Hey guys.

What i what to know is when i take my guitar to my local guitar shop and ask for a set-up. what stuff should i expect to be done.and what do u guys recommend me asking for. i have a 2008 american standard strat

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fly little wing

Well a complete set-up for me is fret leveling and shaping, truss rod adjustment, intonation and tremolo balancing.

The only thing you really have to ask is tremolo preference. If you like it dive bomb style, balanced or flush with the body.

If I have missed anything I will probably be corrected by one of the veteran forum users in a couple of minutes.

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No matter how much you pay for an instrument, in the wrong hands it will always sound "cheap."

Gear:
2007 MIM Stratocaster (Lace Sensor Golds)
Peavey Valveking 112
Behringer TU300, CS100, NR100
Dunlop Crybaby Classic
Marshall BB-2
Ibanez TS-9

Check out this Fender link. It may help but may not go into info on a detailed setup. Find a good professional tech and tell him what you like your guitar to feel like etc. and you want a complete setup not a generic or setup lite. Hope this helps!
http://www.fender.com/support/setup_guides.php

When i set a guitar up i usually go like this
General cleanup including nut grooves, after old string removal
Check and smooth trem posts/ knife edges of trem plate
New strings
Adjust trem angle to suit requirements.
Adjust neck relief
Check nut
Adjust string action/ rebalance trem if needed
Check pickup height and re-check action if needed.
Adjust intonation.

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No no and no

As usual, correct and concise!

Well, if you go to the fine tech I used to use you should expect to be kept chatting for about two hours, a couple of cups of tea, and a long description of the latest state of his lower spinal disc condition.

BTW: that gentleman's standard setup included everything Niki mentioned (above) plus fret dressing - almost anything short of a refret. (Which ran to more in both money and cups of tea.) For setup he currently charges £55 / $79, if that helps.

And to get to the nub of your question: expect to be asked your preference for string gauge, neck relief, action and trem set. If you are new to this and in doubt, just ask for the instrument to be set to Fender factory specs. An excellent and underrated set of numbers...

Cheers - C

ED,I dont know where your from but heres a good bit of advice.ask around where there is a good but small guitar shop that does quality work and always bring your ax there ask all the questions you want to know and if you build a friendship your good for life.I live in N,Y and as I left my teens I left all the big music stores behind with them and started hanging in the small shops where all these cool older musicians would hang and now all these owners are good friends who I just hand my ax of to and dont have to say anything and if something is wrong I know I am being told the truth.These big chains are just cold places with a lot of high end gear with salesmen trying to make a commision and dont even remember you the next time unless your the guy who bought the 4 grand PRS.

At £55 he's charging for the fret dress. What if you bought a new guitar and wanted it setup (I'm rarely happy with shop setups). Would he still charge the same price despite the lack of need for a fret dress?
Does he charge for tea?
Is coffee extra?
Are there any biscuits?
Is dunking allowed?
Is cake acceptable if you bring your own?

Its nice to know that prices are roughly the same £25 for a setup and £25 for a dress and polish.

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No no and no

If you recall, I phoned him and asked his charges when Mr Schmintan was having all his difficulties and was being quoted €200 for a setup by The Edge's guy. It seemed pretty clear that it was a flat £55 for a setup: if fretwork was required then it was included.

In my day, tea was free but dependent upon the quality of your conversation. You'd better be amusing!

I don't remember coffee or biscuits (US=cookies) so I can't comment on dunking. But then maybe that just indicates that I was found merely a grade B conversationalist. I never made it into the biscuit inner circle...

Cheers - C

Ceri, if biscuits are cookies then what are American biscuits called?

I truly don't know. Only fretwork I've ever had done was a full refret - by the aforementioned gentleman. The handful of setups he did for me didn't include fretwork - well, as far as I was aware...

As mentioned above, I put in a call to him recently to check his charges for another Forum user and that was how he detailed his current services to me.

Been out the loop commercial setupwise for quite a while, now. For the reason Niki indicated, it would seem reasonable if the price were lower if no fretwork were required, wouldn't it? But that wasn't what I was told.

Cvilleira does regular setup work: he'll tell us for sure.


Gosh, well you have me there. I sometimes fancy myself almost bilingual, but I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember what the word biscuit means in America. Something hard and brittle, would that be it?

Advice please.

Cheers - C

A jacobs, my first attempt didnt pass the censoring program for some reason. What on earth could be offensive about a cr (now an appreciable bit of dialogue to fool the programe) ack (another bit of mindless blather) er?

I've never had fretwork done on a setup. Fret condition inspection is common though.

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No no and no

A basic setup here in the area I live in does not include any type of fretwork, and usually runs about $60. That's why I just learned to do my own. I have done setups for others and only charged $30.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.