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.

Oct 17th

Hi all,

There is an error on KC's schedule. He is not scheduled to work at ZenGuitarWerkz on the 17th of October as it is a Public Holiday. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Best Regards,
Isaiah

How to choose an Electric Guitar

What matters when choosing an electric guitar? It's largely player and setup dependant if you consider the following:

1) What amp do you use and what volume do you play at?
2) What music you do play?
3) What pedals do you use along with it
4) What kind of neck profile do you like?

Let's elaborate on the points one by one:

1) An amp with good clean headroom tends to sound great with almost any guitar. A mesa rectifier can turn any telecaster into a death metal beast. For gain, it's mostly from the amp and pedals. Guitar and pickup type do influence the desired 'tone' but for all out gain, it's from the pedals and amp, trying to get more gain from passive pickups can be a futile project.

2) Of course certain guitars are more suited for certain genres of music. I think most players would unanimously agree that a strat/tele is more suited for funk than a les paul. A good player with the right setup - amps, pedals can make almost any guitar work though.

3) Like in point 1), it's also a big part of the 'tone'. Too big a topic to be covered here and I'm not an expert on pedals either.

4) This is the most important for me. A killer sounding guitar is useless if the 'feel' of the guitar is not right. I've got to want to play it for hours and that will be the right guitar for me. GAS impairs judgement the same way alchohol makes everything beautiful :)

Alright, hope this helps in you next buying decision, till the next post.

KC

Music China

Dear All,

I will be away in Shanghai from the 12-16 of Oct. Please send in your repairs after I'm back, thank you.

regards,
KC

How do I choose a guitar? (Acoustic focused)

I get asked this question alot and in terms of build and construction, there are lots of resources online, such as www.frets.com. What I will touch on is purpose: what are you going to use the guitar for? A possible list of reasons could be:

1) To learn the guitar (duh!)
2) To upgrade an existing instrument
3) To play a particular style of music
4) To have tonal variety
5) To impress girls and to look cool
6) To collect and simply for the love of ownership

Let's touch on 1). For a learner, its best if the guitar is easy to play. Too often beginners go for the cheapest option and usually, guitars less than $100 have no setup done and hence very poor playability. The poor beginner then struggles to press down single notes, let alone barre chords. After 2 weeks of trying, he/she gives up. A setup can cost up to $80 so it doesn't make sense to stinge on the guitar. Music lessons alone are at also least $80/month. A good initial investment would be around the $200 price range.

Next, let's look at 2). Preferences come in feel of guitar and sound. Which is more important to you? If price is a consideration, it's usually one or the other. Having a big budget potentially solves most difficult choices :)

3). Do you want a fingerstyle guitar, strummer, or something versatile. You might love the OM sound but if you're primarily a strummer it's better to get a dreadnought or a jumbo. The common rules apply but there maybe exceptions to the norm.

4) 'Auditorium' shaped guitars might fit the bill here. However exceptions can come in other guitar shapes as well. I've played articulate sounding jumbos and dreadnoughts that are equally at home when strumming or fingerpicking. Bottomline, use your ears to decide rather than base your decisions on some magazine review.

5) I think if you want to pickup women, learning the art of conversation is perhaps more effective. There's only so many times you can play 'more than words'.

6) Hmm, consult the blue book of guitars perhaps. Study vintage guitar market trends perhaps. Again, not my area of specialty although I used to work in a used/vintage guitar store.

Ok, hopes this gives a buyer some purpose when looking for the next instrument. I would be touching on electric guitars very soon.

cheers,
KC

Dear readers/followers,

I will be away from the 18-21 of Aug. Please send your guitars when I get back.

Kc

Which guitar player are you?

All those facebook trivia and questionaires have really been giving me the twitters and has inspired me to come out with my own set of questions. They are not meant to label or segregate, just thought provoking and perhaps would incite some controversy due to the presumptions people might have of the questions. Anyway, here goes:

1) What was the first thing that drawn you to the guitar?
2) Do you play the guitar but don't listen to music?
3) Do you play the guitar but don't learn songs?
4) Can you name one beatles song?
5) You have 5 guitar pedals, how many have left your bedroom?
6) Is your guitar collection more than your CD/MP3 collection?
7) Do you watch a concert because of the music, or for the guitar player?

and lastly,

8) Do you have more guitars/pedals than number of chords you know?

If you think about the above, you'll really be able to identify whether you are a music lover or simply a gear w**e. Well one could be both surely but usually people usually dwell on the extremeties.

regards,
KC