Is it time to setup your guitar or bass?

Why does a good setup matter?

We are big believers in the importance of proper setup for guitar and bass at Professor Nigel’s. Fender agrees, completing a proper setup ensures optimal playability, tuning, and overall health of your instrument, even if it is brand new. This is why we complete a comprehensive setup for every instrument we sell to ensure worry-free and enjoyable playing upon arrival.

On the surface, paying for a professional luthier to set up your instrument may not sound terribly exciting, but is critical to extracting the most performance and enjoyment from your instrument. So how do you know if your guitar or bass needs setup adjustments?

Change is Constant

Being constructed mostly from wood, guitars naturally change and wear over time. Even slight changes in humidity, temperature, or tension can affect their performance. We always recommend taking your guitar to a trained, professional luthier for best results, but take the time to inform yourself to better communicate with your guitar tech about what’s wrong or could be better for your playing style.

Some telltale signs that your guitar is due for a basic setup include:

• Minor Fret Buzzing: If you hear a buzzing sound when you press down on certain frets, it’s a sign the action might need adjusting or frets may need to be leveled or reseated.
• Poor intonation: If your guitar sounds out of tune even after careful tuning, especially when playing higher up the neck, it’s likely a sign that the intonation needs adjustment.
• High, low or uneven string action: When the strings are too high, low or not set correctly for all strings, playing can become unnecessarily difficult and uncomfortable.
• Change in string gauge: If you’ve restrung your guitar to heavier or lighter gauge strings, it’s likely your guitar would benefit from adjustment.
• Excessive neck bow: If you notice your neck appears to be bowing excessively toward or away from the strings, it’s probably time for truss rod adjustment. This will likely be in conjunction with high action and/or fret buzzing as described above.
• Doesn’t feel right for you: We all have preferences. Your guitar or bass may have been set up well from the factory or at last adjustment, but that may not feel right for you. This is primarily related to action, or string height, which you might need set lower or higher depending on your playing style or preferences.

A proper setup not only addresses these issues but should also optimize your guitar for your playing style and personal preferences.

Issues a Basic Setup Won’t Resolve

A basic setup goes a long way toward a great playing guitar, but it won’t resolve every issue you may encounter over the course of guitar ownership. Below are a few examples of more significant issues that are out of scope for a basic setup and may require additional work from a professional luthier.

• Major buzzing or dead notes: If there is loud buzzing or certain notes don’t ring out clearly, this could be a sign of significant and/or uneven fret wear, or that one or more frets need to be reseated.
• Out of tune close to the nut: If your guitar sounds out of tune on the first few frets even after careful tuning, this could be a sign that the nut has not been filed correctly for the gauge of string in use, or that there is excessive wear from age and use.
• Truss rod won’t move: It’s possible for a truss rod to be stuck or without remaining adjustment range. This will prevent the neck from being adjusted for proper relief. If you’ve tried to make small adjustments to the truss rod and it won’t move, take your instrument to a professional luthier for diagnosis.
• Electronics issues: If your guitar has ground hum noise, non-functional pickups or other features, or other electronics related issues, a basic setup will not address these items.
• Broken things: A basic setup won’t address repair of anything else that may be broken or non-functional on your instrument.

While these and other issues may be out of scope for a basic setup they can be addressed in addition to setup work. Talk to your luthier or tech about the issues, ask for a diagnosis and quote, and you can have these issues addressed in addition to the setup work.

Need to find a luthier? Check out the worldwide directory on 4 All Music.