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7 Steps to Setting Up Your Guitar

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In this tutorial I will explain step-by-step how to set up your guitar to get perfect intonation. Having your guitar "in tune" is a perfect goal for any luthier or the guitarist himself. Poor intonation can be heard whenever we play a chord or play solo on high frets. But you can tune your guitar to achieve a more powerful sound than ever.

If the neck is dead straight, and you have no buzzing, and you like the way it feels, it's pretty safe to assume that your truss rod is adjusted just right. Even if you have a little buzzing, if you don't hear it when it's plugged in - assuming that it's an electric, of course - then you can leave it. Not all buzzes will be heard through the amp.

If it does buzz when plugged in, it doesn't necessarily mean that the truss rod requires adjustment. You might find your problem is solved by raising the bridge or bridge saddles.

The truss rod is essentially a long metal rod that is inserted into the neck of the guitar and fixed. Tightening or loosening it flexes the neck and allows curvature to be applied to the neck, altering its characteristics and, hence, its playability.

You may adjust the truss rod using Allen keys. If your guitar neck looks back-bowed then slowly tighten your truss rod by turning the truss rod clockwise with Allen keys. If it looks relief bowed, then adjust your truss rod by turning the Allen keys counterclockwise.

Remove of your old strings and use new strings in order to maximize your guitar intonation. For the standard EADGBE tuning you can use string gauge from 0.9 - 0.11. Remember, "the lighter the string, the weaker the tone".

Warning: Do not use string gauge 0.13 if your guitar used standard tuning (EADGBE ). This will damage your guitar neck, and isn't comfortable to play.

How do you know your guitar's intonation is good? Pluck one of your strings (e.g. the sixth string, low E) unfretted, then press the twelfth fret and pluck it again. If the note shows E on your chromatic tuner display, then your guitar's intonation is OK.

But if the note is sharp, the bridge saddle needs to be moved back towards the tailpiece. If it is flat, the bridge saddle needs to be moved the opposite way - forward toward the pickups.

It's best to just make small turns, as a little turn can make a lot of difference. After every adjustment to the position of the bridge saddle, retune the string to pitch and compare the twelfth fret note with the harmonic. Repeat for all the strings until the intonation its correct.

Read More: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/7-steps-to-setting-up-your-guitar--audio-5284#comment-4630924724

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