Hello! As a newbie I am not familiar with a lot of technical aspects of a guitar. I have been told that I should have my guitar ( it is an electric guitar given to me) set up by a professional. What does that mean and is it necessary at this stage of my learning? How will it help ?
Thanks
Originally Posted by: willsbob10265[p]Having your guitar set up is a good idea. It can be the difference between an unplayable, frustrating machine & a great playing machine that motivates you to practice more!As a newbie I am not familiar with a lot of technical aspects of a guitar. I have been told that I should have my guitar ( it is an electric guitar given to me) set up by a professional. What does that mean and is it necessary at this stage of my learning? How will it help ?
In general, this means:
1. New strings.
2. Adjusting the neck if necessary.
3. Setting the string height at the nut & bridge.
4. Having the guitar intonated, so it is tunable & stays in tune (as much as possible per instrument).
5. Cleaning & checking electronics (optional, but a good idea if a used instrument).
You can do all this yourself. There are plenty of videos on the internet demonstrating the tasks. I have a tutorial on changing strings, cleaning & basic maintenance. I also mention how intonation is done on a Strat style.
https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1974
But if you are a beginner & uncomfortable with any of that, then you can take it to a local shop & have all of it done for usually about $50.
Hope that helps!
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
Originally Posted by: willsbob10265Hello! As a newbie I am not familiar with a lot of technical aspects of a guitar. I have been told that I should have my guitar ( it is an electric guitar given to me) set up by a professional. What does that mean and is it necessary at this stage of my learning? How will it help ?
Thanks
I'll echo what Chris said and add; it's like making sure your car gets a tune up so that it is in its best running condition. A setup, as detailed by Chris, makes sure that all the things theat ensure your instrument is at its best playability.
Chris had also mentioned that that it's a good idea to learn how to setup your own guitar. As beginner, get a profesional to do it first. Your local store probably has someone who is a tech that can do it for you. Cost depends on any work but just to do tweeks could cost around $60 but that depends on where you live and if you need parts (you'd want to replace strings during a setup so budget for that). With a good playing instrument, you don't need to do this more than two times a year. Even if your guitar is playing nicely, it's still worth getting a setup done just to give it a tune up.
I do my own general setups but I've been playing forever and have a pretty good collection of guitars so it's just cheaper that way!
As you continue to grow in guitar skill, start learning how to do some tweaks that can help you lots as far as playability.
Don't overwhelm yourself if doing your own setup seems like something that will put you over the edge. On the other hand, if you like to tinker with things, there are lots and lots of instructions out there to learn from.
