Our Set-Up Process
What is a Set-Up?
A set-up on your instrument is adjusting the parameters of string height, neck relief, and intonation. If any of these are not within the ideal range for your guitar, you'll find it harder to play, your notes sound out of tune, you'll hear buzzing and a myriad of other little problems.
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Personally, I've never liked the "Luthier Voodoo" that treats customers the same way dodgy mechanics treat their customers who don't know the insides and out of their cars. You shouldn't have to know absolutely everything about a guitar to know you've received a good set-up for a reasonable price. You should know exactly what is going to happen to your instrument, and be able to trust in the person doing the work for you that they'll find the most ideal parameters for your guitar to sound the best. This article is one of the ways I hope as a Guitar Technician, I can help change the way repairs and servicing of your instruments is treated.
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To understand a set-up you first need to understand what can be changed.
The string height - also known as String Action. This is the distance from the top of your frets to the bottom of your strings. It is typically measured at the 12th fret and we measure using millimeters. The closer the strings to the frets, the less clearance when fretting. This can cause buzzing. The further away your strings from the frets, the harder it will be to press down. This can also result in bad intonation.
The neck relief - this is the amount of bow in the neck. An ideal situation is your neck is extremely close to perfectly flat, with a very small amount of downwards bowing (quarter of a millimeter) however this absolutely varies from guitar to guitar and player to player. Upwards bow will cause your strings to buzz badly before the 12th fret. Too much downward bow will cause the string action to be notably higher. It will also cause notable buzzing after the 12th fret.
Intonation - this is how "in tune" your notes are. If your intonation is off, you may find that your guitar will be perfectly in tune, but when you play the 12th fret the note is either sharp or flat, making your chords and individual notes sound out of key throughout the neck.
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Why should you trust us to do your set-up?
Myself (Aleks - The Lead Technician here at SUYG) and Luke have set-up over 1000 instruments in the last year between us. We maintain and prepare 5-10 guitars each daily for re-sale by SUYG. We have experienced almost every type of guitar and an unbelievable amount of problems. I wont bang on too much about this - if you haven't read the "Our Workshop" page, I'd recommend taking a look and seeing what myself and Luke are capable of.
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What is the process?
Our set-up is based on the RAI system - Relief, action, intonation. We begin first by testing the guitar with its current set-up. We identify the issues with the current parameters and ensure that our parameters will resolve this.
Once testing is complete, we remove the strings and begin the deep cleaning process. Removal of hard-ware and a general clean down with Music Nomad Guitar Detailer ensures a clean slate to begin with.
Once cleaned down, we polish out the frets. Using 0000 steel wool, followed by microabrasive compounds, we polish out each fret one by one to a brilliant shine. Following this, we apply a generous coating of Music Nomad F-One Oil to unfinished fingerboards, wiping off the excess after a good soak.
Before we re-string, it is important to apply a polish to gloss finishes. We thoroughly polish the guitar using Music Nomad Guitar Polish, followed by their One Spray. This gives a beautiful shine to gloss finishes.
Now onto restringing - we ensure 2-4 winds on all strings providing excellent tuning stability. We cut the strings to length prior to winding, to ensure as little string as possible is poking out and damaging your case or gig bag.
Once tuned to pitch, we check the relief and then check again using multiple methods. Sighting the neck first gives us a good idea, before using either a notched straight edge or the 1st & 15th fret method to ensure what we've seen is correct. We adjust the truss rod as is necessary.
Once the truss rod is set correctly, we follow this with adjustment to the action. There are various types of saddles across all these instruments, and we are equipped to deal with anything that comes our way.
Now that the neck relief and action are set correctly, our final adjustments come into play - intonation. Using our accurate tuners we are able to intonate to within 1 cent accuracy.
Here is where we'll test the instrument again at it's new set-up. This is where we often identify and re-cut nut slots, and lubricate string contact points.
Chromatic testing of every single note, followed by bending each note a full step ensures the guitar is ready. A final polish with a clean cloth and we are finished!
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The instrument now takes a 24hr rest to ensure that it is settled in correctly before it is available for collection. One last look over and checking over the parameters of the instrument have remained the same and it goes back to it's happy owner!
How much does all this cost?
As previously discussed our workshop has been built to maintain and repair thousands of guitars a year, meaning guitars booked in for a set up can fit seamlessly into our workflow.
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For this reason we are able to offer our full set-up service at just £40 + strings. We are very proud to be able to offer this price as we firmly believe that it is one of the most reasonable prices on the market without compromising on quality or attention to detail!
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We are also able to offer very quick turnaround times in addition to our low cost.
If you would like to book a guitar in for a set-up you can complete a form below for more information about how we can assist!