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Post by goldtopsnopp on May 9, 2005 11:59:34 GMT -5
I am very interested in not only playing guitars, but also learning about them. I do most research on gibbys (and of course epiphones). But I have never had a setup made on a guitar by myself (except for string changes and soldering). I would really like to learn that, don't want to take every guitar I get to a tech all my life. And you can make a lot of research on the internet about intonation and truss rod corrections. But I don't want to do it for the first time on an expensive guitar (luckily the goldtop has had it's setup), so I could buy a crappy les paul copy guitar and practice on it. But I'm not really in the mood for buying a crappy guitar when I'm saving for a TSL. So, how did you people learn to do a proper setup? Did it take many mistakes before you learned how to do it?
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Post by CAFeathers on May 9, 2005 13:13:51 GMT -5
I did research on the internet on setups, then just did it. Take your time and don't rush. If you start getting frustrated walk away for a few.
You could also ask your tech to show you how it is done, most will do it.
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Post by Steelpriest on May 9, 2005 13:20:47 GMT -5
I did read alot and I was always very sure concerning what I did. So I learned it by doing. I never did something I was not sure about, never risked too damage something irreversibly... You can learn alot from books and magazines, nowadays from websites and forums. Don´t be too shy to use a screwdriver on your guitar to make some adjustments, our guitars are not as fragile as we like to pretend, hehe. Keep one thing in mind when it comes to truss rod adjustments: Take time, never turn the screw more than a 1/5 up to a 1/4 turn. make adjustments slowly and leave the guitar alone overnight and see how the adjustment affects the neck. There is one thing I strongly recommend NOT to do. Never try to level frets yourself! It takes a lot of experience and you need the right tools. When I was younger I had a string buzz on the 4th and 5th fret on one of my guitars, so i decided to try a D.I.Y. job with a little file... I had much luck, nothing went wrong and the guitar was perfect. Later I recognized how easily I could have ruined the guitar in a glimpse of an eye. So everything that concerns the frets belongs into the hands of skilled guitar tech. But it´s fun to learn to set action, intonation, make truss rod adjustments, change pick ups (learn to solder accurately). There are lots of good websites about guitar maintenance and repair. Look at what I suggested a few months ago: epifriends.proboards28.com/index.cgi?board=guitarmodificationandrepair&action=display&thread=1094812177 |
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Post by goldtopsnopp on May 10, 2005 9:08:56 GMT -5
That is the site that I use learning setup and repairing. Very good site! I have tried intonation on my ibanez. But I would like to do it on a gibson style guitar. I am always very careful when I handle stuff that are important(guitars) and I wouldn't do anything without being sure at first. But it feels bad doing it on my goldtop(espacially since it has had a setup), maybe on an epi les paul junior. They go cheap. As far as fret goes, I wouldn't do anything by myself unless I'm working as a tech when I'm an adult. I feel more comfortable when soldering. I have done in the input and pots. Never changed pups though. Too bad there are no techs in my town. I have to travel quite a bit to the nearest.
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