markwgpsu

Most of my life I've played El Cheapo second hand guitars and never thought
much about their setups.

In August 2000 I bought a new Martin D-15 from Musician's Friend.

In July 2001 I bought a new Martin OM-21 from Elderly.

I've been pretty much happy with the guitars as-is. Not knowing a good set-up
from a poor one, I'm blissfully ignorant. However, I reckon I might have more
fun playing if I had proper setups.

First question: is there a way for me to evaluate the setups of my guitars
myself without taking them to a luthier (my local luthiers are always way
backed up). I just got a catalog in the mail from Stewart-MaDonald. They
feature a string action gauge for measuring string height. It looks like what I
would use to diagnose the current set-up and use to measure adjustments I might
make.

Second: I currently use Mediums on the D-15 although it shipped with lights. Do
guitars require a different set-up for different gauges?

Third: How many folks here do their own set-up work? I bought an endpin reamer
and installed PUTW #27s in these two guitars without any trouble. Is a good set
up much more difficult? Where do I find the specifications for the set-up?

I also have a copy of The Acoustic Guitar Owners Manual from Acoustic Guitar
Magazine.

Thanks for your advice. I appreciate your help.

Mark
in
York
Pa

michael lyons

I don't know about that. I think you'd know if the setup was poor. You
wouldn't like the feel. The action could be too high and make it hard to
play or the action could be too low with buzzing when you play. If it feels
good to you it's probably fine I would think. If it ain't broke, you know?


You could take measurements but what standard do you compare them with? The
setup of your guitar needs to feel good and sound good to you. Someone
else's idea of the perfect action height is not always going to be the
perfect height that you might like.


I'm no expert on setups (I have mine done by a Martin certified pro) but I'm
sure the setup is at least somewhat affected by a change in string gauge.
Mediums exert more tension than lights so I'd expect the action to come down
a tad with lights. Maybe someone who knows better can correct me if I am
wrong there though. So I'd think that the action on your D-15 probably came
up a bit when you put mediums on it.

Personally, I'd rather have a Martin certified pro do my setup. This way I
am certain not to do anything that could invalidate the lifetime warranty.
I'm also assured that the job will be done to my satisfaction without the
possibility of me screwing something up. I'm sure it's not rocket science
but on the other hand it's only $35. where I live to have this taken care
of. It seems worth it to me to know that it's done right and I don't have to
be bothered with it, don't need to aquire any special tools, files,
whatever, etc.

I just had my new Martin D-16GT setup and the guy did a great job. The
action had been really high on it. I also had him install a Fishman AM
pickup for me too and he did a great job with that as well. Now my new
guitar is just the way I like it. I'm very happy with it.

Elsewhere I've compared this to working on my car. I know how to fix just
about anything on my car short of a complete rebuild. That doesn't mean I
want to do it. I'd rather have a guy who does this stuff every day take care
of it for me. It's worth it.

I know some guys believe very strongly in doing it yourself when it comes to
setups. They say things that would imply that real men setup their own
guitars and know them inside and out, etc. That's cool. I'd probably tinker
with a cheap guitar myself, but not my Martins. I just want to play. I'm not
interested in becoming a luthier. I just want to drive. I don't want to be a
mechanic no more.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.


Yes, but you don't have years of experience and the know-how that comes with
that. I'll probably get yelled at by somebody for that remark but that's how
I feel about it. But if you are the do-it-yourself type and really prefer to
get into this then how about this? Why not have a pro do it the first time
while you look on? Get all the info you can from him or her about what they
are doing and why, etc. You'll get a lot of bang for your 35 bucks that way
and be better prepared to give it a shot on your own after that. Just a thought.


If you still have one of the el-cheapo guitars around maybe you could try
your hand at perfecting the setup on that guitar before approaching your
Martins. Just another thought. You'll probably get some advice that all the
info that could be needed is on the Web and it probably is. The thing I'd be
worried about there is how do you know the info at a given Web page is
credible and correct? Anybody can put up a Web page and give their take on
how to do it but that doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Who knows?
I'd be wary of that. At least if you have a pro do it and look on and learn
you can be reasonably assured you are getting good quality information.

Whatever you decide, best of luck and enjoy those wonderful, wonderful
Martin guitars! :-)

Michael

don hindenach

Mark,

The nice folks at Stewart-MacDonald have a book by Dan Erlewine
(Guitar Player Repair Guide) that will be of great help to you in
understanding guitar setup. Call them and buy it.

Once you read it and everything Frank Ford has over on www.frets.com,
you can decide whether to buy tools and tackle things yourself or take
it elsewhere armed with the knowlege that you know what you want to
have happen.

--
-don hindenach-
donh at audiosys dot com