anyone recommend having a guitar setup?

[Fran]

My approach is usually to hold the string down at the last fret and the first fret then look for a 1mm - 2mm gap around the seventh fret. With vintage radius this is sometimes too low and you end up with choke out when bending notes. Not a lot you can do about this other than live with it or raise the action, Fender recognised this and changed the radius on their guitars. But us lot love the old stuff so we just have to get on with things.
With truss rod adjustments i only go a quarter turn maximum and let the neck settle over night. Unless you have jumped up four string gauges or dramatically changed your tunings it should never need more than that either way.

I prefer the vintage Strat tremolo to the two point type, in fact the Burns two point is garbage, it spoils a great guitar. I've spent days setting up tremolos, its tedious but well worth it when it works.

Well worth putting the time in and learning yourself Rob because ultimately guitar set up is a personal preference and no one knows you better than yourself.

[Progrockabuse]

right time for an update on my strat.

so i've given it the once over, cleaned and treated the fingerboard with lemon oil, cleaned contacts/pots/switch etc with contact cleaner. taken the neck off and repaired the screw holes in the neck with wood glue and matchsticks and gave the truss rod a loosen. neck is now solid again and it's helped the sustain. i've taken the lump of rubber blocking the bridge, adjusted the springs and claw and set all the saddle/bridge heights and intonation. raised the pickups to fender website suggestions, then backed off a little to counter slight buzz from pickups affecting the strings.

the verdict............

it sounds fucking amazing, all the sustain has come back, no fret buzz, chords ring out and you can pick out every note. more output from the guitar and less harsh treble overtones. i took it to practise last night and it just sounded great, even used my od less as there was plenty of sustain already on a moderate od amp channel. it's now back to how it was when i first brought it. the output is now more or less on par with my tele, so no fucking around with settings when swapping guitars. plus the open g string has always sounded crap when struck, not so any more it's loud and clear.

so now both my fenders sound the dogs and will negate the need to mod or replace/augment them. and zero cost to me for the setup.

[Dave]

YOU'VE DONE A MAN'S JOB, SIR!

Awesome work Rob - it's really satisfying to get to grips with this stuff and come out dancing innit?

[Gabriel]

Sounds great, theres nothing more satisfying than doing a little work to your guitar and it making a world of difference. This happened to me recently I'd grown disillusioned towards my JJ Electra, but after a re-wire with some higher quality cabling and much better pots and cap it sounds a hell of a lot better - so I'm playing more and thinking about buying things less, the way it should be!

[johnnyseven]

so, i want to know if you've had a guitar setup professionally and was it worth it.

I maybe a bit late to this thread but here's my 2 pence worth...

I've had my guitars set up a number of times as i'm a bit crap when it comes to technical things so prefer to give my pride and joy over to someone who knows what they've doing. Every time i've had a guitar back it has made a difference and been totally worth it.

If you're anywhere near London I know a guy that'll do you a set up for £25.

[benecol]

Well done Rob - being able to do your own setups is dead handy.

[Fran]

If you're anywhere near London I know a guy that'll do you a set up for £25.

Which includes?
Jesus, i wish i could charge that. I've completely rewired guitars for £40 and habitually set them up at the end of it for nothing.

Good on ya' though Rob, a man of your saliva should be setting his own gear up.

P.S. I did my first fret level last week, on a set neck Les Paul too. It was a milestone achievement