I have too many guitars to keep paying people to do this stuff. Who knows, maybe I can make a few bucks on the side doing setups.
absolutely.
It's just a mechanical process ..... no different than setting the points on your old car.
basically anyone can do it .... a simple matter of taking measurements and adjusting.
But because it's a musical instrument people think it's mysterious and only those with the proper hoo-doo can do it.
As a piano tech I can tell you that we piano tuners get together and laugh about the things people think concerning their pianos.
So many myths and untruths ... it's the same with guitars.
I have set up all my instruments since I was 15 ..... I'm sure I wasn't that great at it but I did do it ..... I don't think I've ever paid someone to set up a guitar.
I actually spent about 4 hours last night dialing in that tele I built and a awesome partscaster I built 35 years ago .... I'm gonna gig 'em today just to make sure everything's hunky-dory.
I haven't used the strat in maybe 15 years and I'm a bit excited about taking it on stage again.
It took a bit 'o' time ..... had frozen adjustment screws in some of the saddles ...... I spent a lot of time simply getting them free ......
I ended up replacing a couple so the old ones could sit in Liquid Wrench for a few weeks.
It's an unusual bridge I bought back then that I doubt I can get parts for anymore but fortunately I always buy two of anything I really like so I took some off the other unused bridge.
Stew mac has some cool tools .... I have a catalog in the bathroom and there really are some cool ones.
The string height feeler gauges look pretty useful to me.
And there's a pretty nice neck-relief gauge that would be great for anyone uncertain about truss-rod adjustments.
TBH ..... I just eyeball it but I've been doing it a long time.