Lets Talk Guitar Setups - Part 1

[@dennisbelon4475]

Great video. It didn’t take me long to determine only I could setup my guitar to my preferences. Once you get it right there’s no turning back. It’s not so much about perfection as it is getting the tone and feel that inspires you and makes playing a joy.

[@xXN0SK1LLZXx]

Deffo agree. I never used to understand the need for setting up my guitar. But now the difference is something I fee every time I play. Like I love how my pickups sound when they are flush to the body

[@maxpeck4154]

"Don't worry, you can't break it" is good advice. Doing your own setups in an invaluable thing to learn. There is no "wrong" way to do it. Do it by feel. Don't worry about how many .000" someone in some forum said the action HAS to be. I like my neck almost completely flat with as little relief as possible, for example. The key is to make adjustments in small increments, especially the truss rod, which I suppose you COULD theoretically break if you overdo it.

[@goldsocks9999]

This was the video I've always needed. Thank you for making this and explaining how everything works. Extremely thankful

[@alanreid3891]

excellent video...im old enough to remember the DIY ethic of punk...so saving money and have a sense of pride and ownership in the fact that you can work it out and do it for yourself is great. To me you represent the best of the internet...opening up and freely giving information to help people on their way

[@stealthy7]

Never any need to worry about wasting our time Dave. I enjoy everything you do, You're the working class hero of guitar tube world !

[@michaelceefox]

Thanks to you I now own a Jet Tele and boss katana. Picked up the guitar after years of not playing. It's very therapeutic.

[@Barbarapape]

Learning to do your own setup is a must for any serious guitar player. Very few guitars are setup to play at their best out of the box. Once you have got past the learning to play stage, you will then know what you do and don't like about your current guitar. Taking it to a good luthier is expensive, and even a good one can only try to get as close as possible to what you ask them to achieve. A bad one can leave you with a worse setup, and there are plenty of bad ones from my experience.

[@newsles2]

True. I've had a couple of very disappointing luthier experiences in the recent past where I naturally assumed some positive transformation of the instrument would occur. On both occasions the setup was worse than it had been before. Also, both failed to notice the unwanted movement in the neck - which I eventually fixed myself. It can be very hit-and-miss, hence 'DIY'.

[@Barbarapape]

@@newsles2 My own experience of "Luthiers" is the same, i did find a good one but he was expensive and a long distance away, now i do my own setups.

[@newsles2]

"Learn to do it yourself" is exactly what Robert Fripp (yes, really) said to me when I asked for his advice last year. What's more, I can prove it too because it's on one of the Toyah and Robert's Agony Aunts vids they recorded during lockdown. "Les from Birmingham but now in Oregon" as he called me all the way though 😁. Oh, great vid here btw. I used to be very 'ginger' about messing with the setup. Gradually losing that now. Vids such as this were a big help in losing that fear. Have a great weekend.

[@doperas_]

Great vid! I will say from my experience regarding the truss rod, whether or not you'll be able to set it & forget it seems to depend on the climate in your area. Over here in Lithuania the temperature and humidity differences between seasons are pretty extreme, and usually at least twice a year I notice either extra relief or not enough relief in the neck and have to make an adjustment.

[@saqibshabir9755]

This is actually pretty cool cos recently I wanted to get into learning to setup guitars myself instead of taking it to the shop, and now you made this video which will help a lot! Cheers Dave! :D

[@notperson7275]

Love the video from what I've watched so far. Do you ever experiment with refinishing your guitars, and if so, would you make a video on it? I have a nice Vintage V6 Icon that I want to try and refinish, and I think it'd be both fun and interesting to see you do it.

[@donnybrook8051]

10:27 definitely not true. My guitars need a truss rod adjustment at least every season.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

Truss rod adjustments are a recurring thing in countries with a varrying climate. It's not much but I very much have a dry and a humid set-up. Unless you have some carbon fibre or a roasted maple neck, the wood will bend back and forth with variations. The other obvious case is when changing string gauge, which a beginner is bound to do at some point if only out of curiosity.

[@XCELERATIONRULES]

Great video,you should teach this stuff,and get paid for it,without having to split the profit with the tube.More of these please.

[@Paul-D]

So right about tastes being changed. They absolutely will. As you go on youll get more and more familiar and zoned in to exactly how you like it. I guess its the old - first we learn what we arent, and we immitate etc - then we find what we are.

[@foobar476]

Regarding not being able to break things... You want to be cautious about raising saddle height with strings under full tension, particularly if you are using heavy gauge strings, as you can damage the thread. Don't ask me how I know this.

[@areyouavinalaff]

The police planted a bag of coke in my guitar, it was a setup.

[@davidsharp3675]

Been making and setting up for years. Nice clean action - Its usually a combo of relief and string angle. Too much relief is often a cause of choking out in my experience. Great video though. Always good to understand our own preferences

[@rastafaaa1073]

Hola Dave...aquí estamos para escuchar al máster 🤘🙏 Un abrazo desde Valencia-España 🎸

[@benpearce3068]

Thanks Dave, I’ve just bought a 31 yr old Squier Silver Series and can’t get the sound I want out of her, I feel alot more confident in doing some messing with settings now 👍

[@mrtn2842]

About 7 yrs ago ( feels like yesterday still ) I’ve purchased my 1st Floyd Rose bridge on a metal guitar. After watching a few vids on youtube I decided to do maintenance work on it. I did it all correctly so I thought until I check my work after it all settled down for 24hrs. My bridge was diving really bad one way • next day diving the other way 😡. Like you say “ You can’t break it “ .. After keeping after it , what a great satisfaction on figuring it all out and saving $100’s of dollars instead of someone else to fix it whenever I mess with my Floyd Rose bridge.. Btw : when messing with truss rods , always give truss rod 24hrs to settle even if you just turn rod just a little bit or quarter turn AND do not play it during that 24hrs‼️, and then you need to adjust again - BAM don’t touch it again for another 24hrs. I once took 3days to adjust truss rod and my reward was a happy guitar neck.

[@71771PAULTHEWALLOFSOUND]

I'm in the process of learning all this, and found this so helpful. Thankyou. Edit my ibanez strings are too high for me, so will sort that out, also didn't know about the pickup situation. These series are going to be so helpful for me and learners and intermediate players, or even "expert" guitarist. Love it, thankyou again. ✌️🤟

[@andrewlaverick2980]

Nailed it. Totally. Now I'm going to stop paying people to set up my guitars. Love your humble and down to earth approach.

[@chrishammonds72]

2 years ago I’d take it to a friend to set it up and change strings cause of my anxiety and not wanting to ruin anything. Finally took the plunge and Learnt to change strings and over the last 2 years have learnt basic setup and maintenance besides fret levelling and shaping nuts etc. so glad I did and actually enjoy it now and it keeps me interested working with tools and makes me appreciate the guitars a lot more.

[@davidmayguitarsolotutorial4366]

I love to hear you play Dave , but this video is great too. Very articulate and friendly, and hugely informative.

[@ic_1234]

Just bought a second hand fender strat and it's really really hard to bend. It has 010 strings but I have played those before. The foocking strings are just hard to move and I feel like I wasted money. I dont think 09s will help that much.

[@mikepj1025]

Once you have the correct equipment to give a proper set up, guitar set ups are enjoyable, relaxing and an awesome way to get that accomplishment feeling. The tools are not that expensive. For the price of a set up, you can buy most of what you’ll ever need to give any guitar a proper set up. I always found that when I got a set up in the past, they always set the pickups too high. I’m always making adjustments anyway. Anyway, awesome video sir. Thanks

[@465marko]

I always found it a little strange that people are so hesitant to do their own setups (like on reddit, for e.g. the common advice will be "get a professional to do it"). When I got my first guitar as a teenager, it didn't take me long before I was like "Nope, these strings are too high" and I started messing with it. Completely threw out my intonation and it took me ages to figure out how to fix that again lmao. BUT... On one hand, I can understand the mentality of thinking that these few planks of wood must be such a finely tuned, delicate machine that they cannot be tinkered with by mortal hands (cause I had that mentality a little bit too), but at the same time... You've gotta get your hands "dirty". And it's really just a few screws... I mean, I have a jazzmaster too, which can be such a pain-in-the-ass balancing act, but all I'm trying to say is: You definitely can't do any serious damage, so I like your attitude towards it. And I still suck at setting up guitars, I'm truly terrible at it. I'm still learning, really. But there's no reason to NOT do it yourself. Electronics might be optional, but even then... Hmm everyone should try swapping a pickup too, I think. lol. I joke, it's all optional. To each their own. But I do think there's a tendency to grossly exaggerate the delicateness of it.

[@mrtn2842]

I wish I had this video when I got my 1st Strat. Being a newbie back then my experience with changing the first set of strings to messing around with the bridge that I mess up on , has to look at pics of Strats bridges to figure out how to reset my bridge to factory settings. (I didn’t know i could move saddles to my liking , I always keep it at factory settings .. that changes now ) Well your so right about figuring your guitar out and not breaking it , I survived .. Last night my A string Buzzed 😡 , so I got 10s , 9s , Hendrix strings .. I’m thinking Hendrix 🎸 mood coming on ..

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

At least learning what matter (or at least could) is worth figuring out. It may change your next purchase and/or judgement of that purchase.

[@joecarstens5201]

I absolutely agree; setting up guitars yourself saves money and may spare you a lot of trouble. And it's fun too! An accomplishment. Once upon a time, I gave my beloved Hohner 5-string headless bass to a, let's say, renowned guitar shop here in Hamburg for a setup and got it back completely messed up. Even without lots of knowledge (and with some help from books and the internet) I could do it better. I am not that scared any more and like the procedure, even if it's not 100 % perfect. Thanks for this video, the advice and encouragement!

[@willybilly528]

Love your videos Dave, always honest and down to earth for us folks with limited budgets. Carry on! Great stuff!

[@PC85X]

I paid for my magnum opus partscaster to be set up and I still tweaked it when I had it back. I sort of wanted that confirmation that I was doing it correctly in the first place. I already do soldering and nut installation, but I'm not brave enough for fret work just yet...

[@Moit4000]

I used this video to setup my second hand 2000 left handed strat. Thank you, it plays so much better.

[@danieldacosta4350]

That is arguably the best video on KZbin - hats off sir!

[@rickpapineau2704]

I'm a lefty . My very 1st acoustic was a dealer converted New Alvarez 5066 right handed that never sounded right on the B-string, made me think I was tone deaf for that frequency until I discovered years later that the dealer routed an "X" into the bridge but never installed the correct nut. Yes, you are definitely better off learning how to do your own setups.

[@michaelbevins2405]

Hey man if you ever do a neck transplant for what ever reason. Go with warmoth ,thar=t desighn isgreat the neck wont go perfectly straight .Its a better neck.

[@blackie5566]

Thanks Dave, you haven't waisted my time - on the contrary :-) - great lesson, as always!

[@Sunnmate]

Thank you for this Dave. You teach with love.

[@jmvmike]

I really appreciate you taking the time to produce this video. Peace to you and yours sir!

[@bmc5367]

Very helpful and encouraging, especially to us just learning. Thanks!

[@snuffelsuf]

I like being called "people of the tube".,..I think it's cool

[@macleod41069]

Are strats notoriously buzzy ? Or does this mean it needs a fret dress?

[@methefather]

This should be mandatory viewing for guitarists of all levels...thank you!

[@wonderpope]

Awesome....please continue this series!

[@bluessumlin...7067]

Great info Dave every guitarist should know this stuff!🙂

[@ericportillo8277]

Love the ending, reminded me of the ending to Twister

[@christophervincent8420]

Thank you Dave! Seriously. I needed to learn this

[@INDAmedia]

If a guitar feels like this - 22:18 - it needs some love...

[@frkankyak]

i can't even listen you cuz that strat got my all attention, what a beatiful piece

[@hugowasalreadytaken]

Hiya dave, thanks for the video. I was wondering what you use to lubricate the guitar nut? So far i've been using the lead of a cheap mechanical pencil and colouring in the inside of the nutslots directly, but I've also heard other people mention you need a small knife to scrape of a bit of graphite. Do you use either method, or the unfortunately named "nut sauce"? thanks in advance, much love

[@thedavesimpson]

I don’t use anything.

[@snuffelsuf]

I like beat up looking guitars

[@marcussullens2573]

Hi Dave. Could I ask, if you lift the action, do you feel you then need to also lift the pick up height? Or is the amount of difference in height too small to matter.

[@thedavesimpson]

Depends.

[@christopherwatkins9729]

G'Day... Davey Boyo ... Very interesting to hear how your personal "set-ups" have changed over time... and also how you 'view' difference between Strat... Tele... and "LP"... (Singles vs Humbuckers)... "Mr Red" is a GREAT Guitar... as are so many of your guitars... (I have a personal liking for your BulletStrat, hope you still retain it)... and then ? After this present series of Guitar set-ups and maintenance, which am enjoying... am waiting for the day you do a "Series" on INDIVIDUAL Pedals with explanations of WHY... and WHAT are the attractions to motivate a liking for particular pedals ???? Of ALL people on The Tube (and there are some VERY knowledgeable and helpful peoples) I am keenly interested on YOUR 'take' etc... Mainly because of your experience and you are so good at expressing musical genre with Pedals... After that ? Diff... AMPs and their controls of course ! So much to do and so little time ! 🤠... but always time for a cuppa 'T'... 🫖...

[@snuffelsuf]

I think you sound like one of the Beatles... Which one was from around your neck of the woods that would have an accent like you? You always have great videos.,. This one is no exception

[@thedavesimpson]

None. There from the otherside of the country to me. :)

[@snuffelsuf]

Did you lite that on fire to make it like that

[@rod9050]

Hi dave cool video .but I was wondering is there any footage of you playing at paris fashion. Show those orange cabs you awesome

[@rod9050]

Meant the orange cabs look awesome lol

[@GRBAquatics]

Very Cool, Thankyou. Just starting with my own guitar setups and so many learnings from this video. Cheers

[@famtoonen18]

Great vid mate. I do most of the guitar maintenance myself as well, although sometimes, you are stuck. Whenever you have the feeling, oops, i dont know how to fix it, you can still bring it to a luthier.

[@LetArtsLive]

The acoustic guitar every year I live near Buffalo New York it goes out in the winter and if you leave it sit there it will go back in the neck in the spring LOL have two of them for each time of year and one of the neck will be right maybe

[@B2Rockin]

You haven't wasted any of our time, and I found this video extremely helpful - exactly what I was looking for, a second opinion on Strat setups and this video was perfect timing because I have a couple strings that buzz a little like yours did with Mr. Red and now I know how to fix it and confidently go into trying it so THANK YOU!!

[@mickhill6972]

Hi Dave, Great informative vid mate. Explained very well considering it's hard to explain. Plus like you say experience comes into play big time here. As does personal preference.! Nice to still see your brimming with enthusiasm too and your rock solid passion and verve! Keep Rockin. Band you, John Joe and of course Ci Ci Majorette! Regards Mick.🙏🎸

[@LetArtsLive]

Setting up the acoustic that's a whole different story putting things under the bridge that's what I did. It must take a lot of talent to set up a screwed-up acoustic

[@paulgrogan8032]

Dearest Dave, PLEASE do a little ditty about soldering. I have a absolutely beautiful USA dean Z that needs a volume pot and jack replacement but despise 2-3 week and $$$ aspect of taking it in. Your amazing Bruh.

[@mikestrauser2944]

Davy good evening hope your enjoying Jon’s birthday I’m sure you are! Hey quick question do you play your strats in standard tuning like I’ve heard jon does.. even tho it does surprise since he was so influenced by hendrix.. I’ve been in e flat tuning so long my strat doesn’t even seem to like to go standard.. Always great to hear back from such a huge Jon fanatic …. You truly are a legend when it comes to emulating Jon’s sounds take care and thanks

[@chrisgoblin4857]

I somewhat disagree regarding changing set up preferences. I've had my Japanese Ibanez RG 770DX since 2008 and I have not changed the set up from how it left the factory. Still today I can't get close to replicating it on my other guitars. Some Fujigen wizardry I assume haha. Looking forward to the guides as I still struggle with setting up strat style bridges with individual saddles still. I learned all my set up knowledge on guitars with Floyd Rose systems so there's no individual string height adjustment as they already match the radius of the fretboard. Great video as always Mr Dave. Update - Your wise words on saddle height have helped immensely. Got my partscaster kit "The Green Machine" playing as well as it looks.

[@JohnnyVictor666]

Hey Dave, great video! I have a quick question though, what to do when you have only one high fret on a guitar? Should you level all of them or can you just level that one? Thanks

[@thedavesimpson]

Depends where it is on the neck.

[@JohnnyVictor666]

@@thedavesimpson 12th fret

[@winstonsmith8240]

The neck IS the guitar, basically. If you find a neck you love everything else can be changed. Great video and being able to set up your own instrument is essential, but if you do find a really good Luthier they're worth their weight in gold. Imo.

[@jrg770]

Good info. I have some half way decent guitars but they are all used and older. All suffer from fret leveling problems. Due to age and wear not bad guitars. If after all the setup you still notice problems, check your frets. Without level frets nothing else matters. After all my years of playing I still have not invested the money to buy the tools to fix them myself. 🍻

[@ThePhilippinesWayofLife]

what his the beat stuff that you can buy to clean your guitar with and what his the best stuff to clean the strings with

[@thedavesimpson]

Crimson guitars products.

[@Victor-tl5eg]

My Stratocaster relief is set around.12 thou 10-46 E flat tuning, any lower the stings will touch the frets and I lose sustain any higher it doesn’t feel that great to play, it’s ready for a fret job soon 😊

[@LuisRFeliu]

Hope to see a video about adjusting the 6 screws in the bridge, tremolo spring tension, the claw and how you flush the bridge to the body. Thanks Dave!

[@bobblake7132]

Great video Dave loads of useful advice, information and encouragement. Just one thing. I couldn’t find a tuna, could I get away with using a salmon? 😜

[@recordatron]

The one thing I always find difficult to get rid of on my own is fret buzz especially when I try to lower the action a bit. It's hard to tell whether it's the nut or the frets or maybe the neck needs more or less relief and I don't know how to properly fret level and I feel like that's something that could actually require a more expensive fix if I do mess it up. This is definitely something I wish I could fix on my own.

[@michaelbrodsky]

I agree, it is better to do it yourself. It’s faster, cheaper and customized to your needs, without having to explain it to someone else. But … you have to have some frame of reference, so I recommend taking it to an experienced tech a few times to get an idea of what’s involved and what works/doesn’t for you.

[@iryan9]

What are your string heights on that strat in the video at the 12th fret? Great video by the way

[@thedavesimpson]

I don’t know. I don’t go by specifics. I just do it till it feels good.

[@philfyphil]

I have two Telecasters. I have my bridge pick-up pretty high and always get a high gain sound on the amp then wind the volume back to 7 or 8 and it’s one of the best sounds in the World!

[@Mutombo71]

maybe it would be interesting to explain what you can like or not like about saddle height. e.g. sound, feel, ...

[@michaelgallegos8811]

I finally have a chance to see this video Dave yup looking forward to this sir appreciate what u do for the tube peeps 😂🎉❤

[@angrypickle]

I bought a super inexpensive Glarry guitar just to use as a learning platform for working on guitars :) Been a lot of fun.

[@duncansmith5734]

"Play the harmonic at the 12th fret..." - please can you explain how to 'play the harmonic' Dave?

[@thedavesimpson]

Lightly touch the string at the 12th then play it. :)

[@duncansmith5734]

@@thedavesimpson cheers Dave, I'll give it a go. 😁

[@duncanruddock2493]

Absolutely brilliant video….! ❤ Enough said…

[@wjewell63]

Yep, great advice....👍the scary thing for me was the trussrod but once I understood how it works it became easy

[@karlo2116]

refreshing every 5 minutes for the last 3 hours till u upload john tribute :)

[@januszwu973]

You talk english or what language is this.?

[@thedavesimpson]

Its daveish. Very rare dialect.

[@HippieJguitar]

Thought it was great that you put an emphasis on how personal a setup is. So many variables that differ from person to person.

[@davroshalfbeard8368]

Look forward to the intonation video having fun and games with a tele with locking tuners lol

[@cave1970]

little tip to add ,be aware with possi screws some possi screws are japanese screws they have a lesser depth and need a different possi driver or may round of screws.

[@LeeKirkman88]

I do my own because i have so many guitars like you. It would cost a fortune to have them all done elsewhere.

[@paulmckeown5672]

Good video I have two guitars that I was going to get a luthier to set them upo, I'll have go first instead

[@whenvioletsturngrey9597]

Pre internet, it took a few years for me to figure out setup. Such a great resource, youtube is.

[@martinwedge4696]

Great video. Very informative as a first time guitar owner. The solo at the end almost made me cry it was that beautiful

[@jltrem]

The scintillating Mr. Simpson.

[@hank6429]

Hi Dave I paid for setup one time it was bad so I do it myself now 👍👍

[@davidm2451]

Great video with great advice, thanks Dave :)

[@71771PAULTHEWALLOFSOUND]

Ps shared this on fb, everyone needs a Dave in their lives lol.

[@johnpickk7526]

Ooh awesome, this will be fun :)

[@michaelk5507]

Really, you're such a nice bloke!

[@LetArtsLive]

Every guitar I ever had with a whammy bar or a Floyd Rose never stayed into decently I will never buy a Floyd Rose or any guitar without a hardtail ever again! Try working on a Floyd Rose man you don't want one you have to cut off the strings just to string it up cuz there is no way to put the little round thing through you have to cut it off! I can do everything on the hardtails intonation all that put strings on adjust my neck all that stuff but I do Floyd Rose good luck or an imitation one like I have on my two best Chinese Jackson it sounds good cuz my friends luthier made it better. I used it for my video Woodstock tribute 2 . I have one leg now I can't stand up and play the favorite guitar neck I have is made in Japan area Pro 2 SL guitar and my favorite neck. I learned quite a bit. I have to Jackson's a dinky and I took it apart to clean it and I could never get it to seat right on the bridge or ever put it back together and I was going to smash the damn thing so I quit LOL maybe I'll try again tomorrow that was last year. I don't know how you adjust a Telecaster because there's only three of those things to intonate two on each string. Okay I'll shut the fuk up now. I lockdown my area Pro 2 1987 SL Strat copy. The strings are low and fast that's how I like it

[@thedavesimpson]

I have worked on many floyd rose equipped guitars and have two that have them. Yep. They can be a pain but once there right there great. Thank you for watching.

[@LetArtsLive]

@@thedavesimpson yeah but it takes way longer to cut the strings off and all that why have to go through all that? I should have researched Google knows everything

[@kingfisher7960]

I watch most of your videos, love them!