How long to "settle" before final adjustments?

[Brian Evans]

I strung my current build up "in white" (actually with a couple of coats of lacquer for protection) yesterday, and I wonder what to expect in terms of movement, settling of the arch, etc., to look for prior to finalizing the setup. Since this is intended to be a purely acoustic instrument I have made a one piece bridge of jatoba (quite hard and brittle, light coloured, very similar to rosewood in my opinion). So I need to be fairly careful with the action height.

Supplemental question - what strings do people gravitate towards for acoustic arch top guitars? I currently have nickle-steel electric strings on .011 - .050 with an unwound third, since they are my standard string (I like to bend the G string a little bit). I wonder what acoustic flat top strings would be like, or what the jazz oriented strings are like.

Thanks, Brian

[Barry Daniels]

You need to complete the finish before you do final setup. I usually wait a week for final tweaking.

[Mike Conner]

Brian,
I have strung up each of my builds in the white. I actually leave the neck chunky at first and refine it with playing in. About a week and you should know where you are going to end up.

My experience so far - the finish has not changed the final setup significantly.

For strings, phosphor-bronze will have much more punch and depth than nickel. I target the setup for standard light gage strings 12 - 53. My necks have been pretty stable and medium gage pb strings 13-56 sound great with just a tweak of the truss rod to dial in the relief. I use inexpensive bulk pack setup and testing, and delivering the acoustic guitars with Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb light gage strings.

There are archtop players seeking the warm jazz "thunk" tone that prefer heavier flat strings like TI Flats. Not my tone ideal though.
//mike

[Barry Daniels]

I don't know. Stringing up in the white just seems like an opportunity to get dirt and oil into the wood before it is protected by finish.

[Brian Evans]

Hence my guitar is fully stained and has 2 - 3 coats of lacquer on it. It gives me the opportunity to attach the neck (it's a bolt on), string it up and really look at it for a week or two, before I take it apart again and start to do the spray/sand/spray/sand/spray sand/polish/polish/buff and then put it together again. My eyes are such that without gloss on the wood, and a variety of different lighting, I can't see the little imperfections that need adjusting. I have made up a "cello" type one piece bridge and set the action to kind of medium-high, so it has a final setup to be done after everything is complete and it's been played for a while. Ditto the nut - action is set right but the slots are very deep and the nut will get final shaping after it's apart again. I also have to adjust the neck set a bit.

[Mike Conner]

I don't know. Stringing up in the white just seems like an opportunity to get dirt and oil into the wood before it is protected by finish.

Stringing up in the white gives me an opportunity to ensure that the fit and playability is what I hoped it would be. I don't worry about having everything that doesn't affect setup fully sanded. I leave the neck a little chunky and refine the feel with carving, sanding and playing until it feels right. I am of course very careful not to get fingerboard oil on the wood.

For my second octave mandolin, the client was thrilled to play the instrument in the white and give feedback on the neck shape, which I could take care of while he watched, and played again until he was happy. He preferred a soft V neck shape that differed from the prototype, so it was great to have him play it and guide the results.

After disassembling the instrument, a quick sanding with 220 grit cleans up any smudges and I can do any other filling and touch ups in preparing to dye and finish.

Works for me. I don't have the experience and confidence to skip testing in the white.
//mike

[Barry Daniels]

Sounds like the process is working for you and that is what counts.