Professional Set-Up

In the past I have taken a guitar in to have it "professionally" set up. I indicated that I wanted the action lowered and confirmed that they did the intonation. I was generally happy with the result but thought that maybe I could have been more specific with what I wanted - if I knew what I wanted.

What can I expect from a good set-up - and is there anything I should ask about or make sure they do? I am assuming that personal taste and type of guitar are a couple of the variables involved.

Do any of you keep specific guitars set up to accommodate specific tunings?
I understand that when using drop tunings that larger gauge strings should be used - or is that personal preference also?

I'm looking to get an Explorer (Drop Tuned) and an SG Standard set up(Standard tuning)

Any comments and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I ask for low action with no buzzing...and an intonation adjustment particularily for the G and B string. I found this great link from the Bill Nash site.

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Thanks for the advice and the link - now I want to check out his guitars!

I followed some of Bill's advice and shaved my nut (no pun intended) on my Nashville Tele so that the strings fit lower and more angled towards the machine heads. After going back and forth for about an hour, I got the intonation fixed so that all of the strings were more or less in tune for the first few frets. As a side benefit, it improved the action a little bit. The truss rod adjustment also helped. The action and lead playability is still not as good as my Strat, but at least the most offensive problem was fixed. I bet if I just put regular .010-.046 gauge strings on it thing would improve dramatically, but then I'd lose a bit of that great sustain this guitar has....but for $650, it's still a great instrument. My guess is that Fender does not quality control the Mexican models as much as the American ones.

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This is an interesting topic. Despite the fact that I've owned guitars since my teens, I still don't know much about setup. As a result I really value a guitar tech that I believe I can trust. Recently I took my 66 Jag in for some work. It was rattling like he _ _ and it had some "dead spots" when I was bending strings. I thought the trem needed work and the frets needed to be dressed -- turned out I was 100% wrong.

The rattle was from the high E bridge saddle and the problems with string bends came from the last guy that set up the guitar -- he tried to make the action too low for this guitar. Because the guitar is really beat up I don't worry about it being a collector's piece, so I gave my tech permission to put a small bead of clear silicone in between the B and E saddles. He also raised the bridge -- he said a slightly higher action was a better match to the neck angle of this guitar.

He was 100% correct. The guitar is now rattle-free, I'm not bothered by the silicone, and it now plays beautifully all the way up the neck. Plus, the intonation is better. He changed my Jag from a cool old surf guitar that was not a great player, to an awesome tone machine. I could not be happier with the result.

While I agree that the ability to set up your own guitar is a good idea, I also believe there is no substitute for experience and talent.

After the adjustments I made the other day, and a day or two of letting the neck settle....the tele plays better than ever, with only some slight buzzing in the upper frets of the low E string. The intonation is spot on. The string height measurements and nut adjustment pictures from the Bill Nash site were just just what I needed, and certainly helped de-mystify some things for me. I still prefer the "lead" playability of my strat, but I'm starting to warm up to playing leads on the tele. With the heavier gauge strings on it, I can lay into it a bit more and still keep the lower register of some of the jazzier chord in tune.

It's definitely a good idea to know a decent repair guy, but knowing how it works, will probably save me some coin.

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For leads I like my action high, with nice, thick strings. Something about having to really "dig in" to the strings just seems to give me more oomph (whatever that is.) I feel like the style of my solo work just pops a bit more if I have to work a bit harder for it.

It's not nearly as nice for quick chord comping, though.

As far as set-up goes, over the years I've learned to do a lot of it myself, though I still find it exceedingly difficult to judge the bow of the neck. I just don't have an eye for it. When I first buy a guitar I always have it set-up by a pro, but after that I try to do it all myself.

At least that way you learn more about your instrument, and what your likes & dislikes are.

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egr :: guitar spoken here

I learned to setup my guitars by reading books and asking other more seasoned players what their preferences were. I learned a lot from Dan Erlwine's books and columns. The most recent thing I've done is buy a set of radius gauges and matched the saddles to the neck contour on my guitars with height adjustable saddles. It sure makes a difference. My fretting hand doesn't tire out quickly now. I do keep a Japanese made stratocaster copy set up for slide with a set of 11's and use different tunings. <open D at the moment> I used to use 12's but as I sometimes like to fret the strings too 11's felt better. For that it's best to raise the height of the saddles so you don't knock the frets as you slide. Then I raised the pickups a bit to compensate for the higher action. I say learn how to maintain your guitars yourself. It can be time consuming like getting proper intonation and making sure you have the best neck relief, but it's also rewarding.