Guitar setup help needed

S

Superhuman

Shagaholic
I've got a few high end guitars and I've been playing for a long time but short of changing strings I havent a clue how to do a basic setup - I've always gone the lazy route and had a guitar tech to do it for me but thats not an option anymore. So its time to learn how to do it properly.

How do I fix the intonation? It kills me everytime... so I slap on a new set of strings, tune her up, get the action right and spring tension at the back of the trem. Everything sound good tuned up off the 5th and 7 fret harmonics but things start going out of tune past the 12th frets. Whats the procedure re adjusting the truss rod and those sliding string saddles on top of the trem? My guitars are mostly Ibanez models with the Lo-Pro style trem system...

Any basic step by step help on how to do it right would be cool.

Thanks
 
Superhuman said:
I've got a few high end guitars and I've been playing for a long time but short of changing strings I havent a clue how to do a basic setup - I've always gone the lazy route and had a guitar tech to do it for me but thats not an option anymore. So its time to learn how to do it properly.

How do I fix the intonation? It kills me everytime... so I slap on a new set of strings, tune her up, get the action right and spring tension at the back of the trem. Everything sound good tuned up off the 5th and 7 fret harmonics but things start going out of tune past the 12th frets. Whats the procedure re adjusting the truss rod and those sliding string saddles on top of the trem? My guitars are mostly Ibanez models with the Lo-Pro style trem system...

Any basic step by step help on how to do it right would be cool.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Bring back Sigs.:mad: All the links you need are in my sig.

This has been covered so often.

You need to start by understanding what is and isn't "in tune". You then need to stop tuning to the 5th and 7th fret harmonic.

Start Here,

then read this
then tune your guitar like this.

Once you've done these come back for a flame fest here in yet another tuning and temperament thread..:rolleyes:
 
Nice one guys, thanks for the info. Yeah, I've seen a few of those flame threads re tunings etc!

PS.... so why the hell havent we got our sig files back yet anyway????:confused:
 
I recommend you get yourself a good book on the subject. There are many titles available. Try StewMac.com for some options. Anyone who plays a guitar should have a clear understanding of how they work. At the very least this will vastly improve your interaction with luthiers in the future. A proper setup requires some luthiery skill but most people can learn to tweak their guitar to make it play to their tastes. This is an indispensible skill if you do gigs.

I hope someone can recommend a good title to you. It was a long time ago when I went through this process and I don't know enough about what's out there now to make a recommendation. The internet can be a source of bad information as well as good. You shouldn't trust it as your only source.

Get a book, read it thouroghly and then come back and ask questions.
 
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