Guitar Setup

 
A good guitar setup is one of the most critical issues that can make or break the overall guitar playing experience. If you are a beginning guitar player or student, it can mean the difference between a lifetime of playing enjoyment, or the guitar being laid down in frustration and pain after only a few weeks of trying to learn to play. For more 'seasoned' players, it can mean countless hours at the music store trying out guitars and hoping to find that one guitar that 'feels just right'.

      When you buy a new guitar, for some it is somewhat of an assumption that because it is new that the guitar plays the way it should right off the shelf. After all, that's the way it came from the manufacturer so it must be correct, right? Wrong! Most all manufacturers use what I call a 'safe' setup'. That is, it plays clean with no fret buzz, guaranteed. This means the action is usually a little high and every guitar the same model as the one you're trying out was setup the same way. The salesman may offer to set the guitar up as part of the purchase program and this is a good gesture. You will likely have to wait a while or return later to pick up your new guitar.

      I certainly wouldn't refuse to have the store guitar tech set the guitar up, after all, it is part of your purchase. But understand, a good setup most likely will not end here. A guitar setup is a delicate operation that requires a consultation with the player to learn what they are looking for in a setup. Discussion of all aspects of their playing style and choice of music is critical to rendering a setup that delivers the ease of playing and overall satisfaction of the experience.

             Learn More About Guitar Setups

      The bottom line here is, if you have never had your guitar setup by an independent (owns their own shop), guitar tech or luthier who is willing to sit down with you and detail a setup designed just for you, then you owe it to yourself to have at least one professionally performed setup. Guitar repair artisans understand that a setup 'settles in' and may require a subsequent adjustment within a few weeks and usually performs these minor adjustments while you wait.

      I'm sure a lot of you are setting up your own guitars and that is good and may work for you fine, but I can assure you that years of experience, hundreds of dollars in tools just to do a good setup and having performed hundreds of setups (if not thousands), will surprise even the best of those who perform their own setups.