How
to Set Up a Guitar
This
is not an easy task and should be ideally preformed by an experienced
luther. The luther will normally go through a check list of
tasks to be actioned in order on the guitar. These tasks are
listed below.
Check
the neck is straight
This
is not so obvious as is may seem. As the luther generally looks
down the neck from the top and then around the other way. He
would be looking for a dip in the neck or in some cases a bowing.
It would be also checked if there is any neck twisting. If it
appears the neck is dipping then the trust rod which runs inside
the neck will have to be carefully adjusted to take out any
dips. There is normally an adjustment hole at the top of the
neck where a key can be placed in order to adjust the trust
rod.
Remove
fret buzz
The
neck is checked on every string and every fret to make sure
there are no places producing fret buzz. This is removed by
adjusting the string height. Though the string height does not
want to be too high but comfortably low to allow a good fast
action and ease of playing.
Stone
the frets
Fret
can often gain wear through time and have dips across their
length. This is obviously not a good feel for playing so the
luther will use a fret stone to gently take down the frets to
a level height and hence remove the dips.
Intonation
adjustment
If
the string lengths across the fret board are not the correct
length then this will cause the intonation to be out and hence
cause the guitar to be out of tune in certain spots across the
fret board. There are adjustment screws normally at the bridge
which when turned will adjust the string length and correct
any intonation faults.
Electrical
test
On
an electric guitar the electrical connections will have to be
checked to ensure good earthing, correct wiring of all circuits
and to check all joints are true. Where the guitar lead socket
is placed is often a weak spot due to the mechanical stress
of plugging in and removing the guitar lead, often the screws
and nuts will loosen and have to be checked.
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