SETUP

[James Freeman]

I've been reminded how delicate the balance between the trussrod, nut, bridge and intonation is and how nice it is to play on a well set up guitar.
All my guitars are set the same according my personal preference, if even one thing is out of balance the guitar doesn't feel right to play.

My American Performer Strat was not very well set up out of factory with the nut too high, playability was compromised and I disliked the guitar and didn't want to play it.
Today I filed its nut to correct height from the first fret and changed the factory 9's to 10's, adjusted trussrod, action and intonation, it made huge improvement in playability and overall fret buzz throughout the neck and big difference in tone and how the guitar feels to play.

How important is a good setup to you, and can you tolerate a poorly set up guitar?

 

[itchyfingers]

While I certainly see the value in a good setup and like to keep my instruments in top playing condition, I definitely don't try to set them all up the same. I like to respond to each guitar with what it naturally offers, I think changes in feel directly affect how I approach / play the instrument. Some guitars can play like butter with low action, but some just can't. Some guitars are meant to be fought.

 

[DrewJD82]

Extremely important. I can have a good time playing a great feeling guitar through a sh*tty sounding amp, but I’ve never enjoyed playing a poorly set up guitar through a great sounding amp.

I really go for the same feeling across all my guitars, probably helps they’re almost all 25.5” S-style bodies and I’ll re-setup a guitar 10x if I have to in order to get it right because once you do, it’s like playing a brand new guitar.

I want the tension to feel like a warm knife through butter, not a hot knife, just a luke warm one. Too little tension and I’ll overbend the strings, too much tension and it just sucks to play. I just tried correcting this on my sunburst Strat last night by putting 11’s on it as I didn’t want to touch the truss rod since the action was *perfect* up and down the neck, totally forgetting that thicker strings without extending the scale length = less clarity/snap/attack.

All the tonal life in that guitar ceased to exist with 11’s, so this is one of the few times I’ll make a concession for tone and put 10’s back on it. It’s not a huge deal, I just need to watch it when I start layin’ into the strings.

Ideally, I want to be able to easily pull off Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics at the 2nd/3rd fret and have just as wide of a vibrato there as I do the 12th-15th fret area.

 

[Stone]

Has to be exactly how Like it no Buzz, action not too low either, none of any guitars i bought came without something needed , the only one that was near perfect is my Godin Summit only required a small Intonation
the most import thing of all to address is the Nut, which my tech did on my Charvel and on my LTD all 3 are just the way i like em
so those are my signature guitars :)

 

[TSJMajesty]

How important is a good setup to you, and can you tolerate a poorly set up guitar?

Hugely important, and no.

I can't play a guitar that gets in my way. It needs to be able to allow me to do whatever it is I'm trying to learn and/or perfect, so it's starts there. The rod is set so the neck has just a touch of relief, and the action as low as possible. I can get both on both my Majesties, and have the action low enough to the point where fret buzz is just starting, but not able to be heard when amplified, yet no notes fret out.

And really, they both came like that from the factory. The only reason I had to change one of them is because I added an extra trem spring, and changed the strings to a 52 E. Doing so gave me the experience to be able to bring it back to factory setup specs.

One other thing I've noticed is the rod doesn't need any seasonal adjustments. Which seems weird, but I'll take it.

 

[Sleezy E]

I setup my own guitars because, like the consensus, I HATE playing a poorly setup guitar.

I still hold a slight grudge over an old bass player of mine (still a great friend) whom I offered to setup his bass for him back in the day and he scoffed at me and thought I was insulting his gear.

I had more years playing bass than guitar at that point and his bass was barely playable... still is, poor bastard. Ego is a thing.

He still comes over to record stuff with me for fun from time to time and always uses one of my basses, while commenting on how nice they are to play, imagine that.

 

[Blix]

As I have never chased low action I'm pretty easy, but the nut has to be right, a tall nut feels terrible.And out of tune.

 

[la szum]

While I certainly see the value in a good setup and like to keep my instruments in top playing condition, I definitely don't try to set them all up the same. I like to respond to each guitar with what it naturally offers, I think changes in feel directly affect how I approach / play the instrument. Some guitars can play like butter with low action, but some just can't. Some guitars are meant to be fought.

Yup. Especially if there are differences in fretboard radius and fret height, or lack of fret height.

 

[la szum]

I setup my own guitars because, like the consensus, I HATE playing a poorly setup guitar.

I still hold a slight grudge over an old bass player of mine (still a great friend) whom I offered to setup his bass for him back in the day and he scoffed at me and thought I was insulting his gear.

I had more years playing bass than guitar at that point and his bass was barely playable... still is, poor bastard. Ego is a thing.

He still comes over to record stuff with me for fun from time to time and always uses one of my basses, while commenting on how nice they are to play, imagine that.

I think I have been jamming with that guy for a few years now.

 

[la szum]

As I have never chased low action I'm pretty easy, but the nut has to be right, a tall nut feels terrible.And out of tune.

Yup. I sent back an $2K Ibanez Prestige a few months ago because of that. I am NOT
fixing that fatal flaw when it should have never left the factory with a nut like that.
Especially at that price and Ibanez's most premium line of guitars.

Store gets it back and then lists it without addressing the issue. Blech!

 

[vino_buono]

Pretty important. I hate buzzing strings, and I like my action not too low. I am learning to set up my guitars on my own.

 

[TubeStack]

It's definitely important, but I don't find my guitars need a lot of adjustment after one good pro setup. I maybe tweak the truss rod when the seasons change here in Canada, that's about it. Especially my R9, I haven't adjusted anything other than intonation on that guitar in years.

 

[Mooselake]

It's not something I obsess over. I like a little higher action than most feel is "good". It's important to be in my range but once it's set up well I I can keep it where I like it just with little 1/8th-turn adjustments of the truss rod. My main two guitars have thermally treated necks and I almost never have to do anything with them.

 

[DrewJD82]

I don't mind buzzing unless I can hear it come through on the clean channel, then it'll drive me nuts. There's a thin line where you can hear it acoustically but it's not effecting anything through an amp and "This sucks"

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I can tolerate a poor setup if all I want to do is strum some chords and sing, any weedly-deedlies past the 5th fret won't really happen tho.

I can do basic setup until the issue is the nut or the frets. I did some fret leveling on my son's SX and it can out okay.

You guys who use the phrase "I brought it to my tech" make me think about shopping around for one but I don't know who to trust for stuff like a refret

 

[Eagle]

The most important part. The setup I want dictates the fret level the radius, everything. If I can't get the set up I want the guitar has to be modified or if goes.

 

[Jarick]

I really want to learn how to set up my guitars including nuts and frets. I’ve had some that play well from the factory and a lot more that are trouble. And the local shops I’ve tried are not impressive. The setup is so critical to sustain and tone beyond just playability for me.

 

[Eagle]

I really want to learn how to set up my guitars including nuts and frets. I’ve had some that play well from the factory and a lot more that are trouble. And the local shops I’ve tried are not impressive. The setup is so critical to sustain and tone beyond just playability for me.

No better place to start.

 

[Fireproof]

Yep - a good setup is essential. I used to think super low action was the goal. But after experimenting with different settings, with my playing style, I found that for me, I don’t want super low - I want zero buzz, and low enough for easy playing, but not too low that makes it hard to get “purchase” with my finger tips for bends, etc…. Then after a couple of my Les Pauls being setup and just feeling perfect - I finally took measurements and now know what the right setup for me is.

 

[TubeStack]

I don't mind buzzing unless I can hear it come through on the clean channel, then it'll drive me nuts. There's a thin line where you can hear it acoustically but it's not effecting anything through an amp and "This sucks"

Also, in my experience, I'll take a straight-as-possible neck vs having a bit of fret buzz. I find if I get the neck as straight as I can (with a little bit of relief for string movement, of course), everything rings much clearer and feels more alive, but this does result in a tiny bit of buzz in the 2-4 fret area, mostly on the wound strings, which doesn't bother me.