The '5-STEP SETUP' every guitarist should know!

We're fixing my guitars! This is my approach to getting a perfectly guitar setup at home. The 5 things I always check when looking at guitars, so they play like a dream

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0:00 The problem
1:12 The action (electric)
4:28 The action (acoustic)
5:19 The nut
6:14 Neck adjustment
8:40 How the truss rod works
9:14 Adjusting the rod
11:30 Intonation
13:55 Pickups
16:14 Maintenance

Hi, my name is Paul Davids! I am a guitar player, teacher, producer, and overall music enthusiast from the Netherlands! I try to inspire people from all over the world with my videos, here on YouTube.

Thank you for watching!
Paul

Below is the gear and services I use to make these videos. They redirect to websites and provide me with a small kickback should purchase any of these things.

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[PaulDavids]

*IMPORTANT ADDITION* Always adjust the action after ensuring the neck is setup correctly. I named the action first, because sometimes that is all it takes to take a guitar from good to perfect. On the Novo I did not even touch or measure the neck, because everything feels right. Of course this doesn't apply for acoustics, where you should always do the neck before any adjustment. Cheers!

[hal_of_a_time]

As a mechanic, and Engineer. My experience is that If you adjust down (loosen) anything, always loosen farther then you need and work your way tighter. Adjustments last longer as you set a torque and tension rather then loosening.
A good rule of thumb for any adjustment.

[RemyLuciani]

I'm a pro "international system" for measurement units, but the fact you thought to put both metric and imperial units side by side is such a mark of professionalism. Quality of you work is really inspiring!

[kibbles]

It always blows my mind how much a setup changes the sound of the guitar. If I ever start feeling uncomfortable or like the guitar isn't feeling right, I pay attention to what is missing, adjust, and we're back in love.

[wolverinemcstud]

I’ve been playing guitar for almost 30 years and this is great information. The only tip that I could give if you haven’t covered it already is to stretch your strings after you put them on And play with it for about 20 minutes before you go on stage. It typically won’t go out of ttune or have any slips. I generally just pull the string at the 12th fret about an inch away from the fretboard a few times and then retune

[trevelyanjoelpakkari]

How to set up a guitar:
Open this video everytime you need to do it.

[ScottyWiard]

Always do neck relief first, then action, then intonation. Relief affects action, and both can affect intonation.

[MisterTee]

I use John Suhr’s method of setting intonation. That is I don’t use the open string and 12th fret. I use the third fret as my open reference and the 15th as my octave reference. This sweetens the intonation and makes it a little more accurate

[lignitedaze]

What a fantastic tutorial. I love the calm, steady, quiet and methodical way you approach the subject. I've always been a bit anxious about trying a full set-up on my guitars, but now I'm really keen - confident, but not overly so - to attempt it. Thank you.

[ChrisBuckGuitar]

There I was, feeling pleased with myself for finally figuring out how to add filters in Final Cut and then a second Paul appears 🙄

[yes-xwcg]

Btw for anyone who doesn’t know, lemon oil is different from lemon juice. Lemon juice is corrosive and will literally make you frets and fretboard fall off. Lemon oil is a mix of mineral oils that moisturize the fretboard and make it play better. Lemon oil contains no lemons, it just smells like them

[jarnobot]

Tip: If you want rough measurements for the action, but you don't have any proper around to measure the distance between the fret and the string, you can use the same alan wrench you're using to adjust the bridge. On a strat, this wrench is probably a size 1.5 mm (it is on my Squier Bullet, so I guess this is pretty universal). That's exactly the action I'm aiming for on the low E.
So when you lay the wrench on the fret it should either

* have a gap ( = action is higher than 1.5)
* have no gap while (only just) touching the string, without moving/bending the string ( = the action is about 1.5mm.
* touch the string while also bending it ( = action is lower than 1.5mm.

It's not perfect, but it give a pretty good estimate. Just adjust based on what feels good to you from there on.

[davelightman]

I've been looking for a simple explanation for this, and this is hands-down the best example I've seen. Thanks for doing this Paul.

[Pandemoonium]

It sounds dumb, but this is exactly what I’ve been after.

I’ve always been too worried to touch these things with my guitars out of fear of doing something I can’t come back from, and a lot of other guides always seem to assume some prerequisite knowledge.

This was great, cheers Paul!

[Ohsnapitskenny]

"The capo is not only for Wonderwall" I Laughed out loud

[AlicatMusic]

Thank you Paul for this extremely useful guide. Being able to do these things myself has not only improved the playability of my instruments, but has also saved me from the frustration and cost of having to rely on the mercy of my local music store for help. An unexpected result is that I have a more intimate relationship with my guitars. That may sound a bit odd, but as a result, I get more enjoyment out of my practice sessions which means my playing has noticeably improved.
-Thanks again.

[ftlbaby]

I have watched 273 guitar setup videos and you are the first to say that the 12th fret should be exactly in the middle for the intonation to be correct. That helps me so much in terms of visualization and also guitar construction. Brilliant ; ) THANK YOU!

[argeliaheylmeck]

I Stopped bringing my guitars to the: "So-called Experts in NYC" and started doing all my own Set-Ups and Maintenance about 7 years ago = I've Never been Happier with the Playability of my instruments. They look & sound fantastic, and I'm enjoying Playing much-more. ( if you want something done right . . . Do It Yourself ) - Fantastic explanation Paul.

[IgorHatesEverything]

Is it just me or does this guy have one of the most soothing voices on the planet?

[tuulofdstrxn]

Great video, all very useful tips, essential even. One thing I would add is taking care of a binding nut. Especially on cheap guitars with plastic nuts, wound strings can dig into the plastic and bind to it, leading to unstable tuning that's impossible to dial in just right. You can tell if your guitar is doing this if the wound strings make pinging noises as you tighten them. This can be remedied by taking the string out of the string slot, using an old string of the same thickness, and rubbing it back and forth in the nut slot like a string file. This will smooth out the grooves left by the wound string, and will allow you to tune the guitar more accurately.

For avoiding string binding and ensuring smooth tuning, you can try lubricating the nut slots. For a quick fix you can just use a regular old graphite core pencil or mechanical pencil, just rub the graphite into the string slots generously. But that won't last very long, and what I really suggest to do is grind the graphite to a powder in a separate container, and put in a small dollop of vaseline and mix them together, then use a toothpick to put a little bit of this graphite paste you've just made into the nut slots. In addition to making tuning slicker and more accurate, it will help to prevent the strings from binding again as the graphite-vaseline mixture is filling the texture of the wound strings.