Guitarist setup

These are the essentials included in every guitar setup. Depending on the actual guitar and its current condition, there may be additional activities that are a bit more involved, such as fret dressing, filing the nut, adjusting the tremolo, or cleaning the frets.

Regardless of whether you have an acoustic or electric guitar, it will have a metal rod running through the neck into the body called the truss rod. This allows you to adjust the amount of relief in the neck since guitar necks naturally warp over time with changes in the environment.

Having either too much or too little relief in the neck can either result in extremely high action, or fret buzz. The goal is to keep the guitar neck almost completely straight with just a little bit of relief. If your guitar has a floating tremolo, then it will require some additional setup to ensure proper tuning stability. This will allow you to use your tremolo arm for crazy dive bombs and whammy bar tricks without your guitar going out of tune.

String action is the distance between the strings and the fretboard. Lower action means there is less distance between the frets and the strings, meaning it will not require as much force to play a note. High action ensures that there is no fret buzz and allows for the strings to vibrate and ring out for longer. However, the tradeoff is that it can be difficult to play since it requires you to press down on the fretboard with more force.

Generally, most people prefer to play with low action. When you take your guitar in for a professional setup, they will typically adjust the string action one of two ways. They will either adjust the action by tightening the truss rod to straighten out the neck, or adjusting the screws or saddles on your bridge. One of the most important aspects of a guitar setup is adjusting the intonation. For example, say you tune your guitar as you normally would.

You would tune each string one by one strumming the string open without fretting anything. Then when all of the strings are in tune and start playing, as you move down the neck, you notice that the guitar sounds out of tune, even though the open strings are still in tune. This is due to the guitar not being intonated properly, and it will completely ruin your sound no matter often you tune your guitar, or how well you play. Since the 12th fret is the halfway point between the bridge and the nut, if the open string and 12th fret are both in tune, then the rest of the notes on the guitar will also be in tune.

Intonation can be tricky to set up properly but is absolutely essential. Guitars are made of wood, which comes from trees. Scientifically, trees have to stay hydrated for survival.

After the trees are cut to make wood that is then used to make the guitar, the wood requires hydration for the well being of your guitar. If not done, your guitar can easily crack among other forms of irreversible damage. This can be attributed to the lack of moisture. When you take your guitar in for a setup, your luthier will typically use a special fretboard conditioner and polish to keep your guitar hydrated.

Check string gauge and tune up. Most acoustic guitars are factory-fitted with light gauge or strings, although some of the high-end manufacturers, notably Taylor and Collings, now fit medium gauge strings as standard. Using a set of micrometers, our repairer measures the string gauge, and makes a note of it on our set-up tag. If you are planning on having your guitar set up then deciding on your preferred gauge and even your most used tuning can have a bearing on how the guitar is set up. Equally different strings work for different things, we are always happy to advise on this.

Loosening the truss rod increases the curvature of the neck, tightening it makes the neck straighter. When set correctly, the neck should have a very slight concave curve to it, which our repairer measures by resting a long, metal straight-edge along the fretboard.

If the grooves are left too shallow, the strings will be too high above the first fret, making it very difficult to play certain chords such as a barred F. If the grooves are cut too deep, the open strings will catch on the first fret when they vibrate and sound like a sitar!

On rare occasions when guitars come in with the grooves cut too deep, our repairer will make a completely new nut from a blank block of bone — most of the time, though, guitars are shipped from the factory with the grooves cut too shallow, and our repairer uses a special set of narrow metal files to cut them to the correct depth.

A standard acoustic guitar saddle is also curved when viewed end-on, creating a smooth surface for the string to run across. Nowadays, nearly all guitar manufacturers use moulded plastic saddles, with the correct profile.

Occasionally though, a second hand guitar will need the saddle replacing or re-shaping, particularly if there are grooves where the strings have cut into it.

This is the final adjustment to set the gap between strings and frets along the length of the neck. There are two types of truss rods: single action that counters the pull of the strings, and double-action that will counter the strings and also push the neck in the direction of the string tension. A neck with a back bow a bow in the opposite direction to the pull of the strings will result in an unplayable guitar.

Without a dual-action truss rod, the only fix for this is a more serious repair that can include major fretwork and sometimes heats straightening. Over adjustment of either rod will result in a back bow, and loosening the rod should take care of that in a properly functioning guitar.

It may not be easy to tell if you lack experience, but the majority of rods are single action. If you have an American made Gibson, Martin, or Fender, or most any vintage guitar, you almost certainly have a single action rod.

You can check with the manufacturer for the details of your specific guitar, but if your adjustment nut is not removable, you have a two-way rod. If you loosen the nut and you are able to see that you are exposing thread on the rod you are working with a single action. Sometimes you can clearly see what the nut looks like and what tool you will need, but some are not so easy. Checking with the manufacturer or searching the internet should tell you if you are unsure.

The most important thing to consider is that the wrench fits the adjustment nut with no slop. Even if you have the correct tool, the nut may be worn or stripped and you could cause further damage trying to adjust it.

If the nut turns but seems sticky, it may need to be cleaned and oiled. When you tighten your truss rod nut clockwise it will straighten your neck or force it into a back bow, and when you loosen it counterclockwise the neck will relieve with the pull of the strings into a forward bow. Most necks do not end up completely straight, and the amount of bow you decide to leave in your neck is referred to as relief.

You will find many opinions about the amount of relief you may or may not need in a neck, but ultimately it is a matter of preference, technique, and the individual personality of the guitar. I believe the best playing and sounding guitars have the straightest necks. However, there are valid reasons for wanting some curve to your neck.

Some relief will provide a little extra clearance above the fret in this area. To achieve the optimal set-up, I believe it is always best to start with a neck that is as straight as possible and add relief as needed. A neck with too much relief can suck the tone out of a guitar, and when the neck is straight the action stays more uniform as you move up the frets. Tune the guitar to pitch. There is no reason to detune if the neck is good and you have a properly functioning truss rod.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to always check the straightness of your neck in the playing position. Now check the amount of relief you have. Place a capo at the first fret or hold the string down with your finger, and fret again around the body joint where the neck starts to thicken, this is usually around the 12th to14th fret. Then note the gap between the string and the top of the fret in the middle of these two points. Moving the string up and down over this fret will make it a little clearer, and this is easier if you are using a capo at the first fret instead of tying up both hands.

You will need to check both E strings as the amount of curve can vary from one side of the neck to the other. The best way to judge relief is with a straight edge, and a straight edge will make it easier for you to determine if you have a back bow.

You can find inexpensive edges on Amazon but I find the ones available from Stewmac to be of excellent quality and worth the money. When using a straight edge I also check between the D and G strings to get an average between the two extremes. If the first fret is high or low it can throw off the reading and this is will verify what you saw. The reading at the first fret and second should look about the same.

If the gap is smaller, your first fret may be high. TIP: As stated earlier, do all this checking in the playing position, and placing a light below you will help to illuminate the gap for clearer reading.

Even if the neck already has relief, it is a good idea to loosen the rod a little first to see how tight the nut is and to verify it is working properly. I also prefer to straighten a bowed neck rather than bow an overly straight one. If this happens, bow the neck and then bring it back to straight. Keep in mind you may not be able to get the neck straight, or perfectly straight, everywhere.

In this case, just go with as close as you can get with no back bow anywhere. Remember…we are getting the neck as straight as possible in this step, we may add some relief later on.

This will be an interim step and we will come back to actually adjusting the nut slots later. For now, we are essentially going to eliminate the nut and set it to zero. You will need a capo, and for repair purposes, I prefer the Kyser click here to check price on Amazon. With an electric, you will be able to make your adjustments simply with a wrench, but when dealing with an acoustic saddle you will need to add or remove material.

TIP: Doing this step properly requires some tools. These are included individually or in the StewMac setup kit, and also easily available on Amazon. I will break this step into two sections to make it easier to follow and better illustrate what tools you will need. There are many different types of bridges all with different saddle adjustments.

You will need to determine what yours is, and if you have a Gibson style Tune-o-Matic bridge you will need a set of nut files to match each string.

A tremolo will also make this step trickier because you might need to deal with balancing the bridge by adjusting the tremolo claw that anchors the springs to the guitar. It is important to understand that as you tune the guitar the amount of tension on the bridge changes and will cause it to move, and conversely, as you adjust the tremolo your tuning will change. When tuning a guitar with a tremolo, I always tune back and forth to bring up the tension on the tremolo evenly: E to E, A to B, D to G.

Because the tremolo is rising as you tune-up in pitch, you will likely find you are flat when you are done. So you will have to repeat that process until you are in tune and the bridge finds its balance.

You will need to adjust the screws of the claw in to pull the bridge back or let them out to allow the bridge to rise. Do not move the claw the full amount all in one adjustment. Remember that as you change the position of the claw you are also changing the tuning of the guitar and will need to re-tune, which in turn will change where your bridge sits. TIP: You are trying to achieve equilibrium. So make small adjustments to the claw, re-tune and check again until you find the point that the trem levels when you are in tune.

Check the radius of your fretboard. This applies to both electric and acoustic. You need to know what the fretboard radius is so that you can set the underside of your strings with the saddles to match. Now set the height of the two E strings, and just like the truss rod adjustment, check these measurements in the playing position. These measurements are approximate and we will likely go back and readjust them later based on how the guitar feels.

Once the E strings are set, use the under-string radius gauge to set the saddles to the fretboard measurement you took.

It is easiest to raise the 4 middle strings up high until the gauge is only touching the E strings and then lower them down to the gauge. If you have a tune-o-matic bridge you will need to use nut files for this, and if the middle strings sit below the radius you will need to use the thumbwheels to raise the E strings up higher and then lower them to the 3 and 2 measurements with the files in order to set the radius of the middle strings.

Angle the file with the approach of the string from the tailpiece, and use a file of the same gauge as each string.