Have you ever had a Setup make a big difference?

[LiveMusic]

Couple things happened. I met this nice guy at a music store and started hanging around with him some and he swears he has a guitar tech that works magic on setups for guitars.

 

A few months back, I went into a store and stumbled upon a Martin. This guitar was amazing. Three grand. Doesn't matter if it was twenty grand, the point is, the guitar played like butter. An acoustic guitar that played easier than an electric. Why is this? What makes a guitar play that easy? The action has to be a large part. It just begged for you to fly around on the strings. I've never played a guitar like that. I had a Taylor and I thought _it_ was the champ. No comparison to that Martin.

 

Last night, I finally re-strung my backup guitar, a cheap Takamine I bought for $270 new. Heck, DRAMATIC difference in tone. No wonder the strings sounded weird, they were dead. It just sounds so fantastic now.

 

Just wondering if setting up even a cheap guitar like this could make a big difference in playability. That's the only thing keeping the Takamine from being a great guitar. I love the way it sounds.

 

If setup makes a huge difference, how often do you have it done?

[musicalhair]

A good set up allows you to play correctly with out compensating for things that are wrong with the set up. A good set up makes all the diference. It includes intonation, action and pickup height, any filing of the nut or bridge saddles if needed, fret filing if needed truss rod adjustments if needed. You "could" do it yourself, depending on what is wrong and your skill level and knowledge of how to fix it.

[Hush]

Good setup can make all the difference. Certainly made a difference with my Guild. You can take a nice gtr to great. Carefull not to make the action too low cause that will alter the sound.

 

Marc

[LiveMusic]

Originally posted by Hush.:

Carefull not to make the action too low cause that will alter the sound.

 

Marc

Whatcha mean Marc... anything beyond potential fret buzz?

[Hush]

Maybe it's not true, but I've felt that an acoustic sounds better with the action a little on the high side. Lets you really dig in when strumming. If it's too low it just doesn't seem to sing the same. Maybe it's just psycological?

[Dak Lander]

If the strings are too far away from the frets you'll pull it sharp when you finger notes or chords.

[PBBPaul]

A good setup job can work wonders on a guitar. IMHO, it's well worth the $100 for a qualified tech. String height also has quite a bit of influence on a guitar's sound. Higher action will make the guitar sound bigger but too high will make it difficult to play and out of tune. It's best to find a happy medium that sounds and feels best to you. Discuss this with the tech when you have a setup job done.

[Vin-erator]

I my acoustic 12 string, I once had a set-up that made it easier to play than my strat!

 

The downside was that, with the action so low, if I'd really hit the strings, I would almost get a muted sound.

 

Yes, a good set-up is well worth the money paid to a qualified tech. I'm good for a tweek here and there. However, I envy the people who can really do this for themselves.

[Noodlesbad]

I think a good setup is vital. It certainly made a night-and-day difference with my Mann (a 70s Les Paul copy) and my Mexican Fender Strat was much improved too. I know there are some manufacturers with a reputation for playing well "out of the box" (Yamaha and Godin leap to mind) but even then I'd have my friendly local guitar tech give it the once over.