Guitar Setups

A “guitar setup” is where a trained professional will evaluate your instrument to make sure it is in generally good health, perform general maintenance, and then adjust and tailor the instrument to fit your personal needs. Regular setups are not only a mandatory part of protecting your guitar or bass from damage but they also help you to play and sound your best.

• Does your guitar seem more difficult to play than it once did?
• Has your guitar started to buzz recently?
• Does the guitar seem to be constantly out of tune even after you tune it?
• Are your strings corroded and the fingerboard filthy?
• Are you using a heavier or lighter string gauge than was installed at the factory?
• Are you playing the instrument in an altered tuning?
• Has your guitar remained in its case, unplayed, for months or longer?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, you are likely overdue for a guitar setup. However, most players choose to have their guitar maintained regularly, before they notice any problems, in order to always have their instrument playing as good as possible.

Many variables effect your instrument, such as: climate, frequency of use, how it is used, how the instrument is stored, etc. All of these factors impact how often you should have your guitar setup. For the average player, light to moderate use, I would recommend having your guitar looked at by a professional about twice a year. A “summer setup” and a “winter setup”. Those of you playing for several hours a day, or performing regularly, should expect more frequent visits to the guitar tech. An instrument that is subjected to major temperature and/or humidity changes is also likely to need more frequent maintenance. Regardless of how long it has been since your last setup, you should always have your guitar looked at as soon as you notice a problem.

The first thing to do during a guitar setup is to evaluate the instrument, paying particularly close attention to the neck, the fretwork, the nut, the bridge, and the saddle. We also test the electronics to make sure that there is nothing abnormal going on there. This evaluation allows us to determine whether the instrument is in good health, that it is “setup-able”, or if additional work will be required. After evaluating the instrument, Our next step is to talk to you, the player, and determine how to best serve you. This is a where we can talk about any concerns you have with the instrument, what tuning you are playing in, what brand and gauge of strings you like, what type of music you are playing, etc. The goal is to tailor the instrument to you liking. We are of course happy to offer advice to those indecisive or inexperienced. After doing the above we are able to set about the “work” portion of a setup. What is to be done during a setup can vary slightly on a case by case basis, but generally a setup consists of: removal of the old strings, cleaning the guitar, conditioning the wood of the fingerboard and the bridge (acoustic instruments), a basic polishing the frets, tightening of any loose hardware, dressing and/or lubricating the nut and saddles, restringing the instrument, adjusting the truss rod and saddle height (action adjustment), adjusting the pickup height, setting the intonation, and lastly bench checking the instrument through playing.