Anyone who thinks (s)he knows everything on ANY given subject is a fool.

I wholeheartedly agree. When one realizes (s)he is over his/her head with a project, it is time to stop right there instead of going off in virtually guaranteed, the wrong direction and enlist an expert.

And like you've also said (paraphrased), baby steps; "Slow and steady wins the race".

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Martian, way cool jr, Rebelsoul, great posts! I have started to amass the kinds of tools necessary for setting up a guitar, feeler gauge, diagonal cutters, allen head wrenches, etc, and I'm not averse to trying. Just haven't gotten around to it. At least I change my own strings!

I took this Strat into GC because I had a coupon for a free setup. Maybe that's why the guy didn't do squat. The good news is that Strats are especially setup friendly and there's lots of info out there to guide me.

OP, hope I didn't hijack your thread!

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American Standard Strat, Sienna Sunburst
Gibson Les Paul, Desert Burst
Gibson SG '61 Reissue, Heritage Cherry

Well, at least you (hopefully) got a new set of strings out of it.

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if you didnt one of us will.


martian is right. some people are cut from the DIY cloth.
i am, sometimes.
still, nonetheless, i still suggest you by the book above and at least read it
so you will know whats what when it comes time to communicate to you setup person of choice. this way you know what does what and you will know what hes talking about when he goes to explain things.
this makes his job easier and your job at explaining your issues and concerns at little easier too. then one day you might have a slight issue and try to correct it yourself.
even if its small, you will feel the rewards of doing it yourself. this might then make you feel comfortable to take the next baby step, then the next, and so on.
if at all possible and at the very least, i would ask the tech if you can watch him do the setup. you will learn a lot just by watching. plus you will get a good feel for the tech and his ability. i have 1 guy that i trust to work on my stuff. bonus plan is hes a great floyd rose tech and 90% of his huge collection has them. this shows me right away that he has patience. thats something that to me, is very valuable in a tech. i would rather him have a ton of patience than a ton of knowledge. with patience i know if there is a strange problem, he will eventually figure it out thus adding to his knowledge.
all knowledge and no patience is a very bad mix in my opinion. YMMV of course.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

a word on GC techs.
heres the poo, i know a couple guys at my local GC that are pretty good at doing setups.
they gig on the weekends and work GC weekdays.
fortunatly both of these guys are the only sells people i will even deal with.
they know me and my likes and dislikes. they know what im interested in and wont waste my time with other crap. they offer me no high pressure sales either. they know if i like it i'll buy it, if not oh well. anything i try out i take straight to the vintage room for private time to look it over w/o all the other customers about.
so my advice is go to your local store and kind of talk to folks. not everybody there is a dip stick, its just that the ones that are over shadow the ones that are not.
find that diamond in the rough. get to know him and use him every time you come in. you wouldnt believe the deals and the product honesty that comes out once they know that your not the average tom, dick, and harry that come in there too. its a 2 way street.
oh and dont go off of age or looks right away either. one of the 2 has a very different look about him and he is pretty young. come to find out the guy is on top of his game.
gigs on weekends in a metal group though he loves jazz/ blues better. teaches from him home, and works the floor at GC during the week. its safe to say he lives and breathes this stuff and up to his eyeballs in knowledge and his customer list.
the first time i met him we talk for about an hour or so inbetween customers.
we brush on a quick conversation about a HW1 guitar that they didnt have. about 5 months went buy that i didnt see him. i went to get some stuff and as soon as i got out of the car he happened to be coming to work at the same time.
he said "hey dude, ive got something your gonna be interested in".
we went inside and out from the back he came with a HW1 that was due for a up and coming promotion, and a 80's charvel. neither guitar had hit the racks yet.
wow that guy remembered me and our conversation. he said he had been keeping an eye out for me for like 2 weeks since both guitars came in. the HW1 wasnt allowed out until the promo, and the used one he kept putting in the back of the racks in the stock room for me. that very visit told me several things about that guy.
he remembers the cares and concerns about his customers. he will also go out of his way to make things happen for his customers. plus he remembered what i like in a guitar and what im interested in and likely to spend mony on. sure he could have probably sold the charvel right away. the hw1 wouldnt have lasted 1/2 a day when the promo hit.
he talked with his boss and i walked with both guitars that day. oh and by the way, there was only 1 HW1 for the promo, and i got it 2.5 weeks before the promo was to hit.
so one of the guys quit and moved back home the other is the guy i just told you about.
if hes not there, i'll put what im after on layaway. then i come back when he is, drop my layaway, then buy it on the spot so he gets the commission for the sell.
so go find the guy/s that know their stuff at GC. its worth investigating everybody to see who's who. ya gotta remember they to are use to boneheads coming in there and beating up the product and not buying crap and wasting everybodies time too.
they look at us kinda the way we look at them. how are we to know whos who in this business? there should be a secret handshake or something.
so the good salesman will look like every other dead beat in there and the quality customer will look like every other dead beat that walks in.
go investigate. weed through the crap, and find the guy you can do business with. its worth the time spent in doing so for the both of you. its a win/win.
my salesman isnt looking to make a buck off me. he would rather i buy quality and me be happy with what i buy than to make the quick buck. its good business and he knows this.
hes stopped me more than once from buying something i thought i wanted.
why? because its GOOD BUSINESS.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Nope, had to supply my own.

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American Standard Strat, Sienna Sunburst
Gibson Les Paul, Desert Burst
Gibson SG '61 Reissue, Heritage Cherry

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You dig?

After reading through all of this I'm very excited to have my JM signature setup done for me next week; great advice on playing it out for at least a month before having it done though. By playing it over the past 3 months I can hear some rattles around 15 that can be smoothed out even though overall it's a great playing guitar. You can be knowledgable about what to look for without knowing how to fix it and create the sort of attachment to your guitar referred to so eloquently earlier by knowing what ailed it, but trusting it in capable hands to be straightened out.

I bought mine with the intent of it being a lifetime's worth of guitar. Playing, listening, and learning the music takes up what little of my hobby time I have and there is very little of it to spare. Paying someone to set up my investment for me is worth every penny to me. If I get some spare time to shred apart a hobby guitar and learn the craft, that would be amazing, but to me it seems almost like an entirely separate hobby.

Welcome!

You have a most logical and excellent grasp on the situation.



It truly is. I got into it purely for my own edification yet somehow, it turned into a professional trade.

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i just got a quick stup from my local guitar shop, if they know what they're doin, your gear can be perfect in about half an hour

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Fender Standard Stratocaster
Maton ER90C

A lot of good points on this thread. I am very much NOT mechanically inclined, but I still have an urge to learn to setup/work on guitars. It makes me a little squeamish to think of doing it on my new guitar though so I will definitely start on a cheaper guitar just in case I mess something up. When the time comes for a setup on my new guitar I'll take it to a pro. Maybe after I have successfully set up a couple of my other guitars I will be ready to tinker around on my new one.

I plan on ordering a couple of the books mentioned...and like someone said (especially for someone like me) BABY STEPS!

just take your time and stay relaxed.
the book i mentioned covers tons of things you will need to know.
im glad i bought the book. i read it through the first 3 days i had it. i then pulled out a cheapy squier and went chapter by chapter looking at the squier as i went.
didnt adjust anything, just looking. then after that, i went back adjustment by adjustment
read the chapter then reread making the adjustment at hand. its a lot of reading but it was fun and extremely educational as i went. i read in that book at least twice a week.
it stays on my bench along with 2 other very important books. nothing wrong with having
a solid set of work manuals to go off of at your work bench. they dont cover everything but man they sure do keep ya busy lol.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

very true Marvin.....But the truss rod, do not ever touch unless u know what ur doing!
i learnt off a guitar repairist/teacher.