Originally Posted by: willsbob10265

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!