I always have a professional setup done on mine. Usually costs about 50.00, but worth every penny to me. I can typically get mine setup fairly well, but when I take it in to my luthier he can always get it better.

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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles...

Even if you take it to someone else (And are fortunate enough to have someone you trust to do that), it doesn't hurt to know how to do it yourself.
At the very least this should help you communicate with the tech, and give them a better idea of what you want.

Unfortunately that is not an option I have at this time--so I'm pretty much stuck with doing them myself.

Yeah, I'd rather play than do maintenance--and I hate changing strings.
So if money was no object--I'd have my own personal tech.

But that's not the way things are--so I have learned to do it myself, out of necessity.

(Now major repairs I will take to someone else.)

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Several people have commented about taking guitars in for a setup and watching the tech do the work. When I took mine in and asked if I could watch he looked at me like I was crazy and said to come back in 3 days when it was done...Is that a sign that I went to the wrong shop? It is the only Fender authorized shop in town except for Guitar Center and I wouldn't trust them to do a string change correct.

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Stagemaster
Roadhouse Strat
Epi Traditional Pro Les Paul
Ovation Celeb
Esteban Celestial Night(nicely tweeked)
Blackheart tube amp

There's no rule, code of conduct, code of ethics or measure of competence which mandates or even obliges a tech to let someone lean over his or her shoulder while they do their thing. As in any line of work, some don't mind it, some don't like it and some are apprehensive in terms of having to explain themselves or, need to be alone to figure out their course of action. In worst case scenarios, some palm off the task to a third party because they are in over their heads and obviously, they aren't going to tell you this nor can there be any show. And then there's the issue of if they let someone watch, they will be teaching this person how to do it themselves where they will lose not only this person's business in the future but this person just may go into competition with them once the tech has opened the dam for them in terms of the world of them doing guitar servicing. It does happen.

Above all, like I've been saying over and over again: NEVER presume that because a shop is an authorized facility by whomever that the service personnel is competent. In accordance with some of the points I've brought up above, I've seen time and time again where the facility gets authorized by everybody and their mother because the service personnel WAS competent or simply because the shop is a dealership for a certain manufacturer or manufacturers, it automatically came with the line(s).

Granted, some shops from, "Day 1" are outstanding and remain this way forever more while unfortuantely, others, upon gaining the good reputation, let the qualified personnel go and replace them with spur of the moment hacks. They then ride on their good reputation until it inevitably peters out. It's all about the money.

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You dig?

I don't think its a stupid question!

There also many setup gadgets available both manual and electronic ones.


The professional setup on a shop will cost you around 50 dollars

Cheers!!!

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Christian music

I highly recommend learning how to do it and then being able to maintain your guitar. Call me silly, but my guitar is like my wife...mine and mine alone, I don't want anyone else touching her.. plus it is really rewarding to set up your own gear and know it sounds great because of you.

It is rewarding indeed.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

+1 and when you do it yourself you know that its done for sure.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

My guitars get a pro setup once a year, in my case the pro happens to be my good friend so that is a major plus as I really dont have to say much because he knows just how I like my guitars to play and he goes over them and treats them like they were his own.

That's what I was referring to in one of my posts--and one of the main reasons I recommend Dan Erlewine's book so often.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.