Guitar set ups

leerocker

Lestratcaster said:

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. 

I lost touch with stu too after i moved away but he is actually still going, I bumped into an old friend  in december and he told me he is still working and i got in touch with him , he has a couple of mine at the mo

if it's just a basic setup action relief etc i can do it anything else it will go to stuart he just knows his onions

munckee

I have set up my guitars myself with YouTube guides and online instructions to a playable standard. 

I took my 79 Strat to the guitar centre in Southsea after numerous recommendations for a set up and to have the tremolo floating and it’s now absolutely spot on. I may have got there myself, but cost me thirty quid and felt like a treat!

bassbora

I am a firm believer in doing it yourself. The number of times I read on the Internet people buying a new guitar or bass and soon after its back up for sale. I always quite often wonder if people just needed to spend a little time with the instrument and they might have been happy. 

I am quite happy to do most things myself, truss rods, intonation, action, pickup highlight, Floyds etc but need to learn how to do the fret part. 

I have often found its better to let it settle after you tweak things and see how it works and then adjust further later than trying to do too many things at once. 

Lestratcaster

leerocker said:

Lestratcaster said:

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. 

I lost touch with stu too after i moved away but he is actually still going, I bumped into an old friend  in december and he told me he is still working and i got in touch with him , he has a couple of mine at the mo

if it's just a basic setup action relief etc i can do it anything else it will go to stuart he just knows his onions

Oh he's still around? Any idea where he is now? Would be nice to say hello to him as he did do my guitars for a number of years, he would do all the action by feel and not measurements, but always spot on to my liking.

leerocker

Lestratcaster said:

leerocker said:

Lestratcaster said:

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. 

I lost touch with stu too after i moved away but he is actually still going, I bumped into an old friend  in december and he told me he is still working and i got in touch with him , he has a couple of mine at the mo

if it's just a basic setup action relief etc i can do it anything else it will go to stuart he just knows his onions

Oh he's still around? Any idea where he is now? Would be nice to say hello to him as he did do my guitars for a number of years, he would do all the action by feel and not measurements, but always spot on to my liking.

Yep i was with him today , still in ruislip and he did a great job on my gretsch and epi sheraton 

RonnieHotdogs

the only time I've really been impressed is getting my Guild JF65 back from Graham Parker in Lewisham, he actually listened and it came back perfect. I set up my own now, if I can do it, anyone can. 

Fez

I do my own set ups. If I was going to get a set up done by someone it would be Feline. I have even done a couple of refrets. 
I am not likely to build any more bitsas but I learned a great deal from doing the 3 I built. If I had a reasonable workshop & the time I would do more but I have to balance the time with time actually playing.

FelineGuitars

We have a lot of customers who generally do their own mini set-ups time after time on their guitars, but bring the guitar in for an initial fret level and set-up so they have a great foundation to work upon, or periodically come in and have a bit of fretwork done if they are getting serious fret wear. 

It's one of the reasons we have a free no obligation health check service for guitars, and are very transparent in explaining what is going on with a customer's guitar. 

It's building long term trust and friendly repartee that lets players feel very happy to call on us if they have any kind of issue, knowing that we will be considerate and look after them fairly.

Sometimes whilst it's maybe nice or fun to do your own tech stuff, time is of a premium and you really want to be playing guitar rather than tinkering with it, and that is where having a good tech to help can be useful too.

Lestratcaster

leerocker said:

Lestratcaster said:

leerocker said:

Lestratcaster said:

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. 

I lost touch with stu too after i moved away but he is actually still going, I bumped into an old friend  in december and he told me he is still working and i got in touch with him , he has a couple of mine at the mo

if it's just a basic setup action relief etc i can do it anything else it will go to stuart he just knows his onions

Oh he's still around? Any idea where he is now? Would be nice to say hello to him as he did do my guitars for a number of years, he would do all the action by feel and not measurements, but always spot on to my liking.

Yep i was with him today , still in ruislip and he did a great job on my gretsch and epi sheraton 

Nice, good to see he's still around!

DB1

Interesting thread, this. I'll happily admit that I'm useless - the bastard lovechild of Frank Spencer and Mr Bean when it comes to doing anything practical. Normally when I do something fairly simple it renders the guitar unplayable.

Funnily enough though, I've just ordered some truss rod tools as I'm going to have a little play with a couple of cheaper guitars, and the reason for this is because I've taken guitars to a tech on a number of occasions and have been underwhelmed. One of them's often recommended on here, and while he's certainly good, I did hear that he sets them up how he likes them, rather than listens to the customer.

I did find that to be true, and so am going to have a look myself. Anything other than basic stuff though, and it's going to a pro. The action on my old ES-295 could do with lowering a little, but I can't see anywhere to go on it, so that will be going to a pro.

p90fool

I've only ever had one guitar set up, and that was by Rob Williams, because he'd just refretted it. 

It was and remains absolutely bang on, and although I always set up my own guitars to exactly how I want them it can sometimes take a few tweaks over a gig or two to get it as nice as Rob does straight away.