Arlington Fret Works

 Guitar Repair

Arlington, VA
ph: 703 969 6233

Set UP

  • •What's in a Guitar set up?

     
    When a guitar is being completed at the factory, or shop, the last steps in the process are to make fine adjustments to the neck, nut, and saddles. This is called the set up. High quality guitars get a very thorough set up at the factory. Some budget guitars don't get set up at all. Also, as your guitar ages it will need periodic adjustments to keep it in good playing condition, as wood moves with temperature and humidity changes. Not every problem can be fixed with a few adjustments, but sometimes a set up can make dramatic changes, and a guitar can go from being a pain to a pleasure to play.

    The Neck:
    Most modern guitars have a steel rod inside the neck to counteract the pull of the strings, called the truss rod. This is adjusted with a threaded nut at one end of the neck.  (On most acoustics  you have to look inside the sound hole to find it.)  Tightening or loosening the nut adjusts the curvature of the neck.  Too much curve and the strings will be too high around the 7th to 10th     frets. Too little curve, or a reverse curve or back bow, and the strings will buzz around the 3rd to 5th frets.

    The Nut:
    The thingy that the stings rest in at the end of the neck nearest the tuners is called the nut.  The slots in the nut have to be cut so that each string is comfortable to play down by the first fret. If they are too high you will basically have to bend a string to reach the first frets, and chords go out of tune. If they are too low the strings will buzz at the first fret. And if they are filed at the wrong angle the guitar won't play in tune. (See the page on "intonation" for details on this problem.)

    The Saddle:
    At the other end of the strings from the nut is the saddle, or saddles. Once the nut slots and neck curve have been adjusted the saddles can be adjusted for height and then intonation.


    This is a Minarik Inferno that the owner bought used, and wanted looked over and set up.  I put all my tools in the photo, and I'll just describe what I do with each tool in order.
     

    The first thing I noticed was a severe back bow in the neck, causing the strings to sit flat on the first fret. With the allen wrench I turned the truss rod nut counter-clockwise to correct the back bow and add some "relief", a tiny bit of up bow, about .008" measured at the 7th fret.

    Next I measured the string height at the first fret with feeler gauges.  The string slots had previously been filed too low, so the strings were still almost touching the fret, and buzzing. We decided to install a new Tusq nut. Then I used a variety of thin files to lower each string to comfortable playing height.

    Then I went over the entire fret board checking for high frets. Some of  these can be corrected by a sharp tap with a fretting hammer, and don't require any filing to level them.  (If they do require filing I'll mention it to the customer, as that's not part of set up.)

    Time to clean and oil the fret board, and polish the frets.  I've found a great fretboard oil called Fret Doctor which was first developed for expensive clarinets.  All plant oils, darkens the wood back to its original color, and smells great.

    Add new strings, and it's time to adjust the string height and saddle radius. On a Strat I adjust the individual saddle heights to match the radius of the fretboard. With a Tun-o-matic bridge I check the radius to make sure the bridge hasn't collapsed under string tension. This can happen if the stop tailpiece is screwed down too low to the body.

    These frets were nice and level, and I could get the action low ... 4/64ths" for the bass E, and 3/64th" for the treble E, measured at the 12th fret.  The owner wanted it a bit higher, so I raised them 1/64th" on each side.  I also raised the stop tailpiece a bit to create a better string angle over the bridge.

    Time to set the saddles for intonation with the Peterson strobe tuner, after I stretch the strings so they will hold pitch!  Using a small screw driver I move the saddles back or forth to adjust for sharp or flat intonation. 

    I first adjust the saddles with a capo on the guitar at the first fret, matching the harmonics to the fretted notes notes at the 8th and 13th frets. This takes the nut out of the equation. Then I check without the capo, matching the notes at the 7th and 12th frets.  If any of the nut slots are worn or filed at the wrong angle the intonation will be off on those open strings.  I'll mark the bottom of the slot with a fine pencil, for a visual aid, and then file correct the angle.  When I'm sure they're right I put a tiny drop of Tufoil Lubit-8 in each slot. It contains teflon and makes tuning much smoother, and it doesn't look messy like graphite. 

    When intonated correctly the saddles will have a sort of Z pattern.  On this guitar the A string saddle didn't fit the usual pattern. I looked under it and there was a burr in the saddle slot. After I cleaned up the slot, and re-did the intonation, the saddle lined up correctly:



    I usually set the pickup heights to factory specs  and let the owner personalize them later. Factory is usually around 3/32" to 1/8" above the strings when fretted at the top fret. 

    I check the pots and switches, and if necessary spray them with contact cleaner. Also tightened any loose hardware.  

    Time to pretty it up. It doesn't take much to get a modern guitar finish clean. A damp cloth, or some naptha (lighter fluid) is usually enough. Naptha is safe for most finishes, but less is best. Stelling Glyde-Cote is a great polish for the final touches. 

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