Interesting (and kinda funny) story

Xcaliber

Xcaliber

New member
I dropped my brand new Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute off at Sam Ash yesterday to have it set up (I bought the extended warranty and comes with unlimited adjustments and string replacements (if I buy the strings) for 2 years) and get new strings on it. I figured it's free so why not use it.

So I tell the guy "Do I get to pick out the strings?" (not knowing if they are included in the price), he said "You have to buy them so we can put whatever you want on it", then he looks at me with this puzzled look and says "It's brand new, does it need new strings already?". I guess there's no way for him to know that the guitar is from 2013 and it's probably been sitting in some warehouse for a couple of years, but do you guys ever set up a guitar or have a guitar set up and not get new strings? I told him "Let's just put some new ones on it m'kay?"
 
Jeez new strings are a given. Do you trust that bozo lol I mean luthier....Tell him to fix the nut :).
 
I always take off the stock strings that come with new guitars....mainly because I prefer a different brand that never comes on any of them.

Now...if a new guitar came with my brand/type/gauge of strings...mmmm...I think I would leave them and play them out, since it takes a bit of playing to get a new guitar settled in anyway, even after its set up...so then when I put on a fresh set, everything will be right.

That said...if new string have been sitting it on it for 2 year...off they come regardless if they are my brand. Two years of oxidation is not going to feel or sound all that great.
 
Sam Ash and Guitar Center wouldn't be my choice of places to get a setup, just for reasons like in the OP. I just makes sense to learn how to do your own setups. Fretwork is a different matter.
 
I have a stockpile of strings at home and I always send them to the tech in the accessory pouch (and let him know to use the provided strings). I even do that with brand new guitars, since they usually come from the factory with 9s or 10s on them and I play on 11s. I want the guitar set up for my string gauge, and for my heavy handed playing style. So if I break a string or want to put a new set on, I won't have to worry about intonation or action issues.

Being labor day weekend, I'd bet that you could score 10 or 12 sets of strings somewhere online for $3 or $4 per set on some sale.
 
ido1957 said:
Jeez new strings are a given. Do you trust that bozo lol I mean luthier....Tell him to fix the nut :).
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It wasn't the actual luthier I talked to, but some "front desk dude". He was clueless. I figure I have the warranty and I will see how they do this time. If it comes back and isn't set up properly I'll go to my usual place next time.

As for doing the setup myself, it's just not worth it for me. It's really frustrating and nerve-racking for me and I'd rather not go through it. I tried to string one of my guitars last night and I broke the high E string. Was my last set too so now I have to go get some more to try it again.
 
Tadpui said:
Being labor day weekend, I'd bet that you could score 10 or 12 sets of strings somewhere online for $3 or $4 per set on some sale.
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I just did.

Strings are cheap and the store gets them even cheaper, there's no reason to not change them.
 
Xcaliber said:
It wasn't the actual luthier I talked to, but some "front desk dude". He was clueless. I figure I have the warranty and I will see how they do this time. If it comes back and isn't set up properly I'll go to my usual place next time.

As for doing the setup myself, it's just not worth it for me. It's really frustrating and nerve-racking for me and I'd rather not go through it. I tried to string one of my guitars last night and I broke the high E string. Was my last set too so now I have to go get some more to try it again.
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Come on dude, you don't have to do full setups, but at least be able to string your own guitar. :D
 
I treated myself to a reasonably decent acoustic guitar (Taylor 314ce) not too long ago. It was in the shop, I played it and immediately liked it.

The guy in the shop packed up for me, then threw in an extra set of strings, explaining that it had been in the shop for a while and that the strings on it were a bit past their best.

I thought that was a cool thing to do.

I was showing it to someone after I got it home (as you do), and he asked whether I had taken it to a luthier to get it set up.

I hadn't, for two reasons: I would not expect a guitar that cost nearly $3k not to be set up properly in the first place, and secondly, it played so uncompromisingly beautifully that I didn't feel there were any adjustments to be made.
 
Xcaliber said:
It wasn't the actual luthier I talked to, but some "front desk dude". He was clueless. I figure I have the warranty and I will see how they do this time. If it comes back and isn't set up properly I'll go to my usual place next time.

As for doing the setup myself, it's just not worth it for me. It's really frustrating and nerve-racking for me and I'd rather not go through it. I tried to string one of my guitars last night and I broke the high E string. Was my last set too so now I have to go get some more to try it again.
Click to expand...

There's about a zillion videos on youtube on how to change strings. Only way to break a string is tuning it way too high or kinking up one of the ends (tuner peg or bridge). On an electric the 'set up' that a place like SA or GC does can be done in a minute- all they do is check the intonation, and adjust the saddles as needed.
 
I have around twenty stringed instruments, if I took them into the luthier every time they needed a fresh set of strings, I'd be living under a bridge. Of all my instruments. I've only taken five in to be worked on, the rest were fine right from the factory.

I'm not much on modding or tinkering with gear, but you really have got to be able to change your own strings.
 
You should be able to do all of the basics yourself really, change strings, adjust truss rod, saddle/bridge heights, this is all basics and the controls are there on the guitar to make it easy for the owner to play with this and adjust it to preference.

I can understand if people don't want to get into filing or sanding down nut slots, but it's not that hard and you're still pretty unlikely to fuck anything up badly provided you use common sense
 
I really don't think that X doesn't know how to change strings... Hell, if I had free setups (read "adjustments") I would take advantage of it, too.

With that being said, I don't know if I'd go to a big box music store to get that work done.
 
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