Tips and Tricks For Quick Guitar Setup

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Quick Guitar Setup Tutorial
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Tips and Tricks Every Guitar Player Should Know

• Guitars are amazingly durable instruments - but
  they need a little help once in a while to
  function properly.
• Whether you play jazz, metal, classical,
  virtually any style, your guitar will suffer the
  stresses of string pressure and, because its
  being manipulated by a guitar player, succumb to
  the normal effects of wear and tear.
• This means the gear will need some form of
  maintenance and even the occasional setup.

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Why You Should Learn Guitar Repairing

• You can have a reliable individual do this for
  you, for a price of course, or you can do it
  yourself. Personally, Ive found players fall
  into basically two categories those who have no
  problem spending the money to have the work done
  for them, and those who are hands-on preferring
  to do the work themselves.
• Regardless of which category you identify with,
  the following tips and tricks for guitar repair
  will help you save your most valuable resource -
  your time.

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Tools Need For Guitar Repair

• Since were not servicing jet engines, the tools
  we need are fairly humble. Heres a short list
• Side Cutters
• String Winder
• Large and Small Philips Screwdrivers
• Large and Small Flat Screwdrivers
• An Assortment of Allen Keys
• Small Adjustable Wrench
• Cloths or Paper Towels
• Guitar Polish and Cleaner
• There are many more depending on how deep you
  dive, but these should handle the basics.

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Removing Strings

• Theres an old wives tale that you should never
  take all the strings off the guitar at one time.
  This is totally false.
• While it is smart to leave a single on to help
  keep loose parts from falling off, taking all the
  strings off is actually beneficial to the
  guitars health as it releases built-up
  compression. The instrument gets a chance to
  relax and re-normalize.

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Strings Repairing Tips

• When it comes to working with strings in any
  quantity, remember to batch your processes!! The
  work will go faster, it will reduce frustration,
  and allow you more time to play.
• To get started, grab your trusty string winder
  and, going around the headstock, slacken each
  string off in turn.
• Gather up all the now loosened strings with one
  hand and cut all the strings in one shot about
  six inches from the bridge with the side cutters
  - not the kitchen scissors. You can now freely
  remove each string from its tuner post, then
  bundle them all up, and chuck them in the trash.
  Same goes for the tag ends at the bridge. For new
  guitar parts visit - FaberUSA.com

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Basic Cleaning

• Most instruments will require a little
  housekeeping. With the strings removed, this is a
  great time to go over the guitar and remove junk
  without interference.
• The body and headstock should get a good going
  over with an appropriate guitar-safe cleaner
  applied to a soft cloth or paper towel.
  Personally, I prefer to use a high quality paper
  towels. They wont scratch and the dirt goes
  straight in the garbage without contaminating the
  rest of the instrument.

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Fretboard Cleaning

• As for the fretboard, whether raw wood or
  finished, a good quality guitar cleaner should
  lift the surface junk. You can either put a few
  drops on a cloth or lightly sprinkle the
  fretboard then rub the fretboard clean.

• If you wish to tackle the frets and give them a
  bit more sparkle, good old newspaper will do the
  trick. As it is slightly abrasive, but please be
  careful to exercise caution with any abrasive
  around an instrument. Then finish up with a final
  fretboard cleaning.

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Installing New Strings

• Instal the ball end of each string, one by one,
  at the bridge in their respective seats. Then
  move to the headstock and, working from the nut
  outwards, attach each string in turn to its
  corresponding tuner post. Allow about an inch and
  a half of string to accommodate three wraps
  around each post. Any more than that can cause
  tuning issues, any less will cause string
  slippage.
• Next, give each string a real light stretch -
  theyll drop in pitch a fair bit. Go around the
  headstock again and bring them up close to pitch.
  Just get them in the ballpark, you still dont
  have to be precise just yet.

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Strings Repairing Tips

• The nut, being a fixed point should only be
  adjusted or recut by someone who knows what
  theyre doing. So lets assume its close enough
  to work with.
• The Les Paul bridge assembly on electric guitars
  can be adjusted up or down depending on your
  preference in overall string height. With
  acoustic instruments, the saddle determines
  overall string height. It can be shimmed to
  increase height, or the bottom can be sanded down
  to reduce height. Again, if youre not
  comfortable with this kind of work, take your
  guitar to someone who knows what theyre doing.

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Neck Relief

• Neck relief works closely with the bridge, and to
  a lesser extent the nut. When relief is set
  properly with the other two points being adjusted
  properly, all three elements work in harmony much
  like a perfect triangle.
• In short, you can easily assess relief using any
  one of the strings on the guitar. The third
  string makes a great gauge as its close to the
  centreline of the fretboard, and its thin enough
  to make relative measurements.

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Fret Adjustment

• Press the string down at the second fret with one
  hand, and the fourteenth fret with the other
  hand. These two points eliminate any mis-reads
  you may get from the extreme ends of the
  fretboard (where the gremlins live).
• If relief is adjusted properly, you should see a
  gap of light roughly the same thickness of the
  third string itself when viewing the top of the
  seventh or eighth fret. These points represent
  the middle of the pressed string between your
  fingers.

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Final Thoughts

• Give each string a good pull along its full
  length, each one in turn, then quickly bring them
  all up to pitch. Keep in mind the first couple of
  stretches will drop the pitches quite a bit, so
  save the real tuning precision for the last
  attempt or two. Playing the strings will also
  heat them up a bit and usually bring out a couple
  of tuning wobbles in the process. Totally normal,
  just keep at it.
• By following these steps, you should now find you
  have a decent setup, and your strings have become
  pretty stable in short order. Now you have more
  time to play!