The shop keeps a working bench, and the bench keeps the shop honest. This is what happens to a guitar that comes in for a setup – and what our care range is built around.
Assess before adjusting
Every setup starts with playing, not tools: how the neck sits, where the buzz lives, what the owner’s hands actually do. Ten minutes of listening saves an hour of second-guessing, and it decides which of the following steps matter.
Neck, nut and saddle
Relief is measured with a straightedge and set with quarter-turns, never guesses. Nut slots are cut to the string gauge in the case, not the gauge from the factory. Saddle height follows the player – fingerstyle floats a little higher, hard strummers sit lower and buzz-proof.
Clean, condition, restring
The board is cleaned and – if it is dark unfinished hardwood – conditioned with the same oil we sell in the care kits. Fresh strings go on with proper wraps and a firm stretch, so the guitar leaves the bench holding pitch instead of promising to.
The final pass
Intonation at the twelfth, electronics sprayed and swept, strap buttons tightened, and a last play-through of the songs the owner named. A setup is finished when the guitar disappears in the hands – that is the standard the whole shop is run to.
