Just Because You Bought A New

[EZYPIKINS]

Just because you bought a new guitar. And maybe an expensive one. Doesn't mean you are done. All new guitars are left with high Nuts and Bridge saddles. Left high for a reason. So they can have enough adjustment for a proper setup for the buyer. If you check with a good tuner. The better the tuner, the better the results. Tune guitar. Press at first fret. Is the note sharp. More likely than not it is. This is why newer players have such a hard time learning to play an F chord. Nut needs to be addressed.
Next. Pluck harmonic note, just over the top of the 12th fret. and tune to zero. Then fret the note. Is it sharp. I'll bet money on this one. 99 percent of em are still sharp even after a "guitar tech" has worked it over.
When you employ a Tech to do a setup. Don't just say you want better action. Tell him you want it "intonated" as well. A good tech will know what you want and how to do it.
Some guitar player who just bought some tools from Stu Mac and hung out a shingle. May not quite know how to make all this happen.
Once you get your guitar's action, nut, neck relief, and intonation set.
You can begin to enjoy your purchase for years to come.

[BudHa]

My experience with new US made six string Martins, I have purchased, is all of them have been set up high from the factory and need a good setup to match your personal preference. My experience with Guild 12 string guitars, built in Oxnard CA, is they are made to be played by a typical strummer right out of the box.

I have no other experience with new "expensive" acoustic guitars.

[Rev Roy]

For me, it depends on the builder. I’ve had to take all of my Martins in for setups. But I’ve had a number of Taylors that were perfect for me right out of the box. And I’ve never had to setup a Collings or Bourgeois. Superbly playable from the get-go.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

I agree with the OP and to Rev to some degree.

Martins I've played absolutely need set up (check for proper neck relief, and reduce saddle height to my preferred 3/32" action for low E at 12th).

Taylors do tend to have the best set up out of the box, the most I've ever had to do was maybe a 1/4 turn of the TR, but saddle height tends to be right on point.

Collings...I've played a bunch new in store, and took home my favorite. They all had slightly higher action than my preferred (closer to 1/8" than 3/32") but their neck reliefs were all on point, so rather than adjust the truss rod, I took off about 1/32" from the bottom of the saddle and now it plays like butter.

SCGC was similar to the Collings I needed to take about 1/32" from the bottom of the saddle, neck relief was spot on.

My H&D was spot on from the get-go which is good because it has a cut-through saddle which, if I needed to lower it, would mean I'd have to take it off from the top.

I will say on all the guitars I've bought, nut slot height and first few fret clearance were all on point. And to clarify, when I say neck relief was spot on, I'm using SCGC's best practice (it's on their website) in terms of measuring neck relief by capo'ing 1st fret, fretting at where the neck joins the body, and measuring relief at the 6th fret using a feeler gauge. As I'm sure most here know, a neck should not be "perfectly straight".

[KevinH]

Yeah, that's a conundrum for the manufacturer. As you said, they need to leave the action high enough so a proper setup can accommodate any playing style. But I'm sure a lot of people will try a new guitar and put it back because it's not comfortable to play.

I'd bet the vast majority of people buying guitars, especially at the lower end, don't realize what a huge difference a good setup can make. I realize that but it can still color my view when I'm trying out a guitar. It's hard to guess what it will feel like after a setup. Months ago, before covid, I was in a shop and tried out a couple of SCGCs (H13 and H14) and a Taylor 522. Of course they all sounded different, but I liked them all. I ended up buying the 522 because I liked the warmer tones from the mahogany, but I'm sure its ease of play was a big part as well. I don't know if the shop owner had set it up or if it was sent like that from the factory - 5/64 on E, 4/64 on e, which is perfect for me. I'm sure that played into my decision to buy the 522, maybe subconsciously.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

To add one thing I just did to my Collings which in my opinion has really improved the sound in terms of giving a more balanced tone across the spectrum.

The highs were a little loud/bright compared to the rest and when I took out my gauge meter I realized that though it's a little bit above 3/32" at the low E, it was well above 2/32, nearly to 3/32, at the high E.

Applied the capo, took the strings out of the bridge, removed the saddle and sanded it at an angle, reducing the treble side by 1/32 while trying not to reduce the bass side much.

When I restrung it up, my low E was still just a smidge above 3/32 by the treble was much closer to 2/32. And the highs are now tamed considerably and the Collings is so much more balanced now.

[BadWithNames]

Maybe saddle height and neck relief are personal matters, but I thought nut slots were either right or wrong (just barely above the first fret). For some reason they’re usually cut too shallow, but why? To allow for bad fret level?

[Goodallboy]

It also doesn’t mean you’ll need to do anything. There are no absolutes in guitar world.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by EZYPIKINS

Just because you bought a new guitar. And maybe an expensive one. Doesn't mean you are done. All new guitars are left with high Nuts and Bridge saddles. Left high for a reason. So they can have enough adjustment for a proper setup for the buyer. If you check with a good tuner. The better the tuner, the better the results. Tune guitar. Press at first fret. Is the note sharp. More likely than not it is. This is why newer players have such a hard time learning to play an F chord. Nut needs to be addressed.
Next. Pluck harmonic note, just over the top of the 12th fret. and tune to zero. Then fret the note. Is it sharp. I'll bet money on this one. 99 percent of em are still sharp even after a "guitar tech" has worked it over.
When you employ a Tech to do a setup. Don't just say you want better action. Tell him you want it "intonated" as well. A good tech will know what you want and how to do it.
Some guitar player who just bought some tools from Stu Mac and hung out a shingle. May not quite know how to make all this happen.
Once you get your guitar's action, nut, neck relief, and intonation set.
You can begin to enjoy your purchase for years to come.

"Just because you bought a new guitar. And maybe an expensive one. Doesn't mean you are done".
Agreed. New guitars move - they have a lot of "settling in to do," and as far as opening up and maximising the sounds - that's your job.

All new guitars are left with high Nuts and Bridge saddles. Left high for a reason. So they can have enough adjustment for a proper setup for the buyer.

Disagree - although it is or certainly was true for Martin who were quite open about this.

It isn't true for Collings who set up at 3/32 (.094) and 2/32 (.063), and it wast true for my Santa Cruz. (actually I prefer about .100- .075)
I've recently received my second Eastman flat top - My E20-p needed a little adjustment, but my E40-00 which tiurmned up a few days ago - a slight nip on the double action truss rod was all that is necessary.

[Br1ck]

Taylors have a setup that sells guitars. I would have to have a new saddle made right off. Not everyone wants as low as you can go without buzzing. I commend Martin on their factory setup.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Taylors have a setup that sells guitars. I would have to have a new saddle made right off. Not everyone wants as low as you can go without buzzing. I commend Martin on their factory setup.

I'm curious about your last comment. Martin setups for me have been all over the place. From my "favorite" local shop (LA Guitar Sales) who primarily deals in high-end Custom Shop Martins, the set up has been pretty good (saddle could use reduction but the neck relief tends to be pretty good). But in other small and large shops, I've seen Martin action that approaches 1/4" on low E at 12th. And not just one or two, but quite a few. Admittedly it's on their lower end lines, but even one behind the Guitar Center "glass case" (it was a D-28 with "wild grain EIR") was almost 1/4". So while some Martins are pretty good, even if you don't want them at 3/32, 8/32" is a bit extreme in my view, and likely will turn off some buyers especially at the more affordable end of their product line where people are less likely to know that what feels like a difficult to play guitar can easily be fixed by a setup.

[Bear Davis]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

Martin setups for me have been all over the place.

Same for me...

[flaggerphil]

I prefer the factory Taylor setup.

[Picker1]

According to the Martin website, all of their guitars in the last ten years have been pleked to optimize nut height for correct intonation and dresses the frets and identifies fret issues. I'm sure that shipping a guitar cross country to a potentially different environment might require a slight adjustment to the truss rod. It shouldn't be a deal breaker or even a criticism of the guitar maker. Maybe just a criticism of the seller

[Mbroady]

McPherson Guitars comes with a medium action saddle installed, as well as an alternate, low action saddle. I understand the cost could be significant for mass production operations but boosting the sales price by $10-$20 should cover the cost, and would give added value, marketing spin opportunity, and would raise customer satisfaction to the equation.


It does not address a potential nut issue or truss rod adjustment, but I’m surprised more companies don’t do this.

On a side note, I do have 2 saddles for each guitar to address changes over the course of a year.