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Setup for Great Action Step 2: Tremolo Bridge Height Once you have the tremolo angle set you can start to nail down the action of frets 10-24 via the bridge height. The bridge height is not changed by the neck bow, but if you don't have enough bow, you'll really have to raise the bridge to avoid buzzing at the lower frets 5-10. Personally I don't measure clearance because I've done enough to eyeball and go by feel. If you just bought a JEM or used JEM that buzzes or seems setup wrong, I recommend that at first you immediately change strings and then simply raise the bridge high enough to eliminate all serious buzzing. There may be a slight buzz at a few spots and this is unavoidable in my experience. Below are the measurements on a few of my JEMs in regard to action. All measurements are taken with a feeler gauge measuring the clearance between the bottom of the string to the top of the fret. You can drop the tremolo until buzzing occurs at the upper frets then simply raise the bridge by a half turn on the bridge stud. | Step By Step: Tremolo Bridge Height Adjustment | | Picture | | | Tools Needed | - 1.5 mm Allen wrench - for bridge stud set screw
- 4 mm Allen wrench - for bridge studs
| | Procedure | - Loosen the bridge stud set screw on each stud a few complete turns counterclockwise with a 1.5 mm allen wrench
- note - often the set screw is not properly fastened and the set screw can be is difficult to find.
- In this case insert the long edge of the allen wrench and turn clockwise to tighten the set screw. Once tightened you can proceed to loosen it a few turns.
- Adjust the bridge height. Use a 11 mm allen wrench to lower or raise the bridge studs
- Lower the action - lower the bridge by turning each stud clockwise 1/2 to 1 turn
- Raise the action - raised the bridge by turning each stud counterclockwise 1/2 to 1 turn
- When finished, snug the bridge stud set screws clockwise
| | Reference | - 1.6 mm (1/16 inch) minimum open string clearance at fret-24
| Procedure Notes: There is often discussion on never having the tremolo intact when setting the stud height. The thought is to not have pivot point contact as it can cause wear on the posts or knive edge contact. If you want to adjust the tremolo height with 100% security, quickly pop off the tremolo (w/ strings attached), adjust the tremolo posts as above, install, retune & retest. To be honest, given a good knife edge and post, I personally cheat a bit and find this overkill. I remove the pressure off the post being adusted however. This is done by simply pulling & twisting the bridge using the other post as a lever. Do this to take pressure off the post you're adjusting to not wear the knife edge. Then repeat for the other post. I've never had a problem doing this and many have never experienced adjusting the studs at standard tuning. I can relate to those wanting the bridge removed, and also those adjusting with the guitar in full tune. Real-life experience has proven neither to be much different. Your mileage & setup may vary. Summary - Step 2
Setup the tremolo bridge height to get action low while eliminating fret buzz from frets 10-24. Due to the nature of the floating tremolo it is best to not set the action ultra-low. If you want 1/64th inch clearance at the 24th fret I think you are playing the wrong guitar.
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