Part 6 of Setting Up A Fender Telecaster. One of THE most important elements of keeping your guitar in tune is simply stretching the strings.
Part 6 of How To Setup A Fender Telecaster
The home stretch in setting up our Telecaster and getting it playing tip top.
Final Adjustments and Test Drive
One of THE most important elements of keeping your (or a client’s) guitar in tune is simply stretching the strings. When they’re rock solid on a well setup instrument, all the headaches associated with pitches drifting simply evaporate – leaving more room for the joy of playing and self expression.
With a few turns of the screwdriver to get the pickups at their ideal height, and a final check, this beautiful Fender Telecaster is ready for the twang test.
What’s Covered:
- Pickup Adjustment (00:05–01:13): I started by adjusting the neck pickup before putting the pickguard back on, making sure to set a gap between the strings and the top of the pickup. I aimed for a space about the thickness of two dimes.
- Bridge Pickup Insights (01:52–02:49): When it came to the bridge pickup, I worked with the 3-point adjustment, which I find really versatile. On older instruments, I’ve noticed that the bridge pickup sometimes cups or warps slightly, which I think is a cool sign of age.
- Visual Alignment (02:49): I checked the shadows across the pickup space to ensure the pickup was aligned properly. Everything looked balanced and evenly oriented.
- Final Testing (03:52): I considered adding some lubrication for smoother operation. Before wrapping up, I let the strings acclimatize and made sure everything was running smoothly.
Video: Telecaster Setup Tutorial Part 6
Transcript:
Pickup Adjustment
(00:05) And we’re back!
I’m giving you strings their final stretch here. Okay… Probably have to give them one or two more small ones.
That’s a beautiful thing. Before I put the pickguard back on I adjusted the
neck pickup.
(01:14) I didn’t forget about it, I wanted to get this thing dialled up and wrap this episode up succinctly.
So, in setting up pickups in general, my technique is this: I’ll hold the strings down, you know, fairly close to the end of the neck, like, not like right up here, not down there something like you’re choking the neck next to the body. And I want to see a reasonable gap again, about maybe something like, a little more than a nickel or so I would say maybe more towards the two dimes thing okay.
Bridge Pickup Insights
(01:52) In between the strings and the top of the pickup okay. And I still need to do the bridge pickup. The three point adjustment really is brilliant. Not necessarily aesthetically pleasing pleasing that is, but in terms of adjustability it’s awesome! Very cool, and on some of these old vintage instruments you’ll get the bridge pickup cupping, the bobbin warping as it were, which is kind of cool I guess in it’s own right. It’s a sign of genuine age.
Visual Alignment
(02:42) Shadows across the pickup space look good, that tells me that pickup is not oriented to too far this way or that way and the plane is very even.
I can’t really check for balance because this is so much of a change in the neck pickup there. I’ll double-check that when I work on the electronics later.
Anyway, that as they say… slightly aggressive tone there. Now as you play around the heat from your hand will start to heat up the strings and whatnot, so you got to spend a few minutes noodling around with it, getting the string finally acclimatize the neck will settle in.
Final Testing
(03:52) Stretch the strings out one more or so but a… yeah, I might put a little lube in there for safe operation so I know it’s not binding but as is, pretty good.
And it’s time to just… have some fun!
Final Thoughts on the Details
Brilliance in Understated Design
The economical approach to the Telecaster’s design lends itself very well to tuning stability. The bridge is solidly built (with the exception of some models with far too many small parts).
The strings installed through the body act as excellent anchors, and the headstock design is linear to the string’s travel reducing friction points.
As long as the tuners are reasonably good and the strings have been installed properly, the one major influence on tuning stability will be the nut. It’s good practice to make sure the nut is cut properly to allow the strings to move freely.
It’s also good practice to apply a little lubricant in freshly cut nut slots to help reduce friction and expedite the process of settling in.
You can find a complete set of recommended setup tools on our Guitar Setup Tools Guide page.
Setting Pickup Height
This particular version of Reissue Telecaster in our video series had no external neck pickup height adjustment screws. Not a problem at all. The pickup is easily adjusted with the pickguard removed to expose the mounting screws. The pickguard is then easily re-installed afterwards.
Here’s some quick tips to setting your pickups to their ideal height:
Start by holding the neck with your fret hand high up on the neck close to the body. Keep your hand flat across all the strings to simulate being fretted in the upper registers.
This will give you your maximum low point as the strings leave the neck to reach their contact point at the bridge. Now you can set your neck and bridge pickups to equal heights.
Note: many modern neck pickups have a slightly reduced output to accommodate the exaggerated influence of the stings in their magnetic field. This technique is a great way account for the difference.
Look at one of the pickups from about a 45 degree angle from the side of the instrument. If you tilt the guitar forward or back accordingly, you should see a neat shadow for each string on the face of the pickup. You can use that shadow to gauge how far the strings are from the face of the pickup.
Concentrate on only the first and sixth string shadows, the middle strings are of course unnecessary. Combined with a side-long visual inspection, you should be able to set the pickup bang-on to your ideal height, equally from side to side, which should be about 3/32″ or 2.5mm depending on your tastes.
Once you have the pickup height set visually, give the guitar a listen to make sure the output is as you would expect. If there’s a noticeable difference, it’s easy enough to adjust one or the other pickup accordingly.
For a complete reference guide to eliminating guitar problems and maximizing your own guitar’s playability, check out our How To Set Up A Guitar page.
The Final Step
A good last stretch of the strings helps to seat them permanently in their new home. With the guitar finally dialled in, there’s only one thing left to do – PLAY!
Thanks for Watching!
I certainly hope you gained some insight into the guitar setup process. Although this series deals with a particular type of guitar, the principles can be applied across most other guitars as well.
If you watch some of the other guitar setup videos, you’ll definitely get a sense of how the underlying techniques work the same across a huge array of instruments. The difference of course is not so much in watching how to do it, but gaining the basic knowledge to do it yourself.
Next time you think your guitar needs an adjustment and you’re not quite sure if it’s within your wheelhouse, give yourself credit and give it a go. Experience builds confidence!
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