Most guitarists put up with a badly set up guitar for longer than they should. It happens gradually, so you adjust to it, and eventually you just accept that playing is harder work than it used to be. Here are five signs your guitar needs a setup and you have probably been ignoring them.
1. It is harder to play than it used to be
This one is easy to miss because it creeps up on you. If you have been playing the same guitar for a year or two and you pick up someone else’s and it feels noticeably easier, that is a sign. Guitars go out of spec. Wood moves with the seasons. Setups drift. It is not a problem, it is just maintenance.
2. The tuning will not stay stable
If you tune up and by the end of the first song you are noticeably out, something is wrong. Could be the nut, could be the string trees, could be worn machine heads. Or the strings are old and have lost their elasticity. A proper setup checks all of this.
3. The intonation is off
Play an open string. Now play the same note at the 12th fret. They should both be in tune. If the fretted note is noticeably sharp or flat, your intonation needs setting. This is a saddle adjustment at the bridge and it affects whether your guitar sounds in tune across the whole neck. A lot of players never get this sorted and just accept that chords sound slightly off. They do not have to.
4. Buzzing on certain frets or strings
Fret buzz usually means the neck relief or action needs adjusting. Occasionally it is a high fret that needs levelling. Either way it is not something you should be playing around with yourself unless you know what you are doing.
5. It has never been set up
If you bought the guitar new from a shop, there is a reasonable chance it left the factory with a generic setup, if any setup at all. Some cheaper guitars are set up appallingly straight out of the box. Even good guitars benefit from a proper setup dialled in for how you actually play.
If any of that sounds familiar, get in touch. I am based in Sittingbourne and work on electric guitars across Kent and the Medway area.