CruzTOOLS GrooveTech Easy Setup Manual

EASY SETUP GUIDE

1

QUICK SETUP REFERENCE

Truss Rod – Relief

Measure At Condition Specication Notes

8th Fret Hold down rst and last frets Guitar: 0.010”

Bass: 0.015”

Guitar: Check on 6th string
Bass: Check on 4th string

Bridge – Action (String Height)

Measure At Condition Specication Notes

17th fret Clearance between string and fret Guitar: 5/64” (2mm)

Bass: 3/32”

Unfretted

Nut

Measure At Condition Specication Notes

First fret Clearance between string and fret 0.020” – 0.022”

Unfretted

Pickup Height

Measure At Condition Specication Notes

Pickup Depress last fret Guitar: 1/16” – 1/8”

Bass: 3/32” – 1/8”

Adjust for equal volume on all strings

Bridge – Intonation

Condition Result Notes

Fret and harmonic at 12th string Fretted note sharp Lengthen string

Fretted note at Shorten string

Use the blanks to write in your brand-specic setup parameters, if applicable.

Thank you for your purchase of the GrooveTech™ Tool Kit! We put a lot of care into selecting the right combination of tools and other
contents to allow easy setup and other work on your instrument. The kit includes:

Screwdriver: 6-in-1 reversible with #1 and #2 Phillips tips, 1/4” and 3mm slotted tips, 1/4” and 5/16” nut drivers (for Gibson and other

makes requiring a conventional socket)

Measurement: 15 Blade Thickness Gauge, 6” Precision Steel rule
Misc.: GrooveTech Diagonal Cutting Pliers, Capo, 3 LED 2AA Flashlight, String Winder (Guitar kit only)
Hex Keys (Guitar Kit): 1.5mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm (Ball-End), 5mm (Ball-End), 0.050”, 1/16”, 5/64”, 3/32”, 1/8” (Ball-End), 3/16” (Ball-

End); (Bass Kit): 1.5mm, 4mm (Ball-End), 5mm (Ball-End), 0.050”, 1/16”, 5/64”, 7/64”, 3/16” (Ball-End)

The pouch is designed for easy access to all items, and will t into most gig bags. In addition, a large pocket is included to carry a spare
set of strings, your owner’s manual, and of course, this guide. There’s also a pocket to store your picks.

Some tools may contain an oily lm which helps to protect against corrosion during transportation and storage. Now’s a good time to
thoroughly wipe tools down – especially the thickness gauge – using a soft tissue.

Note that fractional hex keys have a black nish and metric keys a gold nish for quick identication.
In addition to setup, the GrooveTech kit should address virtually all the tool needs of your guitar or bass, including knobs, tremelo

systems, pick guard, tuning machines, battery replacement, and so on.

NOTE: the work described in this guide is intended for individuals with basic mechanical skills. If you don’t understand the
described procedures or are uncomfortable using tools, please leave work to a qualied stringed instrument technician.

INTRODUCTION

With so much expressiveness, it may be easy to overlook the technical aspects of your guitar or bass. Each string must vibrate at a
certain frequency, frets allow precise control of pitch, neck curvature provides for smooth playability, the bridge sets string length and
height, and electrical components convert acoustic energy into electrical signals with further processing of those signals.

Many of these geometries are xed at design by the manufacturer, but considerable adjustability remains. Adjustments may appear
daunting at rst, but with a little knowledge and experimentation you’ll be well on your way as a basic technician. You will be surprised
how much improvement in performance is possible from a properly setup instrument, and how easy it is to keep in top playing shape
from changes in temperature, humidity, string gauge, and handling.

Before jumping into the setup process, a few general notes are in order:

•

While all guitar and bass makes are fundamentally similar, any given brand or model will have its own nuances. Therefore, this guide

should be considered a supplement to your owner’s manual. In order to keep it simple, we provide general setup specications. If
your make has signicantly dierent setup parameters, use those instead. We refer to inch-based measurements in this guide, but
many manufacturers specify metric units. No problem – both the ruler and thickness gauge provide fractional and metric scales. In

2