around 3.5 mm for the low E, and around 2.8 mm for the high e (this is with the bridge shimmed in an attempt to prevent the buzz).
The frets are quite new (they were replaced by the previous owner just before I bought it) and seem abnormally large (I am uncertain as to whether this would affect the playability or not).
The neck is reinforced, but does not appear to have an adjustable truss rod (no visible bolt-hole inside the soundhole)
Strung up with 11s

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!
-Max

Jazzaferri

If you can shoot a photo taken looking up the strings showing the neck relief you will get more cogent advice from the experts here.

Sounds to me like the neck relief or neck angle are off.

Bob Holo

What you're describing might be a body-join hump or maybe the end of the fretboard has popped and tipped up due to dryness, or possibly a few frets that are lightly popped due to dryness. The difficulty in playing is likely coming (mostly) from the high action.

But - those are all just guesses. Take it in to someone and get it looked at. If you're curious, you can usually find the location of the problem by removing the shims and playing notes from the 1st fret up the fretboard. When you get a buzz, there is likely a problem in either the next fret up, or exactly one octave up where the amplitude of the string is at maximum. I've seen your vids - you're a pretty darned good young guitarist and you should have a good setup. If you take it to an experienced tech who knows how to work on fixed truss necks, he'll be able to diagnose it and dial it in for you. Sounds like you have new frets... that's good... and it's a good reason to avoid trying to do it yourself. New frets are expensive and as attractive as it may seem to save a few bucks in setup costs, it's better than grinding through those new frets trying to fix the problem. There are people out there who are very good at it.

Let people know which city you live in, and someone here may know a good setup tech nearby.

If the guy wants to know how you'd like to set it up for this style, ask for approximately 11 or 12/1000 relief from the 1st to 14th fret, with ~3/1000 fall-away at the 21st fret starting somewhere around the 11th or 12th fret when the action is about 2.8mm high E / 2.4mm low E with Savarez Argentine 11's. If he doesn't do metrics... (2.8mm=.11" & 2.4mm=.094") If he wants to know about the zero fret... it should be just a little higher than the others but not more than a few thousandths when the neck is slack, as it will come up another few thousandths as the neck pulls to tension.

Hand that last paragraph to any good setup person who has experience working with fixed-truss necks and you'll be good to go.

MaximusVolumus

Thanks for the information, Bob!

As far as my city...I live in Vermont. So it looks like I'll be travelling a bit towards a good tech (which I am OK with). Any suggestions of techs in the New England/New York area?

By the way, I'm a huge fan of your work and plan on buying one of your instruments some day!

Bob Holo

There must be someone in the area who has setup experience. Maybe ask a local builder who they'd recommend for a fixed-truss neck with a zero fret. There are some very good builders in New England - Michael Millard comes to mind. He's a phenomenal flat-top builder and my guess is he's seen a few pre-war guitars, most of which were fixed-truss. I think Will Fielding and Alan Carruth are also in the area. They have all specialized in other types of instruments, but they've all been around quite a while and probably have favorite setup people in the area.

Craig Bumgarner

Some builder don't want do setups and repairs, but they often know someone in the area who does.

William Cumpiano in North Hampton, MA is a terrific builder with decades of experience. He should know someone in you area.

Al Watsky in NYC area is a bit further away, but one of the best setup techs there is. Lots of experience with GJ guitars.

MaximusVolumus

Thank you all for the help.

If I were to go and take this to a tech and have it set up, what happens in the summer when the humidity is back? Will adjusting it now ruin the instrument?

Bob Holo

I'm glad you asked that question. I assumed you were keeping it in the case & humidifying during the winter. But if it's out on a stand in the house and you live in a cold place where the heat is always running.... there's a 99.99999% chance that your setup problems are actually low humidity problems.

The first and most important adjustment a person can make to their guitar is to "adjust" it to 50% humidity... People ask me: "How do I adjust my guitar now that the humidity is (low/high) and I always say. "Wrong question... the right question is... how do you get the guitar to a healthy humidity so you don't shorten its life... and as a side benefit, it'll play and sound a lot better! ;-)

I know people don't like that answer, but it's the truthful one. But hey, take heart. I got my Karma kickback for saying that to people a while back. I asked my doctor how I could do better with allergies because they make me snore. He said simply. "It's not allergies, Bob - you need to lose 30 pounds." I love that guy. He's the best doctor I've ever had, he doesn't beat around the bush, and he's absolutely right.

Get a case humidifier and a case humidity gauge and get the guitar to 50% humidity. Don't adjust anything till you do that. It will take your guitar up to a week to change humidity, maybe more if it's really dry.

MaximusVolumus

I keep the guitar in the case humidified, and I try to keep the room it's in humidified as well. There's only so much you can do though when 20 degrees is a warm day though. I doubt it's at 50% now, but I'll get it as close as I can.

That being said, should I go and adjust it now that I've already been humidifying?

MaximusVolumus

I just need to make sure that setting it up this time of year won't harm it later with the seasonal change.

Bob Holo

Sounds like you're doing the right stuff...

Sure, it'll change a little seasonally no matter what you do; Mother nature is more powerful than any of us. Also, guitars change a little in their first few years as they settle in for the long haul. I typically setup guitars and string them and let them sit for a month or so and then do a final setup. Every little bit helps. But if you're diligently humidifying, and the guitar is a couple years old, and the guitar's setup is a bit wonky, then it might need a fret dress. A good setup tech will know how guitars react seasonally and take that into account.