Guitar Setup?

[JoeT]

The term “setup” refers to adjusting the height of the strings off of the top of the frets and the amount of bow (straightness) of the neck. To increase or decrese the straightness of the neck you turn the truss rod, to lower or raise the strings you you would lower or raise the height of the saddle. There is no set height, straightness or dimension, it is player specific, meaning what is comfortable to you. If you use your search engine on the internet you will get a more detailed explanation and the do and don’ts on how to go about it, or have a qualified luthier do it for you. Hope this helps.

[Philb]

Greetings! What JoeT said is right. When you feel the need for a set up
on your guitar; you could find someone in your area, see what they
charge, and let them know what you want. They can answer questions also
to help you figure out what you may like. Usually they would put new
strings on with the set up also.

[Kitman]

Hey @escarpato Joe and Phil have answered your questions well. I wanted to share my recent experience in having a guitar set up. It is a Taylor 410CE I have owned and played since 1997. I had played it the way it was set up when I purchased the guitar since that time. Recently I noticed one of the second fret had some “overhang” (sticking out beyond the neck) and was cutting my thumb (I tend to wrap my thumb around the top of the neck). I located a luthier in my area that had great reviews and took my guitar in and pointed out the problem and asked them to please do a set up and if possible to lower the action on the strings (decrease the space between the strings and the fretboard). I picked it up last week and was amazed at the difference the set up made. The guitar sounds much better and with the lower action doesn’t require as much fretting pressure – which results in easier barre chords. The cost of the set up plus new strings was $140 (I live in North Central Ohio). It is worth every penny IMO.

As Joe and Phil have pointed out, finding a luthier you can trust and with who you can develop a clear understanding of the desired outcome is the key to a successful guitar set up job.

[HowardM]

Completely agree with all of the information presented. I have three guitars and recently had setup after three years. The difference was amazing. I will schedule this more often.

[Cadgirl]

Thanks @escarpato for the post. I never really thought about taking my guitars in for any type of work. I had the same issue as @Kitman , with a fret that had a bit of an overhang. I just worked around it. I didn’t know that could be fixed. Again, good question.