How to Setup Your Guitar Like a Pro | Blackwood Guitarworks

How to Setup Your Guitar Like a Pro: An Easy Guide for Beginners

“Everything you need to start confidently working on your own guitars is right here.”

Recently updated to include over 260 photos covering all the aspects of a pro-level guitar setup, such as cleaning & maintenance, neck adjustments, string height adjustments (bridge saddle and nut), pickup height adjustments, intonation, and more. Learn how to dial in the perfect setup, step-by-step, on any guitar- with precision and measurability! Use the included cut-out tool templates to broaden your skills. Makes an excellent starter book or reference for budding professionals.

Now updated and expanded with additional content including a section on restringing, neck shimming, scale length determination and new images!

“I have related and referred to Jonny’s guidance many times over the years and I can truly say that I wouldn’t have gotten very far without it.”
-Daryl Chonka, Guitar Tech for Randy Bachman (The Guess Who & BTO), Recording Engineer, Recording & Performing Artist

“Everything you need to start confidently working on your own guitars is right here.”
-Andrew DeGroot, Factory Certified Guitar Tech/Luthier, Stang Guitars

“The importance of a great setup can’t be overstated. This is a perfect guide for those starting out in the craft, and a great general reference to keep around. Jon nicely lays out all the info needed to setup your guitar like a pro, without any confusing clutter. You’re in great hands.”
–Cory Newman, Luthier, C.A. Newman Guitars

Included in the book:

An 8-step method for electric, acoustic & bass guitar setups
How to adjust neck relief (bow) for optimum playability
How to adjust string height for your playing style and guitar type
How to file nut slots, adjust pickup height and set the intonation accurately
How to adjust Fender-style tremolo’s, Gibson hard-tails, Floyd Rose and other floating bridge types
How to adjust the saddle on your acoustic steel string or nylon string guitar
Manufacturer’s setup specs from Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Jackson, Gretsch and others
Exclusive setup specifications from the author’s best playing guitars & basses
Cut-out templates for radius gauges, under-string radius gauges & an action ruler
A handy measurement conversion chart & more!

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 3 PARTS OF THE GUITAR 4 WHAT IS A SETUP? 6 WHAT YOU WILL NEED 7 GETTING STARTED: INSPECT THE GUITAR 10 REMOVE THE STRINGS 11 Removing Strings on a Tremolo Bridge 13 Removing Strings on a Floyd Rose-style Bridge 14 Removing Strings on an Archtop Floating Bridge 17 Removing Strings on an Acoustic Guitar Bridge 18 STEP 1: CLEAN THE GUITAR 19 STEP 2: CHECK THE HARDWARE AND ELECTRONICS 23 How to Clean Dirty Potentiometers & Controls 28 STEP 3: RESTRING AND TUNE TO PITCH 29 Slot-head tuners 31 Locking Tuners 32 Floyd Rose or Other Double-locking Bridge Systems 33 Acoustic Guitars 36 Nylon String Guitars 38 Tuning Tips 42 STEP 4: ADJUST THE RELIEF IN NECK (TRUSS ROD) 43 a) What is a Truss Rod? 43 b) Why Set the Relief? 45 c) Measuring Relief 46 d) How Much Relief is Enough? 49 e) Adjusting the Truss Rod 50 How to Remove the Neck for a Truss Rod Adjustment 52 Adjusting the Neck Alignment 53 STEP 5: ADJUST THE STRING HEIGHT AT BRIDGE 55 a) Gibson-style Hard-tail Bridges (Tune-o-matic) 57 b) Fender-style Hard-tail Bridges 59 Individual Saddle Height Adjustments 60 Under-String Radius Gauge Procedure 62 c) Vintage-Style Tremolo Bridges 64 d) Modern Tremolo Bridges 65 Bridge Angle Adjustments 67 e) Floyd Rose Bridges 69 Neck Angle Adjustments / Shimming 72 f) Acoustic Guitars 74 STEP 6: ADJUST THE STRING HEIGHT AT NUT 77 STEP 7: ADJUST THE PICKUP HEIGHT 84 Pole Piece Staggering 85 STEP 8: ADJUST THE INTONATION 87 Scale Length and How to Measure It 93 TROUBLESHOOTING 94 TOOL TEMPLATES 97 SETUP SPEC SHEETS 104 MEASUREMENT CONVERSION CHART 109 FURTHER RESOURCES 110 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 111

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5 Comments

Robert
April 7, 2022 / 6:56 am Reply
already bought the book. I have ordered a setup kit that I’ll pickup this morning. I have an inexpensive but nice little cutaway acoustic electric,but it,s killing my fretting hand. I am hoping that i can salvage it and my hand. Wish me luck. lol
- J. Blackwood
  April 13, 2022 / 12:35 pm Reply
  Hi Robert, There’s almost always a way to improve the playability on a guitar. One small adjustment at a time! Thanks for the comment
DJ
June 2, 2022 / 4:51 pm Reply
What kinda set up kit did you get?
DJcjr
May 2, 2023 / 2:39 pm Reply
Do you cover locking tuners in your book? All I’ve ever had is Floyd trems since the 80’s
- J. Blackwood
  May 4, 2023 / 3:25 pm Reply
  They are mentioned but not in any great detail. Those ones pictured are (tapered assuming?) and designed to have the string pulled through without having much if any winding around the capstan although I normally do. They aren’t dead-locked like a floyd rose locking nut but they do the job.