Preforming your own setups...

hmm well both of my guitars didnt need setting up. The action was exactly to my liking and intonation was good(though its still a touch sharp). The only thing that needed adjusting was the locking of the bridges. So, if I ever am dissatisfied with my new guitar, I will either do it myself or bring to to a more experienced guitar playing friend.

I do it all myself.

I gurantee you, you will take more time and care than the guitar jockey who has 20 setups to do before he can leave at the end of his shift.

Think about how good you would be at setting up a guitar if you did it 20 times day, vs it being your first time. Additionally, techs tend to have a lot more in the way of tools available to them. I would venture to say that less than 1 in 50 guitar players happens to own a set of nut files or a decent feeler gauge to really accurately measure action, not to mention the knowledge that comes with a little experience in the field.

Truth is, all the techs that I've had contact with were avid players themselves, and hence have had a lot of respect for the wishes of the owners of the guitars they worked on.

You should talk to a few before you pass judgement.

Yes, I'll agree every guitarist should at least know the fundamentals, even if they don't do the work themselves.

Here's a little something I thought may help some folks here on the forum.

Click for IE Spell ..... A Spell Checker for Internet Explorer

Joe

Yes, I'll agree every guitarist should at least know the fundamentals, even if they don't do the work themselves.

Here's a little something I thought may help some folks here on the forum.

Click for IE Spell ..... A Spell Checker for Internet Explorer

Joe

Are you insinuateing some of us dont no how too spell?

Indeed every guitarist should know, and practice, the fundamentals. I'm of the opinion that there's nothing mysterious or difficult about performing a proper setup and it's as important to know as how to change your strings. (You'd be amazed how many take their guitar to a "professional" whenever it needs strings!) Yeah, a guy who does 20 setups a day can do 'em faster. After you've done it for a while, you can, too. You'll also be able to figure out if you like your action height a little different, that sort of thing, and set it according to your own prefernces.

I can do a basic intonation on an electric, but that's about it. For my acoustics, I take them to this guy near where I live, he does a real nice job. When I got my Martin, it played well off the shelf so I took it home that way. But after about a year I decided to take it to him to lower the strings a little and he did some other stuff to it and the guitar suddenly started playing itself. It was amazing.

I take my acoustic back to the store I bought it from for everything. Even though I can do some things myself, like adjust the truss rod. They do it for free so why bother doing it myself. They do free lifetime adjustments on every guitar they sell.

I have been doing my own setups since I started playing. First of all, I am cheap. :D I am not going to pay somebody to do something I can do myself. Second, I enjoy it. And who will set your guitar up better than yourself?

It is rare you have to have a set of files for your nut. You can buy a new nut at the music store for a few dollars. For electrics, you only need the proper Allen Wrench(s), Philips-head screwdriver and feeler gauges. But if you have a nice ruler marked with 1/64" or metric, you don't need the feeler gauges. I actually prefer a ruler or scale. Oh, and you might need a capo to hold the first fret. Don't have a capo? Wrap some elastic bands around the neck at the first fret. Works fine.

I wrote before there are many sites on the web that give detailed but simple instructions. Many include photos. Just take your time, don't force anything. Usually after setting up a guitar just once, people are never afraid to do it again. It really isn't difficult. And it's fun.

I'm in total agreement with the DIY attitude expressed by Wes and others. I was initially intimidated by the whole set-up thing, especially the truss rod. So, I did what most newibes do - took it to the local shop. They did a perfectly fine job getting the neck set correctly, however, the action just wasn't right for me - I like my it low. So, I found all the sites Wes mentioned, read as much as I could and promply started messing around with the setup (the one I had just paid for). To my surprise, it was relatively easy.

Now, I still haven't messed with the truss rod, but I'm feeling confident that if I needed to, I could. As long as you make your adjustments in small increments, I really don't think you can do a lot of damage. I look at this way - if I mess it up badly, I can alway take it to my local shop where they will just charge me the usual set-up fee.

My acoustic is a different story. I really want/need to lower the action, but I don't even know where to start. I'll probably take it to the shop.

Steve

Been doing my own setups, repairs and mods since the day I bought my first electric at age 13, but don't avocate everyone trying to DIY. I think it's important to know and work within one's own, comfortable limits when it comes to this. And for some, that will mean letting others change their strings, because these are people who will never understand mechanical and/or electrical aspects of a guitar. So why feel guilty or force oneself to learn and do setups? After all, unless one's livelihood is repair, this is really about playing the guitar and making music, not about maintenance of the equipment. If one can do it, it's great and a truly useful skill. But avoid unnecessary angst and fear and just do what you know you can do reasonably well -- or really want to learn and do -- and leave the rest to someone more expert. Consider the flip side: Nobody forced Leo Fender to play guitar even though he was arguably really good at designing and building them.

Greg: Well, how often do you have a guitar tech around when a string breaks during a perfomance? Every guitarist should now the basics (intonation, action, truss rod, string changing). Even the most technically-ignorant person can do this if they dare to take the first few steps.

And besides, I have enough other things to spend money on then some guy changing my strings...

Greg: Well, how often do you have a guitar tech around when a string breaks during a perfomance? Every guitarist should now the basics (intonation, action, truss rod, string changing). Even the most technically-ignorant person can do this if they dare to take the first few steps.

And besides, I have enough other things to spend money on then some guy changing my strings...

I've met a lot of guitar players. There are a surprising number that cannot remember or be taught to properly change a string. They rely on their fellow musicians, and in the absence of those, get by with a half-@ssed job until someone else can fix it. And some of these are good players. My point is that being a mechanical idiot should not inhibit one from playing. There are some that will never get the mechanics of an instrument, just as there are some players that will never develop the capability to improvise, or hear intervals or sight read standard notation. I concede that the ability to change a string a near necessity, but intonation, action and truss rod adjustments are practical impossibilities for quite a few, and rarely need to be done on an emergency basis. Everybody as blind spots and weakness. For some, anything mechanical or electrical is intimidating no matter how simple the rest of us may find it.

... and I never break strings. :wink:

Undercat
Think about how good you would be at setting up a guitar if you did it 20 times day, vs it being your first time. Additionally, techs tend to have a lot more in the way of tools available to them. I would venture to say that less than 1 in 50 guitar players happens to own a set of nut files or a decent feeler gauge to really accurately measure action, not to mention the knowledge that comes with a little experience in the field.

Preforming 20 to 40 times a day is exactly what would make someone sloppy at it. My guitar was setup beautifully by myself, the first time with nothing more then a few web pages, a few tools, and some common sense to guide me. As far as tools go, a few allen wrenches, a feeler guage and a good straight edge is all thats neccessary. And nut filling doesnt exactly fall under a "standard setup" as most guitar shops would charge extra for that.
Truth is, all the techs that I've had contact with were avid players themselves, and hence have had a lot of respect for the wishes of the owners of the guitars they worked on.

Being an avid player certainy doesn't turn someone into a better tech., or give them more respect for the wishes of others.

Bottom line...
Everyone should know the basics and be able to preform minor adjustments, including action and intonation. I refuse to believe it is unlearnable as mentioned earlier in this post. But, all in all, I was just curious who paid and who didnt.