Looking cool is half the battle! As a guitarist, having a cool looking guitar is meaningless if it does not feel or sound nice to play. Setting up a guitar is a step to make sure it sounds and plays just how the guitarist wants. Many guitarist would take their guitars to a professional luthier or guitar technician which can be very expensive. Learning how to preform a basic set up and adjust the parts of the instrument ensures comfort, quality, durability, and creates an enjoyable playing experience while also saving you money. I will be focusing on set ups for only electric guitars.

Supplies

This guitar kit from Amazon will provide you with everything needed for a basic setup.

https://a.co/d/0tYeNL2

Tools we will be using from the kit

Allen wrenches
Philips head or flat head screw driver
String action ruler
under string radius gauges

Step 1: Check for Loose Parts

Check areas of the guitar that is being used frequently. Areas such as tone knobs, tuning pegs, input jacks, or strap mounts are major areas to look for when checking for loose parts on a guitar.

Step 2: Neck Relief Adjustment

The neck relief is the amount of bend in the guitar neck. Too much bend in the neck can cause playing problems such as fret buzz. You can adjust the neck relief by turning the truss rod using an Allen wrench. Use caution and turn in small increments when adjusting to truss rod to prevent any damage to the guitar.

Press on the first and last frets of the thickest string. If the you notice the string is touching the fretboard then the truss rod needs to be loosened. if there is a wide gap between the string and fretboard the truss rod needs to be tightened.

Step 3: The Action

The action of the guitar is the distance between the bottom of the string to the top of the fret. The lower the action the easier the guitar is to play however, having too low of an action will cause the guitar to sound worse. Finding a good balance between playability and having a good sound is the most ideal when it comes to the action height.

To adjust the action of the guitar, raise or lower the guitar saddle with an Allen wrench and use the string action ruler to measure the string height at the 12th fret. I would recommend the thickest string around to be around 1.5 to 2.0mm and the thinnest string to be around 1.0 to 1.5mm from the fretboard then use the corresponding under string radius gauge to set the other strings.

Step 4: Intonation

Adjusting the intonation of the guitar will make the pitch of every note the pitch it should be. To adjust the Intonation of the guitar make sure the guitar is in tune and play the open string. Next play the 12 fret of the guitar, if the note at the 12 fret is the same as the open string then the guitar is intonated. If the fretted note is flat, adjust the saddle towards the neck. If the fretted note is sharp, adjust the saddle away from the neck.