What is setting up a guitar

HOW TO DO IT On most electric guitars and some acoustics, the strings simply slip through the bridge or tailpiece and are held in place with string tension on the ball end of the string. Nylon-string guitars require that the string be brought through the bridge, back around, and then woven in an under-and-over knot, as shown in PHOTO 8. Now bring the string up to pitch. Finally, clip your strings with a wire cutter, or coil them neatly.

Once your guitar is tuned close to pitch, give each string a gentle tug along its entire length, including the section between the tuners and the nuts and between the bridge saddle and tailpiece. Give each string a series of whole- and half-step bends along its entire length as well.

Steel-string acoustics and electrics will settle to within 20 cents of their correct pitch using this method, and nylon-string guitars will require only one or two more tunings over a two-hour period before settling into pitch.

When tuners are under tension, they can feel firm. Most tuners have a nut on the face of the headstock and a small screw on the back. Gently tighten these screws with the appropriate size screwdriver. Also, look for a small screw on the crown of the tuning button not every tuner will have one.

Tighten or loosen it to adjust the tension of the tuner. If your guitar has open-gear turners—that is, if you can see the gears—add a drop of light oil to each mechanism. These small, fine-threaded parts damage easily under excessive wrist or arm pressure torque. If your fret wire exhibits major gunk, read ahead to step 8 for tips on removing it.

Rub across each fret and watch the dullness disappear. Wipe up any excess with a paper towel or rag. Use a guitar pick or a sharpened Popsicle stick to dislodge the grime that cakes against the frets and directly beneath each string. Then apply a light coat of lemon oil and wipe away any excess with a paper towel. If your acoustic guitar has an unfinished wood bridge, as most do, apply a little oil there from time to time too.

Just as string tension can hide loose tuning gears, it can hide loose joints and cracks. Bolt-neck electrics occasionally suffer from lose neck-joint screws, and braces within an acoustic guitar sometimes break or come unglued. If it wiggles, tighten the bolts at the neck-body joint. Check problem areas such as the neck joint and the section of the headstock behind the nut. Acoustic guitars are best inspected with an automotive or dental inspection mirror and a small flashlight.

If you find something suspicious, get thee to a luthier. Bring the pickups closer to the strings if you have a very soft touch or if you want to compress your signal a bit with a slightly fuller, more midrangey tone. Adjusting the height of each pickup also helps to balance the output between them.

Angling the pickups—most often, sloping them down toward the low E string—may help to even out the response across the strings. Then, adjust for pickup-to-pickup balance by fretting the 1st and 6th strings, individually, at the highest fret. There is about the same distance from the bridge to the bridge pickup as there is from the highest fret to the neck pickup.

Play each string as you switch between pickups. The sounds of the pickups should be nearly identical. Alternatively, if you want some decent equipment that is well priced, I have provided some recommendations below. Guitar Maintenance Kit. This extensive starter kit is ideal for the guitarist just getting started with guitar maintenance. Guitar Screwdriver Set. This is mainly for an electric guitar and is an excellent kit from StewMac. Most guitars have a multitude of fixings in different sizes and this set is ideal.

If you have an acoustic then you will likely have a screwdriver at home that will do all you need or you could purchase one from a hardware shop. Self Adhesive Sandpaper. Nut File. The one in this link is for medium gauge for an Electric guitar but you can get light and heavy gauge files also. On top of these tools, you may need a socket wrench if the hex key wrenches in the set above do not fit your truss rod. You can find a good selection here on Amazon once you know what size you will need.

However, in this circumstance, you are best off with a spring action clamp Capo as they are quicker and easier to apply and take off.

One like this Kyser click here to check price on Amazon would be ideal. You can download a free chromatic tuner app and this will work fine for this exercise. Like this one for iOS or t his one from google play. These tools will make it easier to do your guitar setup but they are not essential to perform the task.

After doing a few setups though you may feel differently, I know I did. Notched Radius Gauge. You can use the under string radius gauge instead of these but you will need to move the strings out of the way. Guitar Neck Support. Keeping the neck supported can be a pain and an unnecessary distraction when making adjustments to a guitar and when changing strings. Guitar Work Mat. This step by step guide will cover the basics of setting up your guitar.

It will assume that the essential geometry is correct and that there are no major fret issues or structural problems. If you have a new guitar or one that is otherwise in good shape, this guide will be perfect for you.

Fundamentally these methods apply to both acoustics and electrics, but I will point out differences in approach as they arise. The saddle is separate from the bridge. Always start with the neck , or more specifically, the truss rod. A truss rod is a mechanism that counters the pull of the strings. When a guitar is tuned to pitch it exerts pulling force at the headstock and bridge, and downward force at the nut and saddle.

This will cause your neck to bow. There are some things you need to understand in order to adjust your truss rod successfully. With a grasp of how your specific rod works, the proper adjustment tool, and some practical caution, adjusting a neck is a simple operation. 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. For more information on setting up your Fender visit our detailed instructions for setting up a Stratocaster , Telecaster or Jazz or Precisison Bass.

Skip to main content. By Mike Duffy. But what exactly is a setup?