View Poll Results: how often do you get your jazz guitar set up
- Voters
- 33. You may not vote on this poll
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every 2/3 months
2 6.06% -
six months
10 30.30% -
once ayear
12 36.36% -
never get it set up
9 27.27%
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There seems to be very little discussion on this. I do see a lot of talk where people are getting hung up about their technuque etc. but this must be an area where if you get a good set up you will play better.
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09-23-2012 03:36 PM
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i should say i have just bought a new guitar and am tinkering with the action to get it right, but i havent found the optimum level yet. ive only once taken my strat to a rock guitar tech and got good results after he levelled the frets etc, never my jazz guitar, but i have always been slack in this, mainly due to the cost, but i kknow it would be worth it for the benefits.
when i can afford to i am going to get it done once a year
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Once a guitar is setup properly and you don't make some drastic changes in strings or develop some heavy fret wear you shouldn't need to make changes in your setup. I suppose the bridge could move on an archtop a bit so an intonation adjustment could be in order but my guess is that you would notice that just from tuning issues at that point in time and take care fo it right then. Paying for a setup just because a year has passed seems like a waste of money to me. It's an easy task to learn if you can read a ruler and manipulate a few simple hand tools. Stew Mac sells a few books that can take you there.
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Usually when I get a guitar I will have a setup done as way to have it gone over by my repair guy. Then unless I have made some drastic change or in for repair I do the tweaking myself.
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I find that flatwound stringed guitars need an initial set up and then they are good to go for quite a while, plain G stringed and round wound strings attack frets and groove them. Of course this all depends on how much the guitar is played and of course climatic changes have to be factored in, but I guess you are referring to nut and fret type maintainence.
My plain G stringed guitars need fret dressing after approx 180 hours of use per year (1/2 an hour a day) whereas the flatwound guitars have never had any fret dressing, one in particular has been in my possession for 12 years and is now just starting to show wear on the plain strings area.
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I have to agree with the ease of doing your own setups; I have done them for years on my acoustic and electric basses and guitars. I find it enjoyable. I do have to adjust the truss rods about every six months, but that's about it. Once I have the string basics done, it's generally just truss rod adjustments as the necks move with the humidity. I haven't tried fret leveling yet, but as I am really interested in building a guitar, I plan to give it a go on the next instrument that needs it.
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Most of my guitars do not require set-ups. The guitar I play most (a Carvin SH550) requires a set-up every Spring and Fall, however, I like to experiment with different strings and gauges. Every time I make a string gauge change, a set-up and truss rod adjustment is necessary.
I have a pro do the initial set-up on a new guitar, then I'll do my own, unless a very different adjustment is required.
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When I get it, and when it needs it.
Considering once I find a set of strings that feels good on a guitar I usually stick with it, most of my guitars rarely if ever need a set up.
I had a telecaster once with a thin neck that needed a tweak every spring, it seemed...
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Originally Posted by zigzag
so how important is that truss rod adjustment to the overall feel/playability?. I can set the action via the tune o matic bridge but dont have the experience to know when the truss rod needs adjusting, plus i am wary of doing this as have always been told not to mess with it unless you really know what you're doing.
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Truss rod is the most overdone guitar "home repair" ever...I think I can count the # of times I've needed to adjust a truss rod on one of my guitars on one hand--and that's in 20 years of playing...
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Interesting. Down here in the south, my maple necks hold up pretty well on the electric basses, but man, my 6 string guitar necks bend like leaves of grass in the middle of the high humidity season. The Imperial has been stable all summer, but not my 5th Ave, Seagull or Tacoma Thunderchief ABG. Fortunately, it's pretty simple to straighten them out. Perhaps its the wood selection for the necks on those instruments. I never had to make those adjustments in Hawaii, but the weather there is pretty consistent year-round. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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+1 Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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I don't know why some guitar necks need regular truss rod adjustments and others don't. On my Carvin, it is like clockwork, every Spring and Fall. I make truss rod adjustments instead of bridge height adjustments because it is the neck profile that changes, and to get the lower action I like, the correct neck relief is required. (I'm not calling Carvin out, either. Talking to lots of people about this, they tell me the same thing about their guitars, and they don't even own Carvins. Many of the Carvin owners I talk to tell me that their guitars do not require adjustments.) Originally Posted by Mike A
Making huge truss rod adjustments has never been necessary, and I don't do measurements. I go purely by feel. (I don't set intonation with a tuner, either. I go by what I hear.) Once the guitar has been set up by a pro, if I make an adjustment to the truss rod, I never go more than a quarter turn at a time. I'll let the neck set for about a day or two, then make another adjustment if necessary. It is possible to mess a neck up if you get too crazy with it, but anyone can make minor adjustments.
I usually go by how hard I can hit the 6th string before I get buzzing to tell me when it's time for an adjustment, but I test all strings when I am testing the action. This is a timely thread because it is Fall and I noticed that the action on the Carvin is starting to rise as the outside temperatures start to fall and the humidity levels begin to drop. I also just changed from Ernie Ball Cobalt 10s to D'Addario EXP 10s with a wound 3rd (overall string tensions and individual string diameters are almost identical between the two sets).Last edited by zigzag; 09-25-2012 at 01:45 PM.
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I get my tech to rip into mine every 6 months or so but I keep it running smoothly myself. I sort of think of it like a car, you can like to tinker around a lot but when the seasons change I take it to a professional so that if there are things I cannot do comfortably then he goes for it. Plus he does a much better job then I do.
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I should qualify my statement. I check my set up every six months but in that time, if I don't need any adjustments, I let it go. The most common thing I adjust is my action depending on how badly my hand cramps. If all of a sudden, I hear some buzzing, I check the neck and adjust accordingly.
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I run a repair shop and work on these things 40 hours a week...
I'm here to tell you: you NEED a set up once a week.
No, seriously: you could have it set up with someone who will work with you when: a) you buy it b) if it's acting funny or c) you think it could/should be playing better/easier.
I'd love to tell you all it's super hard and a pro should always do it, but making minor adjustment to your guitars is something we all should be able to do. Like changing the oil or a tire on your car.
It is fair to note that if you're trying, trying, trying on your technique and its still not improving, a look into your set up is an idea.
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It's important. Too much relief and its hard to play in the middle, buzz up top and intonation can pull sharp. Too little and buzz-o-rama. Originally Posted by Mike A
I find that the less wood (chunkiness) you have, the more you'll have to wrench on it. Those nice skinny Ibanez type necks will move around on you. ...and be more prone to warps.Last edited by Megabutter; 10-25-2012 at 12:55 PM.
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Yea I do most of the work on my guitars... The only job I don't do is re-fret... to much risk of damage on expensive guitars.
The reason... I play gigs etc... almost everyday/night... I can't wait.
I change strings once a week sometimes, depending on type of gigs, outdoor jazz festivals are hard on everything. So my schedule is based on change of strings... I generally keep my action high...
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Unless I radically change gauge (Rarely, if ever.) or brands, again rarely ever. I don.t have to adjust too much. When I change strings, I usually check intonation and relief, just in case of the weather. Otherwise, things stay pretty constant.
JM1021
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If it ain't broke...
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Exactly. Originally Posted by JoshGuitar
I set it up the way I like it when I buy it and that's it.
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That's pretty much my approach to guitar work. When I get an guitar I usually take it and have a setup done put for a setup, but also to have my tech go over the guitar and check it out. Then most minor tweaks I do myself and if I want to make a major change or needs something repaired then I got to my tech. Originally Posted by JoshGuitar
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I change my strings every 6 months and I take this opportunity to clean the guitar, oil the fingerboard and check the neck curve. I'm pretty satisfied with my guitar setup skills, I think I got it down pretty well after a lot of experimentation (and mistakes) I did on my first guitar.
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