If you bought your guitar new it should have come with some allen wrenches hopefully , if u dont have them just look up where your instrument was made and get according wrences : USA made = SAE sized (SAE always in fractions) Anywhere else: Metric (always in hole numbers sometimes with decimals)
Basicly the usual action adjustment consists of 3 variables:
1. what bridge your guitar has
2. what strings you are useing
3. condition of the neck
1. Bridges:
1a. Strat Type:
You can adjust every aspect about this bridge, how far back or forward the strings are set and precise height of the strings off the neck. Just loosen the strings or take them off and use the hex keys on the saddle height screws and Fore and Back positioning by the Phillips ScrewDriver Screws on the back
1b. Freestanding Bridge (Gibson Standard)
These are adjustable but not quite to the extent of the Strat bridge. The Forward and Back placement of the saddle is adjusted by those flat-head screws on the front, and or by moving the bridge itself forward or back. Action height adjustment is made by taking the strings off and tightening or losening the legs of the bridge, witch isn't quite as precise as the individual height adjustment on the strat but i haven't herd anyone complaining about it lol.
1c. The Floyd Rose
This is the Floyd Rose Pro model, (the pic came up 2nd in line from google and it has all the parts on it so it wins) lots of companies have made knock offs of the original Rose, some of witch made from cheaper, weaker metals witch makes for less sustain and dosn't keep strings in tune as well. Anyway, Adjusting action on a Floyd Rose is a bit more complicated then on a strat type or freestanding type because when you remove the strings it just backs itself into its cavity. whenever i have to adjust one i usualy take the time to clean it by taking the hole thing apart so i just take the thing out compleatly, its not difficult just take off the strings, remove the springs and pull it out.
After that you adjust the saddles foreward and back placement by losening an allen wrench screw and sliding the forward or back WARNING!!! when u tighten them back down, MAKE SURE THERE TIGHT!!!! or they will pull all the way foreward when you try to tune the instrument and that is a pain in the a** to have to go back and fix. Height is the 2 Allan screws on the sides that are pressed into the body.
My Ibanez is equiped with an original edge trem so i can tell u for sure what sizes u need to adjust it .
you will need a metric sizes 1. 3 and 4
1 for the individual bridge adjustment
3 for all the lockers
4 for the height adjustment
but i have yet to find a key for the truss rod witch is some kind of wierd socket thingamajank, but then again i havent really looked.
2. Strings: thje most important thing about ur strings is just to know what gauge they are, for example if you buy a guitar that has regular Ernie Ball Super Slinks on it (gauged 9 - 42) and u put a set of Beefy Slinks on it (gauged 11 - 54) u might see that the lower strings smack the frets when they vibrate, thats cuz obviously there to big and there saddles need to be raised. WARNING!! if you put heavy gauge strings on a guitar and dont adjust for them over time you might end up warping the neck THIS IS UN-FIXABLE!!!! trust me i've tried
3. Neck Condition: like i mentioned before, large gauge strings over time wthout proper adjustment wioll warp a neck, check for this when buying a guitar. hold it ip and look down the side of the neck to check if its straight.
3a. Truss Rods: when changing to a bigger set of strings you also have to make truss rod adjustments, i have no experience in this and have never done it myself so google it for now till i dig up some info on it.
*update* Found these:
