New guitar setup?

drumdrum

Hi guys,

This is a quick one, but its been at the back of my mind all day.
I was tracking a friend on mine yesterday and he decided that he wanted to use his brand new electric guitar that he got off Thomann during the week. New toys and all that I guess!

Anyways, during the recording we noticed a fair bit of fret buzz along the low E string which really ruined any takes we did. Needless to say, I didnt get anything useable to work with.

I suggested he get it setup at Music Maker or Xmusic or wherever, but he was a bit annoyed that he should have to do this having spent about €1000 on his new guitar. He swears there was no buzz when he was playing it the night before, and I believe him. So it got me thinking...

Is this normal when buying a new guitar? Is a setup part of the "new guitar" process?
I'm a drummer mainly so the most "setup" I have to do is tuning the drum! I have a guitar myself and I can play a bit, but I never bought one new so I'm not sure on the general "accepted-ness" of having to spend a bit more on a new guitar after just buying it....

anyways, thanks for reading!

Squidgy Black

It depends, some come set up amazingly, some are barely playable.

I'd never buy a guitar off thomann, if you buy in a store you get to see how the guitar's set up and plays before you buy, most stores compete with thomann prices.

But yeah, a lot of the guitars off thomann are simply just forwarded on from the manufacturer, so a set up can be needed. It's not that expensive if it's a 1000 quid guitar, 30 quid to make it feel and play better is hardly big money.

drumdrum

stetyrrell wrote: »

It's not that expensive if it's a 1000 quid guitar, 30 quid to make it feel and play better is hardly big money.

Ha! My words exactly man...I guess its the principal!

As with buying guitars, I agree Id rather buy in store, but not all stores are willing to get in higher ended guitars so willingly.
Anyways, thanks for this. It was just eating at the back of my mind all day because as I said, I never bought a guitar new myself (2nd hand, I've bought a couple )

mada999

Hi there, i've had the same experience.. the last two guitars i bought from Thomann i had to get set up.. probably wouldn't buy a guitar in the future without playing it first..

Dord

I see it as more of a personal thing. Different players have different preferred setups. i.e. some prefer higher action and others prefer super low action.

Tuning and neck tension can be easily knocked about during shipping due to temperatures etc. So, of course that'd need to be checked. Beyond that, I setup my instruments the way I like when I get them. If what's required is beyond my abilities (e.g. fretwork) then I'll bring it to a tech.

PaulBrewer

Generally guitars need setting up a couple of times a year.

Being wooden they 'change' relative to average air moisture. I guess the rough and tumble of being moved around can have a factor also.

Regarding buying guitars unseen - my friend and I recently visited a Dublin store where he fancied a left handed Epiphone Les Paul, 2 of which the store had.

While they were different colours, they were the same model.
1 was great ... the other wasn't.

He paid the same price that he would have online.

if6was9

Any guitar that is shipped is going to need to get a once over. As previously mentioned, wood changes alot and the temperature difference will mess with even the best set-up job.

Set-ups are very easy though and don't require anything more complex than a few allen keys and a screwdriver. I've been doing my own since I was a teenager. There's tons of helpful videos and tutorials on line to help.
That said alot of shops don't really do a great job either- I used to get bands to get their instruments set up before coming in to record but was still finding the intonation off and there being buzz on alot of them so now I do some of the work myself when bands have an instrument with a problem.

I've no problem buying guitars new/used without getting to play them. There's no way I could have some of the guitars I do by playing them first. Shops here simply don't have alot of the guitars I would be interested in.

flyswatter

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Generally guitars need setting up a couple of times a year.

Being wooden they 'change' relative to average air moisture. I guess the rough and tumble of being moved around can have a factor also.

Regarding buying guitars unseen - my friend and I recently visited a Dublin store where he fancied a left handed Epiphone Les Paul, 2 of which the store had.

While they were different colours, they were the same model.
1 was great ... the other wasn't.

He paid the same price that he would have online.

The guitar I just bought was set up professionally very recently. Perfect action, frets done, new strings and the nut adjusted properly.

Will this require further setup in time?

Squidgy Black

flyswatter wrote: »

The guitar I just bought was set up professionally very recently. Perfect action, frets done, new strings and the nut adjusted properly.

Will this require further setup in time?

Eventually yes. It all depends on how often it's used and abused, where it's stored etc. If you're gigging a guitar 3-4 times a week, changing strings constantly, and if it's being lugged around constantly in a car boot it'll need setting up every 4 months. But if it's sitting in your bedroom, being gently strummed a few times a week and on a stand you could get away with a yearly thing. Even then it'll only be a quick action adjustment and intonation.

eoin5

I've found mine mostly need a bit of seasonal adjustment, the better ones needing less work than the cheaper generally.

PaulBrewer

flyswatter wrote: »

The guitar I just bought was set up professionally very recently. Perfect action, frets done, new strings and the nut adjusted properly.

Will this require further setup in time?

Most guitars are made of wood which is a porous material - so chances are it will need a tweak now and then - however if you prefer a high action the 'change' in your instrument may not impact it's setup - if the action is very low it's more likely to.

drumdrum

I find its very easy to do yourself once you have the right tools.

I did a setup on my Strat the other night and shes playing better than ever now. I did one on the guys guitar that I was recording too. Turns out it ships with a multitool thing which is great.

Found all I needed with google! Seriously, why would anyone pay €50 or whatever to a shop to do this for you?