-
Acoustic Guitar Setup
I’ve played at guitar for several decades… always self-taught by getting some books back in the day or using the Internet more recently. I really like the approach here and enjoy the progress I’m making into areas I thought I’d never learn.
I just wanted to leave a note here about acoustic guitar setup. I recently purchased a new guitar and picked up playing after a longer than usual hiatus (about a year). I was really struggling with things that I thought I’d mastered like changing the open chords and making them sound decent. Having had a little experience with other guitars I’d had in the past, I decided to have the guitar professionally setup.
I’m sure many of you know but what setup consists of is adjusting the neck (to create a more true fretboard along the length), filing the nut (the bridge at the top of the neck of the guitar) and correctly shaping the bridge on the body of the guitar. The point of this is to lower the action on the strings so that you don’t have to press as hard to make contact with the frets while avoiding buzzing caused by the strings being too close to the fretboard. It’s a balancing act. This makes fingering on the fretboard way easier IF your guitar was set with the action very high which is very typical with new guitars.
Anyway, I took my guitar to a local shop where the technician )for those of you in the Phoenix area, Jeff at Mike Nye Instrument Repair) did a fantastic job of improving the action while ensuring there was no buzzing. Now the guitar plays wonderfully and I am able to play for longer without feeling as fatigued in my hand. My chords and notes sound much, much better. I feel it was a VERY worthwhile investment.
-
2 Replies
-
This is great info. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, a lot of beginners probably don’t realize how much a proper setup could benefit a player that might be having issues pushing the strings down (if the action is high).
I always figured a new guitar would just be “set up” perfectly, but that isn’t always the case.
-
Like you I have played through many years of frustration. I seem to have all of thepartsthat iI need but couldn’t seem to put much together for more than strumming.
Many years ago I bought the Dan Earlewne Guitar Repairs Guide and slowly have accumulated every tool needed to do pretty much everything from building acoustic and electric guitars, 10 of each, and have learned to make repairs , refret jobs, tune ups upgrading tuners , refinishing, well just about everything regarding guitars. I have rebuilt and done setups for years. a good set up is easy to learn how to do and just takes a little practice.
As long your guitar has a truss rod and the neck isn’t crooked but just bowed not enough or too much you can fix that or leveling frets, making new bridge saddles and nuts you can do this your self for the same cost in guitar repair tools that you would spend on a set up.
I enjoy doing this and am always adjusting something on one of my instruments.
Log in to reply.