KL 380 Set up questions

[aamefford]

I’m working through the set up on my new to me ‘09 KL 380. I’m using a little Music Nomad set up kit that consists of a couple of feeler gages, a big guitar pick to fret the low or high E’s at the first fret (works as a capo basically) and their instructions. I recall that they use a slightly different technique for measuring and setting neck relief via the truss rod as note a bit later.

The action is high. Roughly .07” high E, .08” low E at the 12th fret with the string fretted at first fret.

Truss rod is pretty close to .006” at 6th fret when the string is fretted at 1st and 12th. This is how my little Music Nomad kit measures. As I recall, it’s not the standard method.

at first fret, with open strings and in playing position
Low E and A are about 0.020” from 1st fret (desired per Music Nomad kit)

D and G are about .018” from 1st fret (desired per Music Nomad kit)

B and high E are about 0.016” from 1st fret (desired per Music Nomad kit)

So, truss rod is pretty much ok, nut is pretty much ok, strings are HIGH at 12th fret, so action is high.

I plan to lower the saddles appropriately to get as close to PRS spec or a little lower as I can, and hope for no fret buzz. The MN kit has radius gages, so I’ll set high and low E’s, and then arc the rest to match the radius gage for 10” radius. Is this the correct next move?

 

[Davey]

Sounds good to me.
1. Truss rod/relief
2. Action/nut
3. Intonation
4. pickup height

Set your high and low E strings to your preferred height.
Then take the radius gauge and set it on top of the string's and you know both E's are good, just raise or lower your middle 4 strings until they make contact with the radius gauge.
You can also set the height of both E strings and just measure and match the height off the fretboard and you'll have the proper radius.

 

[aamefford]

OK, so:
1) Truss rod is good
2) Nut is good, *maybe* a bit high on the "D," but we're talking .002" +/-, so good. Action is now about .06" low E, .05" high E at the 12th fret, fretted at the 1st fret.
3) Intonation just using a clip on polytune is now dead nuts.
4) Pickup height - I'm not really sure what I want to do with this. It's my first P90 guitar. It sounds good, fuller or beefier than a Strat, I think (no basis of comparison though). Goes from grubby clean to growling with the volume knob.I think I'll leave it alone, look and see if PRS publishes PU height specs for P90's, and compare to where this is. All of this with the little Katana Air EX desktop amp.

Next moves, remove the strings, give it a good clean up, polish the frets (gotta get the fret guard thingie(s) and some polish and blue tape), clean and oil the board and put new strings on it.

It has 9.5's on it, and I like them. The seller gave me a couple sets of Ernie Ball Slinkies. He says they are old, but strings shouldn't age??? Any recommendations for other brands? I've used the PRS upper tier of the two string sets for the 10's on my S2 and the 9's on my Santana III. They seem fine. Any reason to look elsewhere? If not, I'll order some, and probably waste one of the EB sets in the mean time.

 

[Slo-mo]

Just a note, clip-on tuner is not great for intonation. They work ok, but I usually use a corded tuner and switch to neck pickup to keep tone low and beefy. Maybe a bit too OCD, but just thought I'd mention it.

 

[aamefford]

Just a note, clip-on tuner is not great for intonation. They work ok, but I usually use a corded tuner and switch to neck pickup to keep tone low and beefy. Maybe a bit too OCD, but just thought I'd mention it.

Yeah, I kinda know that, but it was handy, and I maybe got close. I'll round up my Boss TU-3 or maybe an interface and the StroboSoft app on my phone. I don't think you are OCD, I'll do it right here eventually. It's pretty dead nuts wit the clip on though, better than my other two guitars.

 

[Davey]

4) Pickup height - I'm not really sure what I want to do with this. It's my first P90 guitar. It sounds good, fuller or beefier than a Strat, I think (no basis of comparison though). Goes from grubby clean to growling with the volume knob.I think I'll leave it alone, look and see if PRS publishes PU height specs for P90's, and compare to where this is.

I'm not sure about p90 heights. Maybe someone else can Chime in.

Maybe shoot an email to PRS and ask.

 

[aamefford]

I'm not sure about p90 heights. Maybe someone else can Chime in.

Maybe shoot an email to PRS and ask.

Thanks for keeping this surfaced in the new posts list! I know there are a few triple soapy fans on the board. I’ll hope they chime in as to pickup height and maybe pickup swaps. I’m just assuming what’s in here are stock, whatever they would be in an ‘09. I’ll look when I go through and clean everything up. Just to note - no hum with the Katana Air EX. Who knows how they’ll behave with the TC-100. That thing has a solid baseline fan/hiss going, but so did my little Mesa.

 

[Greywolf]

P90's are in my experience more sensitive to height , as well as picking location
Small changes can really get you in bliss land. String gauge can make a HUGE difference . I dropped from 10's to 9.5's and was amazed how much brighter it sounded , it works both ways.
I have 11 Soapies , love em dearly but a good setup really makes them shine, well worth the extra tweaking over PAF's

 

[aamefford]

P90's are in my experience more sensitive to height , as well as picking location
Small changes can really get you in bliss land. String gauge can make a HUGE difference . I dropped from 10's to 9.5's and was amazed how much brighter it sounded , it works both ways.
I have 11 Soapies , love em dearly but a good setup really makes them shine, well worth the extra tweaking over PAF's

Did you find that with the 9.5’s you could get back to the tone with the 10’s with the tone knob? Mine seems really responsive to both tone and volume adjustment.

 

[Greywolf]

My '55 GiBby LP has Lollars in it and had 10's , sounded very thick , great for slide , threw on the 9.5 PRS's and Sparkle city .
You can back off the tone and still get creamy , just not quite as much . ALL the P90's love gain , the more the better.