Dogwood Guitars

  • Home
  • About
  • Guitars
    • Dogwood Models
    • Guitar Galleries
    • Ordering your Dogwood Guitar
    • FAQ’s
  • Services
  • Lutherie Classes
  • Pictorials
    • Repairs
    • How to Correctly String a Guitar
    • Building A Monarch
    • Making a Spalted Maple Rosette
    • Pearl and Abalone Inlay
  • Articles
    • Technical
    • Viewpoint
  • Testimonials
  • YouTube
  • Contact
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.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Customer Testimonial: Les Paul Setup

"The work you did on the fretboard, frets and bridge of my Les Paul fixed the problem I was having and it plays better than ever. Dogwood Guitars has become my #1 choice for guitar repairs and I'll be sure to recommend you to my musician friends. … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: European Maple Eminence

"Several years ago when I found out that Greg was starting to make hand made guitars, I knew that I wanted one. Did I need one? No, but that didn't mean I wanted it any less! This past January my wife out of the blue said I should contact Greg and … [Read More...]

Making a Spalted Maple Rosette

The rosette on an acoustic guitar, along with the peghead and bridge designs, is a big part of the custom builder's signature. Often a particular design will immediately identify the guitar as being made by a specific individual. Perhaps the amazing … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial: Dogwood Monarch

"I loved my handcrafted Yamaha LX5 until I played my brother's Larrivee. So I bought a Larrivee. The Dogwood acoustic makes my Larrivee sound like my old Yamaha. The Dogwood is superior to my Larrivee D-03R in every way - tone, action - even looks. I … [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...]

Why Buy a Handmade Guitar?

There are a lot of choices out there for the prospective buyer of a fine guitar. It's no secret; a handmade instrument can cost a lot. For that matter, any of the better guitars purchased from a quality manufacturer is going to command what most … [Read More...]

Visit us on YouTube…

Follow Dogwood Guitars

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Technical Articles

Why do old guitars sound better?

Why do some old guitars sound so good? Even inexpensive guitars can age into really good sounding instruments, and some old guitars attain legendary tone. Why is this? The answer can be found in one of three factors and the best … [Read More...]

More Technical Articles

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...]

More Viewpoint Articles

Copyright © 2025 Dogwood Guitars