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You are here: Home / Guitar Setup / The Importance of a Good Setup, Part Two

The Importance of a Good Setup, Part Two

In the first part of this article, I discussed the elements of a basic setup. These include checking the neck relief and the action at the first and twelfth frets, as well as installing new strings and performing a few other basic adjustments.

In part two, I will explain some relatively inexpensive improvements that you may want to consider when taking your guitar in for adjustment.

A more in-depth setup can include making a new bone nut and/or saddle for the guitar. These two small parts of the guitar are quite important to playability and tone, since they affect both the action and the transfer of energy from the strings to the soundboard. The saddle has the additional function of setting intonation, which determines how well your guitar will play in tune up and down the full length of the neck. Every guitar should have a bone nut and saddle to sound its best.

Bone is superior to other commonly used materials found on most factory brand guitars, such as “tusq” or plastic. This is because bone is harder and more dense which means it transmits energy more efficiently. This results in better tone. (There is a reason why the inventors of Tusq gave it a bone-sounding name!) I recommend that most guitars coming to my shop for setups get fitted with a bone nut and saddle if they don’t already have them. Previously I mentioned the subject of intonation; having a new saddle made can improve your guitar’s ability to play in tune if the original saddle was not properly compensated. And a well-made custom nut with low slots can improve string spacing and intonation.

 

A second issue that needs to be checked on every guitar is the condition of the bridge plate. Most players don’t even know what this is, and I was included in that group for many years. The bridge plate is a thin piece of hard wood, usually Maple or Rosewood, that is located inside the guitar under the bridge. The bridge plate serves as a hard surface for the ball end of the strings to ride against, preventing them from ripping through the much softer Spruce top. Because the bridge plate is a part of the “chain of resonance” of the guitar, it is also important to the tone.

An inspection mirror inside of a Gibson Hummingbird show substantial damage to the plywood bridge plate

Unbeknownst to many guitar players, the bridge plate can be slowly damaged each time they string their guitars. Unless the ball end of the string is seated correctly against the plate and oriented properly with the grain of the top, the ball will chew away at the hole in the plate as the string is tightened. Over time this ruins the plate and if not repaired it will damage the soundboard also. I am able to repair the worn bridge plate to like-new condition without removing it. Even better, I will show you how to correctly re-string the guitar so that the plate will not be damaged in the future. A simple check with a mirror will tell me the condition of your plate and if a repair is needed.

In the third part of this article, I will discuss fret maintenance services.

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Guitar Galleries

The guitars featured in these photo galleries are just a few examples of Greg's work. As a long-time high end furniture maker, Greg has a real passion for tools and figured wood. His guitars reflect these twin loves with their beautiful wood choices, … [Read More...]

Exceptional Tonewoods

Fine wood is the heart of every Dogwood guitar. Greg has been collecting rare and highly figured wood for over three decades, and he is always on the lookout for the best sets of both top and back/side wood for his custom guitars. Exotic wood of the … [Read More...]

Lutherie Classes: Acoustic Guitar Building Class

Guitar Building Class Please Note: Due to my heavy repair and restoration schedule, I am no longer able to offer the build class. This is an archive page. Have you ever wanted to build your own high quality acoustic guitar, but were intimidated … [Read More...]

1968 Fender Jazz Bass Neck Work

A customer brought me a very cool 1968 Fender Jazz Bass neck. The neck is fretless and- as the Beatles would say, "very strange"- it had no nut slot. There was also a piece of binding missing at the heel. The customer was interested in having the … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: Monarch 12 String

"Greg Maxwell's 12-string Monarch guitar is the product of an artist. I played the guitar among a small of group of rock-climbing paramedics during my interim stay in Richmond, Kentucky, before returning to Kailua, Hawaii, and the comments about the … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: A. B. Manson Acoustic

"I recently had major work done by Greg Maxwell on my very expensive and treasured old guitar.  Boy, am I glad that I found Greg, because I do not think any other luthier would have given the time and effort  this project required.  My guitar needed … [Read More...]

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Technical Articles

The Science and Theory of Tonewoods

Search out any discussion about tone and tonewoods on the internet and you will quickly find a wide variation of opinions among players and builders alike. However, the majority will almost always list "tonewoods" and/or specific species of Spruce … [Read More...]

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Viewpoint Articles

Exploring Common Guitar Myths

I am going to divide this article into two sections: Myths and misunderstandings about playability and care; and myths about tone. We will take these two topics in order. Playability and Care So, your guitar is a little hard to play, the … [Read More...]

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