Ever feel like your guitar (or other stringed instrument) just doesn’t play as smoothly as it should? A proper setup can make a huge difference! 🎶
But just what the heck IS a “setup”?
Webster’s Dictionary won’t tell you. Your local guitar tech or “luthier” will have his version, but the next tech’s version won’t be the same.
A “guitar setup” is just whatever a tech wants to define it as!
But what SHOULD a guitar setup be? According to Guitars Done Right (guitarsdoneright.com), a setup should include everything that affects the player’s experience.
So let’s break this down.
Neck Relief & Action
Most techs would agree that a setup includes a truss rod adjustment (neck relief) and saddle height adjustment (action). All too many think this is all that is needed.
Unfortunately, there are many techs who think that action should be adjusted through the truss rod – but that’s a story for a different day.
Intonation
Continuing through the variety of definitions for guitar setup, many techs would also include setting intonation. What is intonation? That means adjusting the length of each string, usually by setting saddles a bit closer or further, so that you get the correct note wherever you fret along the fretboard.
Find out if Your guitar is properly intonated by fretting each string at the third fret and checking the note. Repeat at the 18th fret.
Nut Slot Heights
Probably fewer than 20% of techs will bother to check your nut slot heights, yet if a slot is high, your notes in the first several frets will be sharp. If a slot is too low, you’ll lose tone when that string is strummed open and may even buzz.
Clean Electronics
The inner workings of your potentiometers and switches collect..well, the technical term, I think, is “crud”. Over time this crud can build up and cause “scratchiness”, skips and even total malfunction. Our Florida humidity makes this even worse. So cleaning electronics with a special spray chemical made specifically for this purpose, will add life to your guitar’s pots and switches.
Break Angles
Tailpieces, string trees, etc. are all supposed to be adjusted to give strings sufficient break angle behind saddles and nuts, for good tone and sustain. But excessive break angles can make bends difficult.
Very few techs bother with, or even understand break angles.
Frets
High frets are a common problem. Well over half the guitars we see have fret issues. The average new guitar (even those USA $3,000+ guitars!) has about four high frets. Many times it’s just part of the fret that’s high.
Maybe the fret wasn’t properly pressed, or heat and humidity loosened glue and allowed a fret end to pop up a tad.
Fret issues will cause loss of sustain and tone or even buzzing. Typically, you only notice when fretting at certain spots.
Fewer than 5% of techs think that checking your frets should be part of a setup, yet fret issues can prevent you from being able to properly play and enjoy your guitar.
Knowledge
Unfortunately, there is no standard for guitar techs and many well-meaning techs are taught by well-meaning older techs who never learned the proper way to do setups.
This mis-information extends well beyond what you might think. Large, well-known guitar manufacturers have trained their people incorrectly and continue to do so to this very day.
To give just one example, most still use the T.R.A.I.N. setup sequence, which as anyone who’s taken our guitar setup workshop (last Saturday of each month), will know, is totally wrong!
Hank’s Guitar Setups
At Hank’s Guitar Shop, we offer three types of setups, only because we need to be competitive with other shops. If a shop in say, Dunedin, offers twenty dollar setups but they only tweak the truss rod and set action, then we need to be able to match that price with our “Simple Setup”.
If we’ve previously giving a guitar a Complete Setup (which includes everything above, including fret work, fretboard cleaning and conditioning, etc.), then on it’s next couple of annual setups, it should only need a Basic Setup, which is everything above and more, like checking all hardware, etc., except fret work.
Our Complete Setup, as the name would suggest, does it all. And all of our setups include cleaning and polishing.
I’m running out of space and time here, but a future article will explain how a good setup will actually add years of life to your guitar and likely save you money in the long run.
To sum up, a good setup will do wonders for your guitar, including –
✅ Better Playability – Lower action, smoother frets
✅ Improved Tuning Stability – Stay in tune longer
✅ Optimal Tone – Unlock the best sound from your guitar
✅ Extends Life – Your guitar’s life, unfortunately we can’t do much about the player’s life except note that enjoying your guitar may well add years to your life!
At Hank’s Guitar Shop in Clearwater, we specialize in professional setups to keep your guitar in top shape.
If you’re outside of our area, in fact anywhere in the USA, we offer our guitar setup services nationwide through Nationwide-Guitar-Repair.com – You can easily and inexpensively ship your guitar for a setup, likely the best setup it’s ever had, through Nationwide. And yes, your guitar ends up on one of our tech benches at Hank’s Guitar Shop!
FREE GUITAR CHECK!
Bring your guitar (or guitars, or bass, banjo, mandolin, violin, etc.) in to Hank’s Guitar Shop in Clearwater and we’ll immediately check it out right in front of you and show you what issues, if any, it has and what can be done (options) and what those costs would be – at no cost or obligation!
Sometimes we tell people their instrument is fine and nothing is needed. Sometimes an instrument may have a serious problem, but not have enough value to justify a proper repair. Often, in those cases, we can recommend a less expensive alternative remedy so you can continue to enjoy your instrument.
Stop by and let’s get your instrument playing its best!
Hank’s Guitar Shop
25008 US 19
Clearwater, FL 33763
(727) 228-0125
Contact us today: Hank’s Guitar Shop
#GuitarSetup #BetterTone #ClearwaterGuitarShop 🎸✨
