Guitar Setup

[launched]

Hey everybody!

I want a professional to set my guitar up. I understand it will probably cost more than I paid for it, but I have no idea if my intonation is set up right, my neck is straight or my pickups are in good shape. I like my cheap old guitar and have no plans to get rid of it.

Can anybody tell me what a fair price is, what should be included and how to tell if I got screwed or not?

Also, should I just learn how to do it myself, or do some things myself? I really don't want to screw the neck up.

Thanks,

Mark

[StevieM]

No reason you couldn't do it yourself. E mail me, I'll send destructions

[Greeny]

I'm interested in this too. My Les Paul Gold Top has a slight buzz on one of the strings - I'm not sure if it's because the intonation is f*cked or because I've worn the frets down too low (I can see some definite wear on the third fret wire). I've never adjusted truss rods and saddles, and I'm too mean to go to a pro, so it's not getting a lot of love at the moment, lol

[SteveG]

Action is easy enough, as is intonation if you have a cromatic tuner ... or MBR Google it, check a few sites to get a few different expinations. Dont forget to check the specs for your guitar, or the closest option, and bear in mind that this is only a starting point.

Neck reflex is a bit more scary, but doable if you are brave enough to bend the neck!!!! Again google it a few times.

Pickup height, piss easy .... dont put single coils too high as the magnets will pull the strings and it will sound odd....

Action at the nut .... DO NOT ATTEMPT unless you are very very brave / competent / crazy. A tiny bit too much cut into a slot and your neck is screwed, unplayable until you get a new nut fitted, which is something else best left to a pro.

A setup round here is between £30 AND £70, But I have been doing my own for years. Aint hard.

Oh, re string changing. Changing gauge will generally require a setup, as it changes the string tension ... but not always.

At least learn to set the intonation, as you should do that every time you change the strings.

Steve

[hooper]

Here is some good info:
http://mysite.verizon.net/jazz.guitar/guitarsetup.htm

[SteveG]

I'm interested in this too. My Les Paul Gold Top has a slight buzz on one of the strings - I'm not sure if it's because the intonation is f*cked or because I've worn the frets down too low (I can see some definite wear on the third fret wire). I've never adjusted truss rods and saddles, and I'm too mean to go to a pro, so it's not getting a lot of love at the moment, lol

Intonation will not give you fret buzz, it is the string length, and if out the string will go out of tune as you play higher up the neck.

Again, google the spec and check the action and neck reflex. If one fret is worn you may need a fret leveling. (A high fret you can file .... a low one you have to lower all the others). There is a tool sold on EBAY that apparently lets anybody do this without even removing the strings, have not tried it myself, and would be too scared to test it out on a decent guitar!!!!

Raise the action a bit, it might go away....

[Sprocket]

Labor rate is usually $75 an hour here in the US...Id expect anywhere from 1/2 to an hour to do a proper set up.

Greeny, when you change the strings on an LP type guitar with a stop bar its best to leave one string on, so the whole bridge assembly doesnt fall off...and when this happens, alot of the time the bridge gets put back in a different dirrection, and even the thumb screws get a lil twisted, just enough to cause string buzz or fret noise.
Id care to bet you could just turn the thumb adjuster screw counter-clockwise a lil and itd fix your fret noise.

[StevieM]

I suppose I just assumed that most people know how to do all that

If it's gonna help I'll post a basic set-up lesson or two. Can't do it now 'cos the PC's packed away for a few days, I'm building cupboards and decorating the room it's used in, and I haven't got the stuff I need on the laptop.

There's nothing too scary about any of it, after all, it's only a matter of adjusting bits ( usually with an allen key). If you adjust something one way and the problem gets worse---adjust it the other way .

Steve G's right, it's good to at least know about intonation and action.
Intonation----That's where it's the same note on the twelth fret as the open string, but an octave higher. Easy with a tuner, and to adjust it ( as long as you've got saddles that move back and forwards) move the saddle back--or forwards!!
You'll have to retune each string after each adjustment, not difficult, just fiddly and can take a little bit of time.

Action----That's just moving the saddle/s up or down a touch ( assuming the nut slot heights are ok). The way I do it is to take the string down 'till it just starts to buzz---check all the way up the neck---then raise it a tiny bit 'till the buzz stops.
Again, this is assuming the neck and nut are ok.

Hope that helps a little bit?

I'll do a longer explaination later ( see reason above ). In the meantime, any specific probs I might be able to give a quick help on.

[Sprocket]

Intonation----That's where it's the same note on the twelth fret as the open string, but an octave higher. Easy with a tuner, and to adjust it ( as long as you've got saddles that move back and forwards) move the saddle back--or forwards!!
You'll have to retune each string after each adjustment, not difficult, just fiddly and can take a little bit of time.

If the octave is sharp move the saddle back, if its flat move the saddle forward...this may take about a 1/2 hour, and you might wanna recheck it or get it closer the following day.
But its best to do this with new strings...old strings=dont waste your time.
Now if youre able to do all of that but you dont want the fun to end, go a step further and strike an "A" on every string...is it still in tune? If not, fine tune your adjustments accordingly.

Action----That's just moving the saddle/s up or down a touch ( assuming the nut slot heights are ok). The way I do it is to take the string down 'till it just starts to buzz---check all the way up the neck---then raise it a tiny bit 'till the buzz stops.
Again, this is assuming the neck and nut are ok.

I use a printable radius gauge to do this...I set the action for the low E and the high e as low as I can get it without the note fretting out on the small frets...and then I lay the radius gauge on top of the strings and begin to adjust the saddles to follow that ark.(so every string is uniformly as low as it can go)

What I keep trying to emphasize is that string gauge is going to wreck havoc on your action by switching from one extreme to the other...but a simple trussrod adjustment can fix this, where as saddle adjustments will only confuse maters.(and Id leave the nut out of the equation for the moment)

[launched]

Hey! Thanks everybody - I've got a lot to chew on now! I'm pretty sure I know now what I would want to tackle. I'll definitely leave the nut and neck alone for now

This place is awesome!!

Mark