How To Properly Set Up An Acoustic Guitar

Setting up an acoustic guitar from start to finish, with a few tips and in fairly great detail. Should be detailed enough to answer basic questions.

If you run into problems not explained here, I highly recommend taking the guitar to a tech in your area. There are honestly too many things a specific problem COULD be... without holding a guitar in my hands and seeing it myself it's almost impossible to diagnose the problem.

Davey Dacus Guitars Facebook page.

Larry Daniel's Music Facebook page

Attention!
You are responsible for your own actions, and any video on this channel is intended for entertainment purposes only. I, or the DaveyDacusGuitars channel are not responsible for any damage done to instruments, or any harm done to you using a technique that use. Using any power tool is inherently dangerous and you are responsible for knowing and understanding how to safely operate them. This channel and myself assume absolutely no responsibility for actions you take.

[TexanUSMC]

There's a thousand videos for setting up electrics, but not that many for acoustic. Great job. Thanks for sharing.

[magicdave]

What a fantastic master class action setup, thanks for sharing with us.

[ekbanjosworld]

What did you have to give for the Buck Brothers Plane ? Nice !

[sergiop.ealbuquerque]

I'll never leave my guitars with this guy for adjustments and regulations. But thanks, anyway. He's doing his best, and sharing what he knows.

[Georgemac]

Great Video....re- watched it and refreshed my memory....I picked up a used acoustic and the strings at 12th fret are really high...will be a challenge, but I may try it....suppose the most I can do is have to buy a new saddle if I screw it used your method about a year ago and it helped with another guitar....in any event, at my age of 68, my hands are not what they used to be and any reduction in height only

[fronk.]

Hey, thank you for taking the time to make this video. Great job, I learned a lot. I’m installing a piezo pickup on my hummingbird and I’m going to have to take the saddle down. After watching this I feel much more comfortable.

[bushpilotdude]

Great video! Instead of my finger I like to use a capo on the 1st fret that way when I depress the 12th fret I still have a free hand to slide a string gauge or a small ruler under each string individually to get a more precise measurement on each string and write it down. that helps later if I have to replace the saddle and or nut to adjust the action :) Thanks for the video! You now have another subscriber :)

[starmanskye]

EXCELLANT ~ !!! I learned more from this vid about set-ups than any single other resource before this 'un. All 29:37 kept my interest, I even replayed several parts to focus on choice details. Thanks for sharing your experience and insights!

I'm working now on salvaging a basically decent solid hard-used old Korean Carlos 240 that fell into my lap, raising it from the closet dead-zone. It has some to-be-expected issues from being too-long neglected, doing a truss-rod adjustment and cutting new bone bridge and nut, maybe adding brass pins, and likely a soundhole PU, maybe a piezo bridge PU too.

I was looking for something more 'off' to make into a ruff-and-tumble N'Orleans slide gittar, but this ol' girl has good clean bones, looks like she might still rock-and-sing in standard EBGDAE. Mucho thanX, compadre! Regards.
~ : )

[markstone]

Phenomenal craftsmanship, thanks from Scotland

[henryssurfshowcase]

Great detailed explanation, thank you for taking the time to write this!
Count me in on your uploads...

[jahstafari]

thanks ....this is evergreen ....i just noticed and leaned something ....just bought guitar yesteday and got some setup work to do

[craigtee]

Thank you for an extremely informative and complete set up video! :)

[hydrotraxx]

Great video!!! Very informative. Thank you.

[fongy]

I tried to order a Brace pry from stew Macs, the tool was £7.99 the postage was £43.99. Here in the UK we don't have a Stew Macs, you have a wonderful resource in that mans store.

[pageluvva]

Much respect my friend. I have an LG3 but mine is beat to hell. 1959.

[kennewton]

Best setup video I’ve seen so far. Thinking of doing my own. I’ve got a 95 SJ180 Yamaha. Have had Alvarez, Martin, Gibson. This Yamaha has a sweet sound. Action high at 5th fret up. Where should I start. Wanting bone saddle and nut also. Just don’t to mess it up.

[maxwellfan]

Excellent video, extremely well presented and full of hands-on tips for set-ups. Especially useful for those with guitar collections, where adjustments need to be made periodically, or when one is regularly buying/exchanging guitars. 
While highly experienced techs will always be essential for the serious work, I have resorted to attempting tasks shown here because of the expense and having always to wait for in the queue for store set-ups, thus being without a favoured instrument sometime for months. 
One question from your video. If what I understood is right, does easing, or opening up nut slots a tad help to make strings feel less stiff and flexible, as well as improving tone? I have specific guitars where all the strings (even 12's/light gauge strings) feel uncomfortably stiff, thereby making the guitar taxing to play, and bending strings almost impossible.
Two requests. Please offer advice on choosing a suitable tool kit for these tasks, and similar, and where best to source them.
Secondly. Advice on making jumbo frets feel less intrusive. Specifically, is there anything that can be done to make jumbo frets (as fitted on various makers of imported acoustic guitars like Faith, Eastman) feel less intrusive like road bumps, other than re-fretting? I'd like these guitars a LOT more if they had Gibson, or Martin style frets.
Thank you so much.

[akfisher]

Thanks! I have seen the bridge, just in front of the pin, enlarged with a dremmel, supposedly to increase the angle from pin to saddle. Is this good practice, in your opinion? Cheers

[jeffreyschmoldt]

Great video, thanks for sharing, I am learning

[huntma]

around 27:00 when you are cutting the nut so that the strings sit as close as possible to the first fret, won't they eventually touch it as the string indents into the nut over time?

Could you also help me understand why we are cutting the nut? Is it to make fretting the lower frets easier on the fingers? Doesn't cutting the nut change the action that you so carefully adjusted beforehand?