Looking to learn to set up guitars - what do I need?

[crispsandwich]

I'm looking to start learning how to set up my own guitars. It seems a shame that I'd have to pay someone to do it for me, so I want to learn to do it myself.

Any ideas what I'll need?

[Kiichi]

What you will definetly need is a set of screwdrivers and allen wrenches. Plus a fine gauge, like a milimeter gauge (I for one use a piece of paper I cut out of those sheets with milimeter squares for technical drawing). Also a wirecutter.

With that you can do the basic stuff: Change strings, adjust neck relief, adjust bridge height, adjust intonation and set the pickup and polepiece height.

Adjusting the nut height is harder to do, but youŽll need it very rarely. I canŽt do it too and never needed to.

Nice things to have imho are: A fret cleaner (I use one which is a special kind of cloth, brings the shine back with some rubbing), a fretboard cleaner and a conditioner (I use the dunlop ones) to clean and get the oil back in the wood.
Also I love what Feline recommended me at one point which is the Nutsauce tuning lubricant. Graphite from a pencil on the nut will get the job done too, but this works quite a bit better imo.

[BigB]

I'm looking to start learning how to set up my own guitars. It seems a shame that I'd have to pay someone to do it for me, so I want to learn to do it myself.

Any ideas what I'll need?

First and foremost : time, patience and dedication :mrgreen:

On a practical POV: a good set of screwdrivers and allen keys (either or both imperial and metric ones depending on your guitars) and a _good_ tuner - I mean : something very accurate, not your average stage one - should get you started. A multimeter (a cheap one will be enough), a decent soldering kit (iron, solder, solder pump and/or desoldering braid) etc might help too if you plan on keeping care of your guitars electronic.

[WezV]

lots of guitars to practice on - if you have a cheap banger its worth seeing how good you can make it - maybe even practice minor fretwork when you are more confident in how it all works

but start with the simple stuff - truss rods, intonation, action -  then add in nut/fret work later, but you really need to at least be able to assess what nut and fretwork may be needed to get the most from it

[gwEm]

Feline has some cool little tools for adjusting tune-o-matic bridges and fast winding tuners. but i use the stuff Kiichi mentioned and am happy.

[Alex]

First and foremost : time, patience and dedication :mrgreen:

So true. I read sooooo many articles on this when I started fiddling with my setups. to know all the theory, but really the more different guitars you work on and set up and the more experience you build up the better you will get. There's quite a bit of trial and error involved.

[BigB]

. There's quite a bit of trial and error involved.

Indeed. As often, the best way to learn how it all work is  to only change one thing at a time - at first I mean - until you get a feel about it. And yes, starting with a few different cheapos is a good idea - you're less afraid of screwing it, and chances are you'll end up with something better than stock :mrgreen: