Setup: why a cheap instrument can play better than an expensive one

Setup is the adjustment of the relationships between the strings and everything they touch: the nut, the frets, the neck and the bridge. None of it changes what the instrument is made of and all of it changes how the instrument feels.

The reason this matters more than almost any other single fact about instruments is the substitution it allows. A £200 guitar that has been properly set up is comfortable, plays in tune with itself and does not buzz. A £2,000 guitar that has not is none of those things. Beginners who conclude they are bad at an instrument are quite often correct that something is wrong and quite wrong about what.

What it changes

How it plays, entirely

What it does not change

What it is made of

What it typically costs

£40–£80 from a shop

How often it is needed

With the seasons, and after any string change of gauge

These are done in sequence because each one moves the next. Doing them out of order is why a setup that seemed to work stops working after ten minutes.

• 1. Neck relief — the truss rod — A steel rod inside the neck that counteracts the pull of the strings. A neck is not meant to be dead straight: it wants a very slight forward bow so the strings have room to vibrate over the middle frets. Too little relief and it buzzes in the middle of the neck; too much and the action rises everywhere. This is adjusted first because it changes every other measurement.
• 2. Nut height — How high the strings sit at the top of the neck. Almost every factory instrument leaves the nut slots high, because a slot cut too deep cannot be undone and a slot cut too shallow merely feels stiff. A high nut is the single commonest reason a beginner instrument is hard to play in the first position, and the effect is worst exactly where a beginner spends all their time.
• 3. Action — bridge or saddle height — How high the strings sit at the other end. Lower is easier to press and more prone to buzz; higher is cleaner and harder work. There is no correct value, only a compromise that depends on how hard the player attacks the strings.
• 4. Intonation — Adjusting the effective string length so the instrument plays in tune with itself up the neck rather than only at the open string. This is why a guitar can be perfectly tuned and still sound wrong at the twelfth fret, and it is done last because everything above it changes the answer.

A reasonable division for somebody with no experience:

• Reasonable to learn: relief — Small adjustments, in fractions of a turn, with the instrument tuned and given time to settle between them. The rule that prevents damage is that a truss rod should never be forced — resistance means stop.
• Reasonable to learn: action and intonation — On instruments with adjustable saddles, both are reversible and teach you a great deal about how the instrument works.
• Get help with: nut slots — Needs proper nut files, which are not cheap, and a light touch that comes from having done it before. It is also the adjustment most likely to transform a difficult instrument, which is why a shop setup is often worth its price on its own.
• Get help with: anything involving frets — Levelling, crowning, dressing and refretting are skilled work on a part of the instrument that is expensive to put right.
• Worth knowing about the money — A professional setup is typically £40–£80. On an instrument that is hard to play, that is the best-value spend available anywhere in the hobby, and it is also the fastest way to learn what a good setup feels like.

• Can a setup really make a cheap instrument play well? — Yes, and this is the single most useful fact in the subject. Setup determines how an instrument feels almost independently of what it cost, so a well-set-up budget instrument routinely plays better than a badly-set-up expensive one. Beginners who conclude they lack the strength or coordination for an instrument are often right that something is wrong and wrong about what.
• Should I adjust the truss rod myself? — Cautiously, and it is a reasonable thing to learn. It is an adjustment rather than a removal, so a wrong turn is undone by turning it back. The rules that prevent damage are small movements, tuned to pitch, time to settle between them, and never forcing it — resistance means stop and ask somebody.
• Why did my instrument change over the winter? — Humidity. Wood takes up and gives off moisture with the seasons and the neck moves as it does, so relief set in a humid July is often not the relief you want in a dry January. This is normal rather than a fault, it is why setup is periodic rather than permanent, and it is one reason instruments are happier in a case than on a wall next to a radiator.