Jazzyguy,

When I purchased my used American Standard Strat last year, it needed a set up. I was going to take it to Long & McQuade, however, I couldn't wait over three weeks for them to set it up. I was referred to The Guitar World located in Mississauga by a friend. Not only did they do a great job setting up my guitar, they filed down all the sharp fret ends for free. I haven't had to adjust my guitar in over a year and a half. They were very friendly and accommodating. I highly recommend them.

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster HSS
2011 Gibson SG Standard
Budda Superdrive 30 combo (Pre-Peavey)
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Modtone Vintage Wah
Korg Pitchblack Tuner
GFS Liquid Tremolo Classic
GFS Pro Chorus Classic

Hi Jazzyguy

I have tried L&M, Steve's (on Steeles), Cosmo (in Markham), 12th fret (Danforth). They all did a serviceable job, however the best setup was done by myself.

With all these shops you will have to wait at least 2 weeks and probably more with 12th Fret. Most likely none of them will have a time to chat with you of what do you like in a setup. They do approximate setup best for the guitar in the shortest time.

I did it myself and never went to any of those stores for the setup in over two years. It was difficult in the beginning not knowing how a smallest tweak on the truss rod and other screws makes a large impact on a setup.

Learn to do it yourself, get some basic tools and do it first as per fender setup and see how it feels. From there tweak it to your liking. Do not be afraid, do it and you will not regret it for having this experience.

Worst scenario if you get stuck post a question here or search many setup questions and fine forumites will gladly help you.

NOTE: Do not force the truss rod

You could FedEx it to John Warden in VA, USA... he is one of the best.

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Robert Moog - "Hey... where do all these patch cables go?"

i agree with the guy above learn to do it. the money you give these guys over the years will buy you more guitars. also they arent there to spend all kinds of time on your personal baby . sorry but the business of making money means bring em in and push em out. in most cases there not gonna get it just so. its gonna be a standard setup . if you want it just so you got to do it your self . the thing is its not hard at all.

I found this posting on the CL so if you feel like experimenting....

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/msg/2029954475.html

He offers money back I don't endorse this person just found it, who knows it might help.

As mentioned before, I still recommend to learn to do it yourself.

Dan

Although I haven't dealt with Steve's in TO I have dealt with the Ottawa and Montreal stores and they usually get the absolute best technicians to work in their shops and I imagine the same holds true for the Toronto store.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

dont' think I've ever liked Long&McQuade setup's..
the sales guys in Brampton are great, service I'm not so sure.

I've used Steve's on Queen Street, they did my acoustic.. they were okay good but they dropped the screw driver and put a big dent/scratch in the top of the guitar.
They didn't charge me for any of the service which included replacing the undersaddle pickup.
So they did ok there.

I was much more impressed with 12th Fret.. and they were less than a week.

repair times vary just depends on how many people bring their guitars in..

just call before bringing it anywhere.

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This is my guitar, there are many like it but this one is mine.