ES-355.Jive Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Merry Christmas everyone! how much is too much for a set up? curious as to a ballpark figure for set ups in other parts of the country (US) or other countries etc. take it easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Hello! I'm over in Sweden (but don't hold that against me), so you could probably take my figure and deduce almost half for taxes, but the equivalent of fifty bucks, say I. Over here, that is. Including new strings plus cleaned and conditioned neck. I guess it comes to... I dunno, in the vicinity of $30/£40, adjusted for taxes. The best investment you can make, however, is an Internet connection to access YouTube. I wouldn't fiddle with nut filing myself, but other than that, I'm golden. No part of a set-up is difficult. Trust me, I'm generally crap with tools, and I do fine. (Admittedly thanks to, other than my local tech guy, guys on here like Cap and Bence.) The trick is this: small increments always. You can always add a quarter of a turn... But you cannot always retract said quarter-turn. Appendix A: teach yourself to turn a screw 1/8 of a turn. Whenever a 1/4 turn is suggested, start with 1/8, and take it from there. Any individual issue or part of a set-up, you'll likely find help with on here. Run into gremlins? Post a thread here, and you'll get top-notch advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES-355.Jive Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Thanks Pinch. There's a builder in Central TX that built instruments for Johnny Winter (rip), & maintained Willie Nelson's Trigger, and his prices are slightly under $200 USD for his set ups alone. He's the most trusted source for Gibson Warranty work and probably does circles around other guitar techs in box stores in terms of skill level. But curious if his prices are standard fare or should i keep looking. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Wowza. That's a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Forrest Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Yeah I'm with Pinch... do it yourself. If not, $200.00 is crazy money for an easy job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 ... but the equivalent of fifty bucks, say I.... Including new strings plus cleaned and conditioned neck.... Yeah, I'm thinking about $50, plus or minus $10. That's at a small, one-man guitar and repair shop in town. Two hundred is way too much. You don't need a celebrity luthier to do your setup. Yes, keep looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dReit1 Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 The local "really good guy" is $100.00+. He is good, but out of my league. So I spent a Benny on tools and learned to do my own. Maybe not as good as his but plenty good for this basement Bonamassa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 (That much in the States? Wow. I would've thought less. Of course, it varies from person to person, and I assume even city to city, a s o.) It is, of course, essential to develop a good relationship with a local tech/luthier. Pick one area to know nothing about, where you consult him or her. I've found "picks" is most cost effective :D While we're on set-ups, I'd like to go somewhat off-topic and post a question about cleaning and conditioning. Dunlop, incl. their customer support, says the Ultimate Lemon Oil both cleans and conditions. I use it anually. Do you think it's still necessary to do the whole elbow grease and damp cloth thing beforehand? I use a toothbrush as needed to clean off the stuff that accumulates around the frets. Thanks, and Merry Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 You probably don't need to pay anyone to do a set-up, and you certainly don't need to pay $200. There are a lot of articles and YouTube videos about set ups and it is not hard to do. Start with a sight down the neck for truss rod adjustment, then string height and pick-up height, tune, and intonate that's about it. If you got a Gibson owner's manual with your guitar most of it is covered in there (although the manuals seem to disappear from a lot of shops and/or if the instrument was used you might not have one) As to cleaning and lemon oil on fretboard once a year is probably often enough. Sort of depends on your environment - really dry (desert or high altitude) might require a little more treatment. I use .0000 steel wool on the fretboard and I got a fret polishing system from Planet Waves that was cheap and works great, MAAS metal polish that is good on silver, brass, copper or chrome (don't use on gold finish), just wipe on and wipe off. And finally some Virtuoso Cleaner followed by the polish and you are good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 200 bucks for a setup?? wow! What's he do anyway? never mind rhetorical question.. That's outrageous. A setup should be some where in the order of 45 to 65 bucks, a lot depends on what you have asked for verses what was needed. if there's some specific setup requirements, eg: very specific action set needs, it could run some more time due to a possible need to level some frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 If you're in the Austin area, there are several reputable people here who do setups for around $50.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I had Chip Todd in Leander, TX do a couple of basic setups for about $35 a few years ago. I had Danny Shoemaker in Austin setup a guitar and reshape up the nut slots a little for about $60-ish, but it's been a while since I started doing everything myself. He does great work. Every once in a while though, I like to get someone else (reputable) to set up a guitar for me so I can check their work against my own to check myself. I wouldn't trust bug-box music stores though. I'd rather go to a trusted local pro, but not necessarily the "celeb set up guy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 there's some things I am totally confident in doing, but the odd time that I'm not 100%,, .. the guy I was going to for some years now has recently and suddenly passed... (a great guy as well as a legend around the boston area)... not sure what I'll do moving forward, thankfully, he's taken care of all the "necessary" things... still going to miss the guy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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