The gratification you get from setting up your guitar yourself.

[Alligatorbling]

I used to take my guitars to a tech for setups way back when before I got into the DIY aspect of guitars.

I love setting my guitars up. Ive done so many of them now (my friends get me to set up their guitars sometimes) That Ive gotten pretty dang good at it.

I get a lot of gratification of doing a full setup myself. I like my neck relief to be very minimal. I usually tweak the truss rod and let it sit over night, then check it the next day and tweak it again if need be. Ive gotten to where i kinda just know how much to turn the rod. Next I set the action... I prefer doing this much more on a tuneomatic bridge, setting the action on a strat is a lot more involved, but ive gotten good at that too, it takes more time because you have to account for radius, but ive gotten to where i can eyeball it and get it right. Lastly I tweak the intonation. I get it as near perfect as i can. Sometimes it really is almost perfect, but to be honest its nearly impossible to intonate a guitar 100% perfect.

After I get everything set up i then run up and down the fret board to make sure its no dead spots, i do bends high up on the fretboard to make sure the notes dont fret out, and of course lastly i play the entire fretboard checking for any buzzes...

If anything needs to be tweaked at the end i tweak it and then again let it sit for a night, and check it again the next day.

The gratification I get from this is great... For anyone wanting to learn to setup a guitar,
The Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine is where I learned to do it.

Anyone else enjoy dong their own setups?

 

[Ermghoti]

I too partake in self gratification.

 

[LP121]

I too partake in self gratification.

Me too. I also set up my own guitars.

 

[Stillhouse]

I have a copy of Erlewine's "How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great" and highly recommend it to anyone.

 

[Ermghoti]

Me too. I also set up my own guitars.

 

[Rich]

Not me, I can't even stand changing strings. It's all just a chore that takes time away from playing. It also doesn't help that I'm totally not handy with tools - I can do great things with computers and other electronic things but, with mechanical, I'm an impatient disaster.

 

[dave b]

Of course. Why do you think I joined this little fun factory? Luckily, I didn't discover the Backstage until after I'd actually learned a few things.

 

[NorlinBlackBeauty]

Yep, do my own basic setups - acoustic too. Just relief (truss rod), saddle / bridge height, and intonation (on the LP).

I'll leave fret leveling and nut to the experts.

 

[LP121]

the thrill is gone, I'd gladly hand them to someone I trusted and be like, "set these up, install these pickups, change the wiring/caps and put new strings on it."

Yeah, I'm like Rich. I hate even changing strings. But it's like my car, I hate paying someone to do what I can do myself.

 

[NewDayHappy]

I hate setting up Fenders, hate it. The positioning of the truss rod is irritating, hate how it's so hard to adjust without dicking around with the strings to rotate the Allen wrench. With that said, Fenders absolutely sound the best. Gibson's get a lot of heat for QC and the headstock angle but let me say this about Gibson, I can do an entire setup in 5 minutes. I can setup my Martin even quicker.

 

[James R]

I do it all myself, and yes, I thoroughly enjoy the results, but I enjoy some aspects of the actual work a lot more than others.
I still enjoy the setup part, but if I have to get out the soldering iron I tend to procrastinate and just deal with the issue until it drives me nuts.

 

[efstop]

I've only done a wee bit of setup, 'cause if the guitar isn't bugging me I leave it alone. Inertia/laziness. I did adjust the vibrato tailpiece on my VM Mustang because the height of the bar was just too high, but I'm not into adjusting/changing springs on the thing.

 

[Dun Ringill]

I do my own setups and a little fret leveling. Wiring, too!

 

[redcoats1976]

yep,i like all that stuff,sometimes to the point where i should be doing more playing and less adjusting.

 

[NorlinBlackBeauty]

I've done that ...

 

[artis_xe]

replacing the nut and bridge , is ( almost ) always the first thing I have done to any of my guitars . so I have a local luthier do that , and the setup as well . while I'm capable of making adjustments , my friend is a professional

DIY is the way to go with many things . but I also like to give the business __ and credit where credit is due

 

[artis_xe]

Like you say James, if I have to break out a soldering iron I'm already annoyed.

initially , it can be annoying . but once you get used to it , it's very rewarding . almost zen like

 

[Uncle Remus]

I take all of my guitars to my luthier friend. He does an excellent job and I help him keep the lights on for another month. Even though I have built a few guitars and am fully capable I like supporting a true craftsman. It also gives me a chance to bullshit with him and him a chance to work on some nice stuff.

 

[redjunior]

Do mine myself, after close to 50 years, its gotten very easy and enjoyable.
Been working on my amps for 40 yrs.

 

[Marshall & Moonshine]

When I set them up, I only have myself to blame.