Guitar Setup

What will a Guitar setup do for my guitar?

Guitar setup consists of routine adjustments that affect neck stability, playability, tuning, intonation & pickup adjustments for electrics. Past these key points, you might consider a setup to be somewhat like a car service. It can include lubrication of some hardware, fingerboard conditioning & a general polish up. A guitar setup service provides an important opportunity to check for potential problems, resolving issues that could become serious in the future.

In the end, it's as much about how you feel about your instrument. You & your guitar will end up having a better relationship. If this is the first time you've ever had a setup performed, you might also be surprised at how well your guitar can actually play.

Why would you entrust your guitar to a guitar tech?

Your instinct tells you when your guitar is playing well & when it's not. When it's not, you may not know what changed and even when, just that the inspiration has gone. Your guitar technician can help make sure that your guitar feels the best it can & provides the tone & confidence that you desire. Your guitar technician is also going to make sure that your instrument stays playing right for you. With routine guitar setups, your tech can identify problems early & correct them.

Why does my guitar need regular adjustments?

Whatever the local weather climate, all wood musical instruments change in some way throughout the year. The effects of these changes to the neck in particular, might cause the guitar playing action to be high, or too low, causing notes to fret out or buzz in places. Other problems might result just because of wear of important parts such as the frets, bridge saddles or the nut.

When should I have my guitar setup?

Climate change affects all musical instruments - especially guitars

Here in Tucson, Arizona the climate is particularly harsh on all kinds of musical instruments. Seasonal changes bring about radical change in humidity & temperature, especially between fall & winter or spring & summer. Humidity has the greatest overall effect on wood (not just guitars). Humidity is very low in the winter, but monsoon rains increase humidity in the summer. When these changes occur, it still takes time (a matter of weeks) for the guitar to respond. Due to differences in guitar construction, design, wood or even spray finish, each guitar responds differently to humidity changes.

For reasons of climatic change, we recommend that routine setups for guitars are performed around February, May, August & November.

New in the area?

Unless other problems already exist, any instrument that has just been moved from one state to another, should be allowed at least a few weeks to settle before performing a setup.

How do you feel about your guitar?

Whether your guitar needs a setup will likely also depend upon you - How often is the guitar played? & how do you feel about it how well it is playing? You may have gradually noticed that your guitar doesn't play like it used to or maybe it just never did play great? If your not sure, have your guitar checked. We can advise you what it does need and when.

I just bought a new guitar. Do I need a guitar setup?

Absolutely - There are a few reasons why this is necessary. You might be amazed at how much can be done to improve a new guitar, right off the shop hanger! Many guitars leave the factory production process with the minimum of attention to final setup. They are set to a specification that as much as possible guarantees that every guitar will play at it's destination. Several aspects of the guitars playability can be improved right away. It's very common for experienced players to take their new instrument to their favorite guitar tech straight straight after buying it.

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