What goes in your Setup (electric guitar)

Ever wondered what work is really done in your setup? Bear in mind I'm not writing to compare with other guitar techs or am I trying to criticize anyone. The objective of a setup is simple; get the guitar to play well and give it an overall cleanup.

Here goes:



Guitar is a PRS SE which will be setup for 10-46 strings.



Before anything is done, I always check if the truss rod is functioning well and then adjust the relief according to what I deem to be right.



As setting up a guitar requires retuning of the strings, I prefer to use the old strings to set the nut action. Before nut action is adjusted, the neck needs to have the right amount of relief, hence the truss rod is always adjusted first followed by any other steps



Strings are then removed and the frets are polished with 00000 grit steelwool



The pickup was taped up to prevent steel wool bits from sticking to the pickup. Vacuuming is much easier that way.



A smooth playing fret surface



The levelness of the frets are checked with a small straight edge.



Some of the frets were uneven but nothing a little knocking down with a hammer won't solve. This step is crucial to accommodate low action. The frets are then rechecked with the straight edge. If hammering still doesn't solve the unevenness, a fret level will be recommended to minimise string buzz.



Just to make sure there's no nasty surprises, I check the evenness of the fingerboard with a fingerboard straight edge. Neck is perfect here.




I now proceed to adjust the action and I normally set electric guitars to 1.2mm on the treble and 1.6mm on the bass. Relief varies, but most of the time relief is at a bare minimum, around 0.005" to 0.010" max. Some necks play better with slight more or slightly less, that's where the 'feel' and experience of the guitar tech comes in, and thankfully I get this elusive 'feel' right most of the time.



There was an open string buzz and I found out that the string slot at the bridge needed a 'clean up' with a nut file. After going through it several times with a nut file, the buzzing was gone.

Additional things that were done are:

1) intonation: I do not use a strobe tuner unless requested. See here
2) Pickup height: Usually neck and brige volume shouln't differ too much and the middle position should have a nice mix of both neck and bridge tone.
3)Polishing the body with anti static polish



Alright, if you'll the perfect setup like the above, servicing fees range from $50 - $70 for a fixed bridge and $80-$120 for a trem equipped guitar.