Do you do your own setups?

syscokid said:
I have this same book, too. And also with the knowledge I've been able to absorb from this forum and ETSG, I'm very comfortable doing my own setups. A lack of commitment in investing in proper tools is keeping me from attempting fret leveling or fret redressing. However, fret polishing and smoothing out sharp fret ends is not a problem for me.
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I think we all have that book! I even have a pdf format one on my cell phone.
 
I went ahead and did a setup on my new SG tonight. It was really good from the factory but I knew I could make it even better, so i did. I took some relief out of the neck, its nearly straight as an arrow now with only a minuscule amount of relief, i try to get the relief in my necks as little as possible. I lowered the action as well. The action is pretty low now with only a hint of fret buzz(almost unnoticeable and you only hear it unplugged) ... Ive come to learn that all guitars will at least have a faint amount of buzzing somewhere on the fret board, especially if you like low action. The first setup I ever did was on my les paul and i tried to eliminate ALL fret buzz, hence why i worked on it for two days. The lesson I learned? Fret buzz happens. Try to get it to as little as possible, but its nearly impossible to eliminate it all together unless your attack is feather light. ive done so many setups over the years that i can do one in 15 minutes now.
 
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I grew up working both in my Father's Auto Restoration Shoppe and Mom's recording studio. Dad required me to work in every aspect of his shop - chrome plating, body/paint, chassis, engine/gearbox/suspension, instrument building, upholstery and drive and maintain the shoppe's racing cars. At the studio, I kept all the guitars going as best I could. I learned a lot from a few local Luthiers who were kind enough to answer my endless questions. In 2011, I decided to restore the 1959 Sears Silvertone my Mom gave me when I was 10 years old.

Silvertone Close Up.jpg

I learned a lot from that project. I learned even more coming here, and still more volunteering for a few local Luthiers. I ended up building my own doubleneck - from B.Hefner parts - with the help of some Luthier friends. I sub-contracted some of the critical operations - such as sawing the fret slots and locating the bridges - with the CNC shop at B. Hefner in Whittier.

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I'm comfortable now with just about anything as far as setup goes...
 
jjudas said:
I do my own setups and do all of the work on my guitars. The only thing that i haven't done yet is fret leveling.
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Same here. Fretwork actually scares me a little. I've only filed the ends, and polished a bit.
 
Basic set up and is easy and within any guitar player's skills once they understand the process.
If no one has linked to this method, the one I have adopted, here it is :

Biddlin's foolproof setup method

more advanced items such as smoothing sharp fret ends - (tang end sprout is different from sharp bevels), is easily mastered with the proper flat mill file and fret end dressing file, and patience.
Done on a cheap guitar you feel comfortable with as a guinea pig, a few strokes at a time.

Beyond that, the tools and skills become more specialized and one can wade in as deep as is comfortable.
Again, a cheap guitar can be a good learning platform.
Said guitar can also be set up with a higher action for dedicated slide work if things go sideways.
 
I do all of my own plus some for friends and family. Refrets, level and crown, radius, electronics, etc. About the only thing I haven't done to a guitar is cut a nut from scratch. Thinking about trying to learn that on a Chibby. Not much done on acoustics though.
I enjoy it, it's almost therapeutic.
And to Adrian, with proper magnification, I can even solder in small spaces!
 
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