You’re thinking, “That guitar’s been hanging on the wall for three years, why would it need a setup?” Or maybe, “I play that thing everyday and it’s ‘fine’, why would this guitar need a setup?” Or even, “I just bought this guitar last week, it better not need a setup!”
Yet, in each case, your guitar probably does, in fact, need a setup. What’s worse is, if you don’t give it a setup, you could be permanently damaging your guitar!
Don’t believe me? Then follow along –
Anatomy of a Guitar
Inside the neck of most guitars, except some very old guitars and most classical guitars, lies a metal rod called a “truss rod”. Why is it there? What is its purpose?
Your guitar likely has six strings that attach to or through the bridge at one end and to your tuner key posts on the guitar headstock, at the other end. Those strings, when tuned, have a combined tension between ninety and a bit over one hundred pounds, on average.
Because the strings sit above the plane of the soundboard, neck and headstock, they tend to pull upward on the bridge and headstock, in an attempt to “introduce” the two!
If You’re Playing the Guitar
Over time, if those strings remain tuned, their attempt to bend your guitar’s neck would become successful if not for a counteracting force. That brings us back to your truss rod.
The purpose of the truss rod is to counter the force of the strings and keep the guitar’s neck relatively straight. I say “relatively” because we actually do want a very slight bend in the neck, usually measured at one thousandth of an inch near the center of the neck, measured from the bottom of the outer strings. But that’s a story for another time.
It’s Balanced, So it’s Good. Right?
When you get a new guitar, you tune it once and you’re good from then on, right? Don’t we wish! Unfortunately, all things fatigue.
Boy, that line hits home! At seventy-seven years old, typing this after ten pm and after along day at a tech bench, I can vouch that fatigue is real!
So, what happens when your strings “fatigue”? You know when they fatigue because they go a bit “flat”. And what do you do? You tune your guitar by adding tension to the strings, right?
But that truss rod fatigues also. And chances are, you’re not “tuning” it nearly as often as your strings, right? Retuning ensures a constant tension of roughly one-hundred pounds from the strings. Fatigue ensures a gradual lessening of the counter-balancing tension of the truss rod.
But It Gets Worse!
As the strings begin to win the tug-of-war, the neck begins to bow, causing the headstock to slightly rise above its initial plane. What does that do? That gives the strings leverage. So now, not only do the strings have more tension than the truss rod, but they’re getting growing leverage so that your neck bends more rapidly with time.
Sure, all this happens so slowly that you don’t notice. When I was a youngster, in Louisiana, Cajuns would tell the story of a frog in a pan of water. He knew that pan was on a stove burner, but the water was comfortable, so no need to jump just yet. After a bit, the water became warmer, but he barely noticed the gradual increase in temperature. You just know this story ends with a delicious gumbo!
If the Guitar is Stored
If you’re not playing the guitar, you’re not retuning the strings when they go flat, so all is good, right? I have a beautiful Gibson L50 on the bench today to attest to the fact, that this is also a problem. But why?
The truss rod does fatigue, but not nearly as fast as strings. So when the strings go a bit limp, the truss rod begins to win the tug-of-war. Only this time, the neck is being bent back, into what is called a back-bow.
A back-bow will cause strings to “buzz” on frets toward the middle of the fretboard. Until the neck can be straightened (IF it can be straightened), the only “fix” is high action.
I’ve had necks that were back-bowed so badly that even removing and re-attaching the fretboard, heat and tension couldn’t fix it.
And it could have easily been avoided if the truss rod had been adjusted just once each year.
New Guitars Need a Setup?
Even IF manufacturers hired good, experienced techs to properly setup brand-new guitars at the factory, it’s likely that setup would need some tweaks after it gets shipped through various time zones and climes. Add several months sitting on shelves, customers picking it up and fiddling with the adjustments, etc.
But let’s not delve into the realm of fairy tales. Manufacturers do not give their guitars a proper setup (with extremely few exceptions).
Many customers bring us their new guitars, some still in the box. We can always find at least four serious problems that need attention. Most frequent are nut slot height problems, fret level problems, problems with neck relief and saddle heights and nearly always, intonation problems. I could add several lesser but quite common issues, but you get the drift.
What Type of Setup Should You Get?
Unfortunately, there is no standard definition of what a guitar setup should be, but in my opinion, it should include everything that affects the player experience.
We offer three types of setups –
- Simple – Adjust truss rod and saddle heights
- Basic – Everything except check fret level
- Complete – Basic + ensure fret level
If it’s a new guitar or one that’s new to you or one with some fret buzz up the neck, you should choose the Complete Setup. If you’re familiar with the guitar, but having some issues, a Basic Setup should do. If you’re familiar with the guitar and it’s not giving any trouble, then the Simple setup will ensure your guitar continues to serve you well.
How Often Do You Need a Setup?
If you play an hour or more everyday, you should at least check neck relief (adjust truss rod) and saddle heights a few times a year.
Most of us can get by with a setup every twelve to eighteen months. Going longer carries the risk of doing some damage to your guitar and of course, imperfect playability. And who wants to fight their guitar?
Frets
Using the unique, “Guitars Done Right” setup system, we use a special tool called a “Fret Renewal” tool. If we get your guitar before there’s much fret wear, this tool will make your frets like new with great, polished crowns. This adds years of life to your frets.
Once the wear gets a little too much, you’ll need an expensive Level & Crown job or even Fret Replacement. So it’s a good idea to get regular setups to protect your guitar’s neck and frets.
