How often do I need a setup?

How often do I need a setup?

Wrong question, dude. Let me explain.

I ran into one of my customers at the Burlington airport, and he bent my ear about his Martin. Mind you, I remember faces and names. But not together. And, I remember guitars and customers, but not together. After some reminders and trips down memory lane, he got me up to speed on when he was there and what I did.

So, he brought in his Martin months ago. It had just been “set up” by another local luthier who shall remain unnamed. He was vastly overcharged $300 for a job that was totally ineffective and unsuccessful. His action was still the “before” photo, not the “after” photo. Hard to believe what some people are willing to call finished work, and charge good money to boot! But that’s another topic.

He was friendly, but also, he was somewhat skeptical and perturbed. Why? Because the “amazing action” I delivered to him in the depths of winter had disappeared in the height of summer. I could barely wait for him to stop talking to ask the $64,000 question… how are you managing humidity? Of course… he wasn’t. So his slightly anemic, dry winter guitar has become a bloated, puffy box with summer humidity. As a result, his action changed.

Exasperated, he asked “Is this normal? How often will I need to get setups?”

It’s Science

I will share with you what I shared with him. Guitar repair work is (despite many testaments to the contrary) not an art. It is a bit of craft, I guess, but mostly? It’s science. Physics, geometry, and material science. There is no woo-woo, no voodoo, and no mystery. Your guitar is a mechanical device made of wood, metal, plastic, natural materials like bone or abalone, and a bunch of chemicals like lacquers and pigments.

When I “set up” a guitar, I am not performing a mystical ceremony. I am measuring down to the 1000th of an inch in a variety of places in order to make very fine mechanical adjustments. I am physically altering certain parts of the device to optimize its performance. Once made, those adjustments are permanent. Your truss rod remains set. Your saddle remains shaped. Your nut remains shaped and slotted. Nothing about the setup changes. So why does your guitar keep getting out of whack?

Three likely reasons – humidity, string gauge and tuning.

Your setup is relative to the instrument itself. Your setup was performed (hopefully) when the guitar was in the neighborhood of 50% relative humidity. If your guitar acquires or releases 50-100 grams of water vapor into its wood pores, it changes shape. It literally gets smaller or larger. The instrument has changed, not the setup.

If you decide to change string gauges from say lights (.012” high e) to mediums (.013” high e) you are increasing tension by roughly 15%. The neck is bending MORE. Your setup hasn’t changed, your neck angle has changed. Same with tuning. Tuning down 1/2 step E-flat reduces the tension by roughly 10%. Your neck is bending LESS Again, your setup hasn’t changed, your neck angle has changed.

Better Questions

So… how often do you need a setup? Like I said, wrong question. Better questions:

1. Well… how often do you plan on allowing your guitar to leave the safe zone of 40-60% humidity?
2. How often do you plan to change string gauges?
3. How often do you plan to start playing in a different tuning?

It’s not the setup. It’s the conditions. Maintain good relative humidity, be consistent with string gauges, and play mostly in the same tuning. My guitars basically never need work once I get them where I want them.

Wondering what’s up with your guitar? Bring it in for a free evaluation.