An excerpt from dan erlewines how to make you electric guitar play great, including celebrity setups from jeff beck to jim weider. John also authored pgs guitar shop 101 column, hosted several pg diy videos, and is an authorized warranty technician trainer for taylor guitars. To understand guitar setup, it is helpful to know a little about both the. The guitar repair guide get answers and advice here. How to do a full guitar set up in 15 minutes guitar. Everything you need to know to setup your electric guitar the right way for optimum playability and sound quality. This guide walks you through every step in the process of performing a professional setup and achieving the perfect action at home. This guide was written especially for you and for those bass players who would like to learn this process, but dont know where to begin. Stretch your new strings by pulling sideways on them fairly hard and retune. Professional guitar setup cost price, intonation, tuning. Lightly press the string until it touches the top of the fret, you can feel how much space is between the strings and the frets. Refer to the string replacement section for details on how to change the strings. If all of your strings are set to the same height, this will also achieve the proper radius.
By continuing to use our site you consent to use our cookies. Either way you want to find the guitar that is the right fit for your hands and body and one thatdoes not fight you. Checking your guitar s setup perform the following steps to check your guitar s setup. Electric guitar setup to put your guitar in top playing shape, follow the five steps presented here. If you do any of these steps after the intonation is adjusted it will ruin all the work you did to the intonation and you will have to do it all over again. Most setup guides that i have referenced seem to skip over this crucial step.
Guitar setup before intonation adjustment this section will deal with the setup of the guitar you will need to do before you adjust the intonation. Setting up a guitar can be a daunting undertaking, even to seasoned players. Ibanez offers electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, effect and pedals, amps, plus guitar accessories like tuners, straps and picks. John levan has written five guitar repair books published by mel bay. Then, measuring with the string action gauge, adjust the string height to the players preference. Good sounding guitars that are also easy to play can be hard to find among new guitars. One of the most bedeviling aspects of guitar playing is the maintenance procedure known as a setup. To get your guitar in top playing condition, you need to look at four specific areas. For electric guitars and basses, depress the e string at the last fret. A guitar s action can also be adjust at the bridge. All ibanez instruments are set up to our strict quality control. Under the bridge of the guitar there often is a grounding cable, which makes you part of the electric circuit when touching the strings.
Simply plug your guitar in to an electronic tuner and tune your schecter to standard e, a, d, g, b, e. Our base price does not include nut modification work or other mods associated with changing string sizes. To put your guitar in top playing shape, follow the five steps presented here. The 12step guide to electric and acoustic guitar setup guitarplayer. My guitar set up guide is broken up into four sections or chapters. The science of electric guitars and guitar electronics. Any crackling, popping, or dropouts should be remedied with some wd40 and the same inandout motion. To begin with, the most common issue that an electric guitar is prone to encountering is crackling, cackling, and popping as soon as you connect the cable to your amp. To learn more about johns repair and restoration workshops for players. View and download ibanez electric guitar instruction manual online. All of these came from dans handson measurements of the actual guitars.
Adjust the truss rod to add relief to the neck, if thats what the player prefers. Here are over three dozen precise setup specs collected by dan erlewine as he interviewed famous players and roadies. It serves as a guide to getting the best sound and feel from the electric or acoustic electric guitar. In some short circuit conditions this might lead to lethal accidents. If you have a copy of an old fender instrument owners manual not shown in this archive, wed love to have a copy to post here. Thank you for purchasing an electric guitar of our production. You want a guitar that is set up well and is easy to play. Ibanez guitar and bass string action is set at the. Our electric guitar setup price is among the most affordable guitar set up prices in north metro atlanta. Neck relief when reduced to its simplest, the mechanics of the guitar is essentially a set of vibrating strings that are stretched across a semi rigid structure. Eliminate as many wraps as possible to keep your guitar in. Congratulations on the purchase of your new gibson electric guitar the worlds most famous electric guitar from the leader of fretted instruments. Compensations may need to be made, if you plan to change string gauges.
With the feeler gauge, check the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 8th fret figure c. All ibanez instruments are set up to our strict quality control standards before shipping. Even though it has been written with the electric bass in mind, it can also be used for setting up electric guitars or. As you can tell, setting intonation for guitars is easy. Setup and adjustment made easy to adjust the truss.
Set the gauge on top of the strings next to the bridge. The guitar should be tuned after each adjustment and before beginning the next step. Basic guitar setup 101 abridged, charles tauber, 2015 5 4. Acoustic and electric guitar and bass guitar setup specifications all of the following specifications are for guitarsbasses with the standard gauges of gretsch strings that the guitar or bass is equipped with from the factory. Test the output jack by inserting and removing the 14. Never miss a critical guitar setup point with this guitar setup cheat sheet. Dont worry about differences between this drawing and the guitar youre working with. The ins and outs of todays elaborate guitar hardware are examined in this book, with complete instructions on adjusting and tweaking your electric guitar setup. Action adjustment on electric models is set by neck angle. Ideally the neck should be mounted onto the guitar body with a very slight angle. Guitars design, production and repair jim donahue wood tools.
Keep your instrument playing fantastic on a regular basis with this easy to follow guitar maintenance guide. How to make your electric guitar play great the electric. Once the instrument has new strings being it a bass, electric or acoustic guitar. If youre doing your own guitar maintenance, strip away the hours and hours of tweaking that can go into achieving the perfect setup. Pull the string thru the tuning peg, leave about 1 fret of slack, and start to turn the tuning. How to set up a fender stratocaster premier guitar. But learning first on an acoustic is fine, its just a little more challenging. When stringing up sperzel tuners, do not wrap multiple string wraps around the post. Please take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with the information in this booklet regarding materials, electronics, how to, care, maintenance and more about your guitar. A guitar setup is an essential prerequisite when it comes to getting the most out of your instrument. The 12step guide to electric and acoustic guitar setup.
In chapter 3 you adjust the intonation so your guitar will play in tune. For acoustic guitars depress the e string at the 14th fret. As we enter winter and humidity drops, its time you give your guitar the gift of a setup. Since the high and low e strings have already been adjust, raise or lower the height of the four inner strings until they make contact with the radius gauge. Stratocaster adjustment and care the following setup procedures and specifications are for your stratocaster as equipped with the. On an electric guitar, this is a matter of twisting the appropriate screws. Guitars, and wooden stringed instruments in general, are malleable. Take a look at your low estring when you strike it, and note the curvaturehow it bows in the middle. In this ten part series we look at all the steps you need to take to setup your electric guitar with master guitar technician, charlie chandler. After you switch the amplifier on, this is usually accompanied by buzzing and then the entire setup might simply go dead. Chapter 2 addresses truss rod adjustment, setting the string radius and action height. Chapter 1 starts with the basics of removing the strings, overall check, cleaning and finally restringing your guitar.
Acoustic and electric guitar and bass guitar setup. How to set up a guitar electric guitar setup guide. The problem was that i needed to setup this guitar and bass right away but i would have had to order it online and wait for them to ship it to me before i can set it up correctly. Over 120 charts and illustrations will help you in achieving that perfect sound. Tools a machinist rule, a screwdriver or hexkey electric guitar, calipers, a shim stock or stationary belt sander acoustic guitar. Have a little patience, and youll be one your way to perfect tuning in no time. Ibanez electric guitar instruction manual pdf download. Use the setup suggestions included with the string action gauge as your starting point. An ultimate guide to guitar setup project electric guitar. String height action how to setup your electric guitar. Without a capo, start by fretting at the first fret and then use your pinky finger to fret near where the the guitar joins the body right. Factory setup standards will vary, as will the setup from the people.