Pro setup makes all the difference!

[_tom_]

Just got my Pearl back from the tech after about 3 weeks of him having it - he's done quite a lot of work to it. Basically it fell off my stand one day and the neck join cracked a bit so I thought it'd be a good opportunity for a setup etc to be done because it didnt play amazingly anyway.

Well its totally transformed the guitar :D It wasnt terrible before it went in but not the greatest player either. He's given it a full fret dress by the looks of things (I thought he was only going to do the upper ones as I requested!) as they were causing some notes to choke so now above 17th fret sustain much better :) When he was putting glue in he realised that it hardly had any glue in at all, opened it up and found that it was secured on pretty solidly by two dowels so the neck wasnt moving but he put some glue in the join anyway to keep it all solid.. some of the glue ended up seeping out and he said it made a bloody mess of the neck so he refinished it all for free :) The finish he's put on is way smoother and faster than before. Heres a pic of it, matches well:



Overall I'm really pleased and I think this guitar plays better than my Epiphone now though the action is a bit lower than I'm used to so I may raise it a little bit. Oh and I only paid £120 for the whole thing, great price for the job he's done.

[AndyR]

Fantastic!! :D

Really glad it had a happy ending.

Sounds like you want to stay in contact with that tech...

[BigK]

Nice one! who is this tech? as I need some work done on a couple of my guitars. and you only live down the road from me.

[_tom_]

He's Peter Davies, the business is called "Dream Guitar Services". Lives in Woodford (has a workshop on the end of his house) which is pretty easy to find, just take the A14 to the next exit after burton latimer one then follow the signs. His number's 01832 733214

Not sure if I'm taking my epiphone yet because although its not as "silky smooth" feeling as the Pearl now is (best way I can describe it), its still great to play. I just cant seem to set intonation very well by myself for some reason, dont know if its worth the drive just for that.

[Twinfan]

Looks superb Tom - glad it worked out OK for you  :)

The refinish looks really good!

[_tom_]

Yep, you can hardly see where the crack in the lacquer was before now. I'm really pleased with it - the colour matches perfectly. Trying to get a good pic now but my camera doesnt focus too well up close.

[Woogie]

So it was worth kicking it off the stand in your sleep?  :P

[_tom_]

haha yep, I'm gonna get a wallhanger for it asap :P

[dave_mc]

excellent :)

[38thBeatle]

Good result there Tom.

[Simon D]

Top result. Looks like he's done a nice job there too. Once you've found a good tech, don't lose touch with them - a good, reliable, competitively priced tech is worth their weight in gold.

[_tom_]

Something I've noticed, since getting the setup. My 10s feel like 9s on this guitar, its so much easier to bend. I guess thats because of the fret dress? Might go up to 11s, but will that mess up the setup - intonation etc?

Right now the Pearl sounds more alive and feels way better than the epiphone, I really need to get the fret dress and setup done to that asap :P

[Simon D]

Something I've noticed, since getting the setup. My 10s feel like 9s on this guitar, its so much easier to bend. I guess thats because of the fret dress? Might go up to 11s, but will that mess up the setup - intonation etc?

It won't do the setup a massive amount of good. Going up a string gauge will put a bit more tension on the neck, and could alter the action a bit. I'd say work with it for now, and get it re-setup in six months with 11s if you still fancy it.

[FernandoDuarte]

Go .011" NOW!!! :twisted:

And it will need a setup again... Truss rod and octaves adjustment...

[AndyR]

Go .011" NOW!!! :twisted:

And it will need a setup again... Truss rod and octaves adjustment...

I'm with Fernando, but how are you with these adjustments Tom? I'd do those myself now the frets are dressed.

11's will move it a bit, might need a miniscule tightening of the truss-rod, but you might like the effect anyway. The bridge height and intonation will definitely need checking and resetting.

Depends on the player, but the action usually needs to be a bit higher for heavier strings anyway because they move further when vibrating - players of heavy strings usually hit them a lot harder because that's where the tone is at (this is a bit of a generalisation, but I definitely fit into it :lol:)

The only thing that would worry me is did he cut you a new nut for 10's? 11's might bind a bit until they've worn it in a bit.

I speak all of this from experience - every guitar I buy has the 10's chucked off and 11's go on immediately - I can usually do the truss-rod and bridge adjustments to my satisfaction. But frets is another matter...

I've never had a guitar professionally set up, but I am getting ready to worry Jonathan with my Baja, I just can't seem to get it right, and I think what's holding me back is the @rse frets on the thing - I think it needs a fret dress before it can be set up. And if I find his professional job drastically blows my amateur fiddlings away... then I might have a whole load of others need doing as well :roll:

By theory, as I understand it, frets are dressed for the set-up (in particular, the truss-rod/neck-relief), but I don't think the fantastic fret dress you have now will be majorly compromised by the small set-up tweaks required for 11's.

Another possibility is just raise the action (bridge) a bit with the 10's and see what you think? (I tend to record how many turns of the screws/etc I try, so I can put it back) - Oh, and that will need the intonation checking/adjusting as well...

I know what you mean though. When I got my Tokai, it was super-slick and buzz free compared to the others, even with 11's on. I had to seriously degrade this by raising the action so that I felt comfortable on it!