How often should a guitar be properly set up?

[MartinS]

It's all in the subject line, really.

[ToneMonkey]

It should be properly set up all the time  :lol:

[Stevepage]

About once or twice a year by a professional tech is pretty good I think. I do my own set ups but take it to a tech if I can't get my head around something.

[Twinfan]

I tend to make sure it's set up once by a Pro, then I tweak it myself after that.  It'll only go back to a tech for major changes e.g. new nut, fret dress, full setup after string gauge change etc

[noodleplugerine]

I do my own setups (everything cept fret dressing) and do it once a month on each of my guitars (whenever they need a string change basically). I dedicate a night to setting up 2-3 of my guitars and stick a movie on. VERY Therapeutic.

[Philly Q]

As I tend not to keep guitars very long  :oops:, they usually only get set up once.

If you always use the same make/gauge of strings I don't think there's any need to mess with the setup too often, unless you live in a climate where the trussrod needs a seasonal tweak.

[WezV]

yeah, it really depends on how much its being used and whates happenign with the weather

generally most guitars need a tweak or two in the first year as they settle into life as an instrument  and things tend to become more stable after that.... obviously if they are being gigged regularly they need more looking after

[CJ]

i've never had any of my guitars set up... does it really make that much of a difference? i could just never justify the money for it.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Can make a huge difference on a guitar that needs it.
Find a repairman that will do a health check on your guitar and will be HONEST about whether your guitar needs help

I know that it makes a big difference to my customers - although often a fret dress is what really works wonders.

[indysmith]

get it set up if it doesn't feel right I suppose. Definitely worth the money on a guitar that needs it.

[Will]

i've never had any of my guitars set up... does it really make that much of a difference? i could just never justify the money for it.

Feline polished the frets on my XR1 when it was with him; before I just thought low frets weren't for me, now it is easily my favourite.

[FELINEGUITARS]

i've never had any of my guitars set up... does it really make that much of a difference? i could just never justify the money for it.

Feline polished the frets on my XR1 when it was with him; before I just thought low frets weren't for me, now it is easily my favourite.

Yes - the frets were all flat topped and worn, even though they were all level with each other - so we recrowned them - made them a lot more comfy to play on and improved the intonation as well.

[_tom_]

I really want a fret dress on my guitars but cant afford one yet :( This guy here charges about £110 for one which is a lot but his stuff seems good - I've only played acoustics that he's set up but they felt really nice to play.

[PhilKing]

I check mine everytime I restring them.  I am lucky though and don't have sweaty hands and I am not gigging regularly, so I only need to restring once every 6 months or so (even longer with the SOB strings).  I am lucky in now having inherited just about every tool that Stewart MacDonald sells!  Having the right tools does make life uch easier (especially in fitting new nuts and dressing frets).  But even before I had this I would do my own setups.  I did a one week course with Stephen Delft in the 70's on guitar repairs and setups which was great.  If you are going to do it and want some books, check out Electric Guitar Setups by Hideo Kamimoto (he also wrote another good book called Complete Guitar Repair).

[Alex]

I haven't set up my SG for 2-3 years really, it just play perfect. I always use the same brand of strings and check intonation from time to time but really nothing needs to be adjusted.

My ESP Eclipse on the other hand...  :( argh... I like the guitar but I have had to doodle with the setup so often!  :shock:  I would say I do a setup every 2-3 months on it.

Bottom line: Different guitar will need different amounts of attention and maintenance. You can't really give a general rule.