Proper guitar setup importance

[Radd]

Over the many years of playing guitar I've never bothered to get any of my guitars properly setup by a professional. This has changed as of today.

I can understand it for having the perfect pitch/tuning/intonation reason especially if you are a professional and using that guitar in a professional recording environment but that never was my case plus I was always too poor to get it done for as often as I would experiment with different tunings and different string gauges with was pretty often. I would just adjust the bridge height for the best action. Yes there were often times when no matter how perfect I could get it tuned that it would still sound off and was very frustrated but for the most part I felt like I was able to work around it and not be bothered by it or even notice it hardly.

I'd like to hear from people here with their experiences and opinions on this, professional, semi-pro and non pro - everyone. How often do you guys get your guitar setup?

Also I'm sure that Andy, James or someone of their stature will have Joe Schmoe guitarist get their guitar properly setup before recording if needed. Maybe they rarely have to deal with that as I'm assuming that most musicians that go into their studio are already professional and prepared.
I don't know. I'm curious though.

 

[ScottCash]

Well, I played professionally for a couple of years in a past life and have recorded for the last 6 years but I have never had my guitar professionally anything'd. I beat the living shit out of it. I've replaced the pickup switch in it 3 times, added springs, removed them, tightened the truss rod, loosened it, it's got bangs scratches dents. Shit my wife even got in on it the first week I owned it she dropped a dresser drawer right on it. It buzzes from the nut to the 2nd fret on the top 3 strings. I guess I'm like Willie Nelson in the sense that the more fucked up it is, the more I like it.

 

[Arjen W.]

I'm thinking about getting the neck of my acoustic tweaked by a pro, but I'm not really sure how much this would cost. The intonation on the guitar is slightly fucked up and pretty soon I will layer heavier strings on it, and downtune it at the same time.

So anyone know how much an 'intonation-job' costs?

 

[Radd]

ScottCash - LMAO!!! Interesting. So you've recorded pro w/your guitar like that. It must sound fine none the less. What band are you in? If you'd rather not say could you share at least what label you're on or have been on?

 

[Skyweaver]

The first thing I do when I buy a new fiddle is drop it off to get the setup right, once its done you know that your getting the very best sound out of your instrument.

why not learn it myself ? cause I dont have the equipment and I dont do it everyday, day in day out - learning constantly like the guys in the shop do - its their job, their profession.

it does take time to find the right people to do and there are a lot of backyard guys that are crap, but once you find someone with a lot of experience, it is definately worth it.

a full set up + resetting rose floyd around $200 AUD, and worth every cent..

 

[JeffTD]

Intonation on an acoustic should only be done by a trained and experienced professional, as it requires filing down the bridge, or replacing the saddles and filing a-new. That said, it often isn't too much of an issue - I've only heard of older acoustics needing to be intonated.

For electrics, proper intonation and action are integral to the tone - higher action will often sound better than low action, keep things cleaner, etc. The intonation is a no-brainer, you know? In my experience, most people who have been in gigging/recording bands for any decent amount of time know how to do this, but there are exceptions. I personally can't play my best on an instrument that isn't set up well, and I bet most other guitarist on here would agree.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

I need to get mine done at the moment - the intonation is a mess and I just get pissed off when I try to sort it. I know what I'm doing, I'm just not very good at it . But I'm also just about to completely rewire the thing because the volume pot is bust and I figure I might as well do the lot. Unfortunately it means I can't afford to get it set up professionally right now...

Steve

 

[JBroll]

ProjectGuitar.com

Jeff

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I insist my clients have thier instruments properly set up before we even plug in a mic. There's no point in recording an instrument if it's badly intonated. For larger projects, I'll even bring in a guitar tech. Smaller ones, if the guy just doesn't understand the importance, I'll usually wind up doing it at full studio rate.

Then again, I also got the nickname "the tuning nazi" from a client.


-0z-

 

[006]

Im right there with Oz. I insist on clients getting properly setup before they ever come in. This is another reason why I would book people later rather than sooner, to allow time for them to get this done...as I know not everyone has $70 laying around to have their guitar properly setup by a pro. I would also (while on the subject), for the bass to have new strings, drums to have new heads, at least polish the cymbals to get some gunk off of them, and if possible for the vocalist to speak as little as possible for the day or two before they come into the studio. When you have two guitarists in a band...intonation is even more important. It's really not that hard to learn how to do it yourself. Floyd's are a bit of a pain in the ass though, but TOM's and other hard-tail bridges are easy as shit.

And as DSS3 stated, acoustic intonation should really be done by a pro...the experience required to file those bridges is really important, it's almost an artform.

~e.a

 

[Carcass29]

I've always had my guitars setup and intonation done....I'm never happy with the job that "techs" do....and I tried various people. I guess I'm a tuning nazi as well. I always notice when I play a chord or a note higher up on the neck it sounds out of tune...or maybe it's just me. I constantly switch tunings too...anywhere from D standard to Drop D and sometimes C,G,C,G,C,E

 

[everybody's x]

Lat time I was in a "proper" studio I had a big name guy (as "big name" as techs get I suppose) come set up my and the other guys guitars, fucking RUINED my rg550, it's never been the same

I'll do my own setups from now on

 

[ScottCash]

ScottCash - LMAO!!! Interesting. So you've recorded pro w/your guitar like that. It must sound fine none the less. What band are you in? If you'd rather not say could you share at least what label you're on or have been on?

No, I said I played professionally, not famously. And no, none of my recording was ever done professionally either. Man, I would guess my beater would sound horrible to someone who wasn't prepared for it. Although Black Neon Bob has a couple of clips I've been dinking with. Technically, I'm still a newb when it comes to PC/DAW.

 

[ConspiracyBass]

I try to get all my instruments setup at least twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. Setups here aren't too bad price wise, around $40, that includes strings and oiling the fretboard (my basses me cost around $75. Fucking strings!!). Unfortunately for me the music store I took my guitar to fired the guitar tech that always setup my axe. Dude was the shit, I need to find him.

 

[006]

Oh man...once you find a tech that you like and does a great job...you can't ever lose him! I have a guy that does work for my guitars (I can do it myself, but who wants to setup 15 guitars? not me!), the more personal axes I do myself, but the ones I never play go straight to him. About $40-50 for each guitar...and he does an amazing job. I've never not liked anything he's done for me. And I had him re-bridge my 1960's Gibson Hummingbird (mint condition) as well as a refret and new nut and holy crap he did a great job. That was a little more expensive, can't remember the figure anymore but it was well worth it.

~e.a

 

[AmirH]

I've had it done once professionally because the guitar needed a new nut. I've taken a bit of sand paper to a cheap acoustic before but as a general rule I won't touch anything that requires filing. Intonation, action and truss-rod are pretty much no-brainers on a TOM though so I do that myself. A setup HUGELY affects the way a guitar sounds IMO.

 

[Gnash]

Man, being that I'm Left-handed, I've had to set up my own shit from day one. I started out like Jimi Hendrix, with the right handed guitar upside down. I had to fuck with everything to get them to play right. I wont let anyone touch my guitars now! I would have to have a skilled lefty for a tech, on my shit! Floyds are a bitch to intonate! Once I have 'em set in the tuning, I leave it in that tuning. Once you change a string gauge or a tuning, you gotta reset EVERYTHING! The way I look at it. It's either set up right or it's wrong. The intonation perfect, the action perfect. I'm looking into that "Buzz Feiten" tuning system for my next guitar. I've heard some good things about it.

 

[Polpotkin]

When I have two guitarists in the studio, I usually recommend them to use the same guitar for rythm tracks. Or even better, play one song each. Last time I recorded with my band, our guitarists used the same guitar, but it sounded awful because they didn't press on to the strings in the same way.

 

[traintown]

I have to fix guitars almost erverytime a band enters my studio. I tell them to get there stuff checked with a git tech before they enter... but they never listen Actually I don't care 'cause I like to do it, but you know, it messes with the schedule!

 

[Rez_brp]

I've learnt to do it myself over the years.....

I'd quite like to find a tech close to me to overhaul my frets but for action/intonation/neck relief/bridge adjustments and electric repairs I pretty much learnt the hard way, although there are great websites out there with plenty of information to help.

I use cheapo Ibanez RG's tuned to BEADF#B and I don't change my string type or sizes.

I definately agree with getting guitars setup prior to recording... You wouldn't see race cars starting a race without being tinkered with!