Electric Guitar Setup Guide

Neck relief truss rod adjustment string height action intonation.

Electric guitar setup guide.

Performing a setup on your guitar will allow it to play its absolute best. The neck the nut and the saddle. Adjust the bridge height. A guitar s action can also be adjust at the bridge.

When these adjustments are completed in the correct sequence they will ensure that the guitar is optimal both in sound and playability. A mechanical stroboscope can be the most accurate display in 2010. A guitar setup is a series of adjustments that achieve a balance between three components. Here using my friend s old 100 fender squier as a model we break down the essential components of a guitar setup hoping to encourage guitarists to start tinkering.

Steps to intonation do this for each string. On an electric guitar this is a. Turn the guitar on its side close one eye and look down the neck from the headstock towards the bridge left. For electric or acoustic electric instruments.

Look down the profile of the fretboard on both the bass and treble sides of the neck. Some luthiers will install a. First sight the neck. Play a natural harmonic on the 12th fret of each string whilst checking against an electric tuner.

Tune the open string with a tuner play the string at the 12th fret and look at your tuner if note is sharp then move bridge saddle back if note is flat. Place the ruler on the 12th fret making sure the ruler ticks are parallel to the string. Use the chromatic equation below to get the pitch frequencies fn for this programmable tuner. Use a programmable electric tuner with stroboscope display that you can plug directly into.

Raise lower or leave the action. Tune the guitar to pitch and ensure that your neck relief has been properly adjusted. Basic set up instructions basic set up kit. We ve broken it down into four simple steps.

Tune the guitar to pitch. These steps aren t. Virtually every acoustic and electric steel string guitar built after the mid seventies has an. Adjust the saddles forward or backward with a screwdriver or alan key depending on the bridge and tune the string to.

With the guitar on its side look down the fingerboard edge for overall straightness back bow. The 12 step guide to electric and acoustic guitar setup 1. Setting up a guitar involves working with the bridge nut and neck adjustments to dial in the. Each step of the process is thoroughly explained and demonstrated.

Is the neck straight or is. Adjust the truss rod. If note is sharp then move bridge saddle back if note is flat then move bridge saddle forward.