Professional Setups Are A MUST!
What Is a Professional Guitar Setup?
A professional guitar setup is a process which includes an inspection, light cleaning, basic adjustments, and basic guitar maintenance. The difference between a professional setup and a DIY setup is significant. A truly professional setup requires specialized tools and a good understanding of the mechanics of the specific instrument being setup while taking into account your playing style and what you want / need the instrument to do.
Acoustic Guitar Setup vs Electric Guitar
An acoustic guitar setup has distinct differences than an electric guitar setup. Either way a lot of the procedures involved in a setup—like nut filing, saddle shaving, and truss-rod adjustments—can cause expensive damage or require parts replacement if they are performed improperly or out of sequence.
How Much Does a Guitar Setup Cost?
The price for a guitar setup is generally determined by the cost of living in your area, and the level of setup (standard, premium and supreme) to be provided.
The price for a professional guitar setup or bass setup can range from $45 to $300. The reason for the difference has to do with the scope-of-workbeing done. As for the scope-of-work, this is where you need to understand that not all setup services are the same. A certain big-box store offers a “24 Point Setup” which sounds impressive but is the result of simply separating inspection from actual work. To do the work you must look at every part of the guitar anyway so separating the guitar inspection from the work is a bit of a stretch. Don’t be afraid to ask what you’re getting for your money.
Traditional Guitar Setup
A traditional setup is a manual process which typically costs $40 to $85, sometimes up to $125, plus strings and any necessary reapirs. At a minimum the scope-of-work should include an overall inspection, new strings, tuning, intonation, hardware check, light cleaninng and action / relief adjustment as needed. It will often include adjusting truss rod (neck), pickup heights/angles, string action, string radius, saddle heights, bridge angle (floating trems), and tightening loose jacks, knobs, tuners, etc.
Is it worth spending money on getting a cheap guitar setup by a professional?
Regardless of the value of your guitar it needs a professional quality setup to play properly. A proper setup will help you to get the most from your practice time and you’ll get the best results when playing. You will find it easier to play and more fun to play.
Do New Guitars Need to Be Set Up?
Every guitar will need periodic inspection and adjustments. Every new guitar or bass should be checked out by a guitar tech or luthier … not someone at the store who is selling it to you. Guitar manufacturers take steps to ship guitars with a reasonable setup but they often are slack on the tolerances. For example, a new guitar with higher than spec string action is not likely to have fret buzz (fewer buyer complaints).
What Is Included in a Guitar Setup?
There is somewhat of a standard task list for a guitar setup. Depending on the particular guitar or bass some things may not need to be adjusted. Sometimes things need a lot of adjustment. In particular, guitars that are poorly maintained (rarely professionally serviced) often need more work than a well maintained guitar. The following is a quick view of the main parts of a guitar setup.
Visual Inspection
The first thing most shops will do is give your guitar a visual and mechanical check to identify problems. This could be as simple as noticing missing screws, corrosion, body damage, hardware malfunctions, or neck problems. A setup should include checks to confirm controls, pickups, jack and other items all work properly.
The best guitar techs make written notes on these issues as they do your setup. These notes are especially useful as a reference on subsequent setups when items previously noted as potential issues have become real problems.
Truss Rod Adjustments
Most guitars will have a truss rod. A truss rod is basically a metal rod inside of the neck which has a truss rod nut to make adjustments. Adjusting the truss rod tension changes the curvature (add or decrease bowing) of your neck…..this is known as “relief”.
The primary purpose of adjusting the truss rod is to maintain an ideal string action. Proper adjustment gives you the lowest possible string action without fret buzz. Ideally your neck will be relatively straight with just a slight amount of relief.
Floating Bridge and Tremolo Adjustments
If you have a guitar with a floating bridge and tremolo it may require some adjustment as part of your setup. The tension on the bridge must be balanced to hold the bridge in a position that is parallell with the body.
The string tension pulls the bridge up and away from the body. The trem claw position and springs pull the bridge down and against the body.
The string tension is what it is, so the adjustment is done in the trem cavity. Sometimes moving the claw springs in or out can achieve balance. Sometimes you may need to add or remove trem springs, or even change the trem springs to ones with more or less tension strength.
Strings Replacement
Obviously you’re going to replace your strings when you get a setup. Ideally you will choose new strings that are the size that help you play better! Ask for a recommendation if you’re not sure what size you want.
If you want strings that are heavier or lighter than what you’ve had you may need to modify or replace your nut. The string slots need to fit the string size to mitigate problems with tuning or buzzing.
String Radius
The fretboard on your guitar or bass may look flat but it actually has a slight crown which curves down to each side. In order to have proper playability the overall radius of your strings should closely match the fretboard radius. Adjusting the radius is done via saddle heights and measured with tools made specifically for this task.
Adjusting saddle heights affects your string action. Adjusting your string radius can sometimes be a bit tricky.
String Action (String Height)
The details of setting string action are described in an article by Sweetwater. Their article states, “String height or action describes the distance between the top of your frets to the bottom of your strings. This distance plays a key role in your setup because it determines the ease in which your guitar can be played. Action determines how much pressure and distance is required for the string to make full contact with each fret. This height decides how “aggressive” one can play before fret buzz occurs.”.4
When you get a professional setup, the guitar shop will use a “standard height setting” unless you tell them otherwise. Adjusting string action is done by adjusting the truss rod and/or the saddle heights.
If you prefer it higher or lower you need to ask for this before the work is done. This is because changing the string action or relief in the neck also changes the intonation and you would otherwise get charged to do it again.
Higher or Lower – which is better?
String action is a matter of personal preference adn playability….so there’s not necessarily a right or wrong action setting. Your playing style is the top consideration when setting your action.
Lower String Action requires less effort to fret a note and is ideal for fast playing styles such as metal. The downside of lower action is that you need to be very controlled with your playing style (pick and plucking).
Higher String Action requires you to be more deliberate and press down harder to fret notes. It can allow you harder pick attack and harder strumming on strings without buzz on the frets.
Pickup Heights and Angle
The distance relationship between the strings and the poles of a pickup have a noticeable affect on tone. When pickups are higher / closer to the strings they pick up more of the string vibrations vibrations, lower they pick up less. Pickup heights are set after the string action and neck relief have been set.
You may have noticed that pickups are not level. This is by design to compensate for string tones. The correct pickup height is lower on the bass side and closer on the treble side. The bass strings have more mass and movement than treble strings.
Fret Care
Obviously, the condition of your frets has a significant impact on playability. During a guitar setup, especially if there are buzzing issues, your tech may discover fret problems. These problems can range from high spots or rough, protruding ends to a fretboard with significant height disparity among all frets (unlevel frets). Fret work is not included in the cost of a guitar setup and prices vary depending on the anount of work required.
Common terms and ways to fix fret problems include fret dressing, spot leveling, crowning, full level and fret replacement. Your luthier will advise you of fret repair options and costs.
Rough Fret Ends. If the ends of your frets feel rough or sharp they need to be “dressed”. This means gently filing edges and polishing out abrasions. Rough fret ends are typically caused by:
- Dry fretboard which shrinks to a narrower width and the metal does not draw back.
- Loose frets which need to be glued or otherwise reset.
- Poor workmanship by the manufacturer (usually found on new, low-end guitar brands)
Total Fret Replacement
Every guiar or bass, when played long enough, will require the frets to be replaced. A fret job is definitely not included in a guitar setup but may be needed to restore proper playability. This is a relatively complex process which requires removing old frets, installing new frets and completing a process to level, crown and polish the new frets. A total refret can cost $250 and up depending on the type of instrument and fret wire material you need.
Tuning and Intonation
Tuning and intonation are the final touches to a guitar setup. Setting intonation and tuning the guitar result in every note sounding perfect anywhere up or down the fretboard.
Setting intonation requires having the guitar tuned, then checking the harmonic at the 12th fret. If the harmonic is not in tune the saddles need to be adjusted until the harmonic and the open string are in tune. With intonation properly set it is relatively easy for you to use a clip-on tuner to maintain a tuned guitar.
Cleaning Your Guitar
Every guitar setup should include cleaning your instrument. Your guitar body, neck, fretboard and hardware should be cleaned. Painted surfaces may need a bit of cleaning too. Wood fingerboards such as Rosewood should be treated with a wood conditioner product. Besides the practical maintenance aspects of cleaning and detailing your guitar, the added enjoyment of having your guitar look great is something that separates a great setup from a routine setup.
Add-On Services for a Better Setup
When you get a setup, there are a few add-on services you may want done:
Change String Sizes. Changing your string sizes can give your guitar a different tone. This may help you to have a tone that better suits the style of music you play. If you decide to change string sizes there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that you may need to widen nut string slots to accommodate larger string sizes. Going to significantly heavier strings significantly increases neck tension. This added tension may cause tuning or intonation problems.
Fret Dressing. Your luthier may find frets with high spots that can cause buzz, sharp protruding ends that negatively affect playability or frets with flat tops that need a little rounding off. When the strings are removed for repalcement is the perfect time to take care of fret issues.
Block a Tremolo Bridge. Blocking a Tremolo involves placing a block in the trem cavity between the trem block and the cavity wall.
Deck a Tremolo Bridge. Decking a Stratocaster trem is accomplished by by adding extra trem springs and then tightening the spring claw to deck the bridge to lay down flat against the body.