SETUP SECRETS

Getting a guitar to play and sound like a dream isn’t witchcraft, but experience helps – this is why we asked some of the world’s top techs and luthiers how they do it. Read and learn…

Hone that axe! We show you how to get the very best from your guitar using our tips and techniques from experts in the field of instrument maintenance…

Awhile back one of the team was messing about with a Strat they’d had for a while. It sounded great but never quite felt fun to play, being a little too much like hard work to truly relish. Driven by curiosity, they dropped half a gauge in string size and cleaned and set up the guitar while they were at it. The result was transformative. The beautiful tone of the guitar remained, but now the expressiveness that comes with an easyplaying feel was also there – and the fun had returned with it. The point is that while larger repairs and modifications are often best left to qualified repairers or techs, there remains a wealth of reversible tweaks we can all make to our guitars to heighten their performance.

So, why do so many home guitarmaintenance jobs end in a sheepish trip to a tech when we get into difficulties trying to improve the setup and tone of our guitars? A lot of it has to do with method. If you proceed methodically and logically, many sticky situations can be avoided. The rub is that the aforementioned method (and a fair bit of ‘knack’, too) tends to come with experience. That’s why we got in touch some of the world’s top setup and maintenance experts, from master builders to seen-it-all repair specialists, to glean their hard-won tips on how to tweak, fettle and maintain your pride and joy the professional way, gaining selfconfidence in the core essentials of setting up a guitar in the process.

Some of their advice is procedural, some just handy tips. But all of it is, we promise, relevant to every guitarist who wants to get the most from their instrument. So, get the kettle on, head to the shed and prepare to get your hands dirty…

Future Publishing Limited provides the information for this feature in good faith and makes no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions in this feature do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of parts and equipment for a particular use. Anyone under the age of 18 should be supervised by a responsible adult when carrying out any maintenance on an instrument. Protective clothing, gloves and goggles or safety glasses should be worn at all times when using soldering equipment, tools and adhesives. Modifying your guitar may void its warranty. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Future Publishing Limited takes no responsibility for any person relying on the information relating to this feature and disclaims all liability for any errors, omissions, damage or injury to users or their equipment as a result of or relating to the modifying of their guitar.