[SpruceTop]

A guitar is usually setup once when it's new, either at the factory or at the dealer or by a knowlegeable owner, and may need adjustment due to aging or if attention isn't paid to the conditions in which it's kept. For me, I've learned to keep all my guitars in a climate-controlled family room using a Sears humidifier and a GE dehumidifier, the use of which depends on the season. My conditions are easily maintained, year-round, between 65- and 74-degrees Fahrenheit, and 40% to 52% Relative Humidity. My guitars stay in good tune and the action and neck-relief don't vary worth mentioning. Under these conditions, the only time I'll need to adjust my wooden guitars, with a slight tweak of the truss rod, is due to aging as they gradually fold-in on themselves. As long as they generally remain climate-controlled, a neck reset should be years in the making.

Being climate-controlled guitars, when they're played out for gigs and jams over the course of several hours, the only thing that needs to be done is tuning them to the present conditions. Please believe me that I've experienced wet and dry guitars and the damage that can be done to them when not properly maintained! In the past, I've used summer and winter saddles, and had to adjust the neck-relief, but this was necessary because I didn't maintain a climate-controlled environment for the guitars to live in when not being played elsewhere.

So, my experience is this: If you maintain your wooden guitars in a climate-controlled environment, initial setup is quite easy to maintain for a long time but if you subject your guitars to larger swings in temperature and, especially, Relative Humidity, you'll likely need frequent adjustments to try to maintain a good initial setup and a neck-reset will likely be necessary sooner.