Guitar set ups

Hootsmon

Truth now, when you get your prized guitar back from such and such so and so guitar tech are you mostly over or underwhelmed with results?

Brize

Underwhelmed before I found @FelineGuitars. Since then, overwhelmed.

prlgmnr

Generally just whelmed.

LastMantra

I've been doing my own for years and I think I've finally got it perfect! Something about having the pickups set in the sweet spot, good balance of output across the strings, action up enough that the strings ring out but low enough to be comfy, just enough fight. Just makes you want to play the crap out of it.

It's a pretty personal thing though. To me someone else doing it would/should just be a good starting point.

pintspiller

I was underwhelmed when I got my Gordon Smith back after doing it myself for 25 years previously. They had done my Peavey Rockingham about six months earlier and it was magic.

skullfunkerry

I've only ever had one guitar set up, and that's my Performance, which was put back together by @FelineGuitars after refinishing. Definitely overwhelmed; it plays fantastically well

SandsJonny

I've found it 50/50 - 2 guitars, I took to a local tech and they came back fantastic, but another 2, I gave to the same tech and they came back feeling kinda 'off'.

I think it's important to know what you want a technician to do - unless there's something particular about your guitar that's not working for you, or that you want changing specifically, a technician will just set it up to their tastes, and that can end up being further from ideal than what you already had!

Nowadays I try to do as much setup work as I can myself, and take a guitar to a technician if it needs something doing that I don't have the tools/ability for, like a fret-level.

richardhomer

Unless it’s stuff which needs specialist tools (like nut height and fret levelling) its entirely beyond me why anyone pays a third party to set up their guitars.

Only the player knows how heavy their right hand is, how much pressure they use to fret a note and how far they bend each string. All of these factors play a part in determining the ‘ideal’ set up.

Adjusting relief, saddle height, intonation and pick-up height is not ‘that’ difficult. Learning to do it is something I think of as being part of being a player.

robgilmo

It's like smoking rollies but getting someone else to roll them for you, then thinking they have been rolled too thick.

Sassafras

I do all my own set ups and I'm always underwhelmed by them.

FelineGuitars

Not surprisingly I do all of my own set-ups too !

One of the things that we have found is that a small amount of fret levelling /tweaking enables a much better set-up, sometimes it's just adding a bit of "fallaway" into the upper frets  that allows you to get the action you need

LastMantra

I think a good thing about having a number 1 keeper guitar is that you can tweak over time and refine it. imo that's how you really get a guitar that fits like a glove....and sounds great!

If you find one like that in a shop you've been pretty darn lucky!


A good shop set up should be playable but clean and no loose screws or bad connections or crackly pots. So totally serviceable and decent. 

Kebabkid

Mainly satisfied and sometimes overwhelmed.

I've used, and still use, The Boss (Charlie Chandler) and have done since the 80s. For the last few years for some quick turnover or in-store fixes, it's been Alex at Guitar Guitar, Epsom and he's fantastic and local, too.

My best set up ever was by Neil McDonald who was once linked to Nightingale Guitars (basses) with Bernie Goodfellow. He stopped for a while as he was a working musician but I believe he's back doing them again and he's fairly local and a great guy. Me thinks a call beckons.

 

Teacherphil

The last set up I had, I played it in front of him. He was a bit surprised how hard I hit the strings and he took it back to raise the action a bit. Perfect after that.

Blueingreen

Tweak mine myself, although I wouldn't attempt anything much beyond minor adjustments to the relief, string height etc.  Generally been underwhelmed by 3rd party set ups, not the first time I've been charged for a set-up that returned the guitar to me less playable than when it went in.  There's one exception, a tech who really knows what i like and how to set up a guitar but it's just not practicable to go to him every time a guitar needs tweaked.

Lestratcaster

I used the legendary Stuart Monks for several years and his setups were spot on, the action was bang on, the right height for me. Not too high not too low. Unfortunately I lost contact with him and haven't spoken to him for over 8 years. 

I've been using Feline since and the fretwork they do is amazing, I had a fret dress done on a 20 odd year old Strat and it plays so nice, several frets around the 12th-14th area gave me choked notes due to wear and tear but now they slide so good!

Apart from one set up at Andertons the above 2 are the only places that have ever set up any of my guitars. 

artiebear

Apart from touring, where even then I tended to fiddle around with various guitar bits out of sheer boredom, I can't remember ever getting a set up done on any guitar (acoustic or electric). I've always been a believer in learning how to do everything it takes to maintain a guitar and to set it up exactly how I want it. The only thing I hand over a guitar for is fretwork. Truss rod, action, intonation pick up height etc are pretty simple. One of the best things I did was buy a full set of good nut files many years ago which makes sorting, replacing or making a nut a lot easier. Probably the toughest job is balancing an under saddle pick up for acoustic finger style playing after making or adjusting the saddle, especially if it's the split variety.
I actually enjoy the post NGD experience of working through everything to get a great playing guitar. Most of it isn't really that technically difficult once you understand the relationship between each part of the process.

DavusPG

Brize said:

Underwhelmed before I found @FelineGuitars. Since then, overwhelmed.

Exactly this 

skunkwerx

I've tried and cant do it no matter how many guides I try and follow. 

Intonation? No matter how far I move saddles, it just doesnt ever get right.. 

I can get one aspect ok, but another will throw it off. 

Basically I end up fucking it up that I need to take it to someone anyway. So I cut my losses. 

With that in mind, any decent set up by a third party will be better than I can do. 

I get them back and lo and behold the action is nice and the intonation is correct.. that means I can play it more and fuck with it less. 

+ feline does some fret wizardry as they mentioned, and will no doubt pick up on any aspects that are wrong and need sorting if they do, that I may not realise would have been causing an issue. 

guitars4you

In many ways the difference of before and after will depend on the state of the guitar before 

I had an Epi LP the other day on the bench that was close to unplayable - Purchased mail order from a shop and sold to a relative beginner - The starting point was so bad, the any change was an improvement - But in the end he was happy with the result, which was a guitar that was far more slick 'n' comfortable to play

Perfection probably doesn't exist on a set-up as we all have different taste about the final outcome - So you need to find out what the owner/customer expects - A Steve Vai slick speed machine, with 9-42 gauge strings, or an SRV high action with 12's

Most new guitars can be improved with time on the bench - Some more so than others - Only models like a Suhr, Tom Anderson, PRS USA core series tend to be about as good as it gets when taken straight from the case - Any change to such guitars tend to be a matter of taste

axisus

I paid for many over the years and most were poor. Very happy with Feline, as has already been mentioned, but it's too far for me - I have to take a half day leave from work. 

I do my own set ups these days, not brilliant to be honest but free and good enough for my purposes!