Guitar Wasn't SET UP When It Arrived To You? By Scott Grove

[CoreyT]

What Scott says here actually makes a lot of sense.
I have yet to adjust a truss rod, but I guess I should learn someday, especially now that I have that nice guitar tech station to work on guitars with.

 

[toothace]

I never touched the setup on my 408 since buying it new...

 

[CoreyT]

I had my 408 setup again last summer during a string change and black pickup rings install at my dealer, but it really did not need the setup.
My 408 is very stable.

Now my Gibson SG '61 Reissue will go out of tune if you just look at it.
Pretty guitar, but very unstable.

 

[DHW]

He's pretty extreme in his rant, as usual, but I get it... How many crazy people have we seen on this forum airing their dirty laundry because their brand new guitar needs the truss rod tweaked? That adjustment is there for a reason. Here in the upper midwest I need to to mine maybe a couple times a year... spring and fall and that usually really nit picking... Even the one epiphone in the house, the se's, the cores, the musicman with the oiled neck, basses, and my daughter's gs mini need about 1/8 of a turn about that often to keep them absolutely perfect. They certainly are still playable but I have the tools and the knowledge so might as well just keep them right there in the sweet spot.

CoreyT, you bought that tech station and yet took a guitar to a dealer for a string change and pickup ring change? What are you planning to use the workstation for, to hold your beer?

 

[AP515]

He has a small point, but exaggerates more than a little. Yes my guitars move a little with temp but not much with humidity. I've had a number of PRS guitars shipped to me and they come out in tune and ready to play. Other brands, not so much.

 

[CoreyT]

CoreyT, you bought that tech station and yet took a guitar to a dealer for a string change and pickup ring change? What are you planning to use the workstation for, to hold your beer?

Have only had the new tech station since last month.
The 408 was taken to my dealer last summer, and the SE ZM was taken in the day I bought my new S2 Custom 22 Semi-Hollow a few months back.

Also with my dealer I get a second free setup (first is at point of sale before it goes out the door) and string change free of charge.
And I do not consume alcohol, so no beer holding

 

[WeFixFlats]

I never touched the setup on my 408 since buying it new...

I bought my 408 Standard at the Dallas Guitar Show May 2015, brand new, right off the display stand, from an authorized PRS dealer. It was perfect then and perfect now. All I've done is experiment with 10's or 11's and change the pickup rings to black.

 

[CoreyT]

This just goes to show you that PRS guitars need less often setups than other brands that do not use dry wood for their necks.
My SG is a perfect example of this.

 

[dkilpatrick]

As prsh says "everything affects everything".
I usually have to tweak a truss rod twice a year. Once in the fall and again in the spring.
Changes in temp and humidity happen overnight sometimes here in the northeast.
That being said, It's a small tweak and my Prsi are still in tune whenever I pick them up. One thing I've noticed is if the neck is cold I will have to re-tune once it warms back up from my hand.

 

[CoreyT]

My 2012 SE Custom 24 is at work right now, and on the original EB Cobalt Super Slinkies, and original setup from my dealer when it came in back then.
It has been through many a temp change from home to work and back again, and only needed retuning.
And...it plays perfect, same as the day I picked it up.

Still wondering why my ZM got so far out of whack, but strange the former guitar mentioned above still plays and feels perfect, just like the day I got it.
I will change the strings though, been itching to get it up on my new tech station.
I guess I better watch some truss rod vids on sighting down the neck to see how it looks after I put some NYXL 9-42s on it.
It will give me the chance to use some Gorgomyte on it too, as a few people at work have played it, and it could use a fret board cleaning I suppose.

 

[Alan Manning]

I Know I live in a temperate climate over here but check this out!!
I bought an SE Soapbar in 2004 and decided to give it a 15 year treat at my local tech's
When I picked it up I asked him how it went, he replied. "I only had to give it a general clean it's perfect.
not bad a 2004 guitar. great make!!!

 

[DHW]

My 2012 SE Custom 24 is at work right now, and on the original EB Cobalt Super Slinkies, and original setup from my dealer when it came in back then.
It has been through many a temp change from home to work and back again, and only needed retuning.
And...it plays perfect, same as the day I picked it up.

Still wondering why my ZM got so far out of whack, but strange the former guitar mentioned above still plays and feels perfect, just like the day I got it.
I will change the strings though, been itching to get it up on my new tech station.
I guess I better watch some truss rod vids on sighting down the neck to see how it looks after I put some NYXL 9-42s on it.
It will give me the chance to use some Gorgomyte on it too, as a few people at work have played it, and it could use a fret board cleaning I suppose.

Count yourself lucky... With the spring and fall transition the temp in the house can change 10 degrees 2-3x a day and the humidity can go from the mid 20's to 60%+ and back over the course of a day. I don't care how well built an instrument is it WILL change in this environment. If yours sits at work most of the time that could partially explain it. The HVAC systems in a commercial environment work quite different, especially if it is a boiler/swamp cooler driven system and the pressure, humidity, and temperature will be much more constant than in someone's home. You are also in the PNW which gives you a much more consistent environment than people in many other parts of the country. Outside seeing a temperature difference of 50+ degrees from 1 day to another and swings of 20-30 just between the warmest and coolest parts of the day with widely varying humidity plays havoc with everything wood. Even doors sometimes can be a problem with them sticking on hot and humid days and not latching securely on cool, dry days.

 

[CoreyT]

As I type this the humidity is 43% and 75.8 degrees inside my home.
Now yesterday when I got up my home was 82 degrees inside at 1 am.
We had a hot day in the 80s on Monday, and my home without me running the air-con will start to match the temp outside,

66 degrees outside, but with the sun out back of my living room, it heats up quickly.
My SE Santana, SG, and Fernandes are out on my wall full time, and the Santana maintains a good tune, and the neck does deviate I playability.

Normally though the humidity inside is around 50%, not sure why it is down to 43% right now.

Yes, at work we have a pressure system with wind blowing inside the buildings all the time.
The heat and air-con are done via huge water pipes using big machines called chillers, pretty impressive setup that works with four big separate buildings.

 

[Mixstar]

I was actually in the shop when my new SE semi arrived, I took it out of the original packaging and apart from a quick tune up it hasn't needed touching since apart from a set of strings. I suppose it must have been set up in Indonesia but I don't think it was touched anywhere else afterwards.

I just noticed there's a gig advert behind the dude in the vid from 197* something in my home town Cardiff

 

[rugerpc]

I was actually in the shop when my new SE semi arrived, I took it out of the original packaging and apart from a quick tune up it hasn't needed touching since apart from a set of strings. I suppose it must have been set up in Indonesia but I don't think it was touched anywhere else afterwards.

I just noticed there's a gig advert behind the dude in the vid from 197* something in my home town Cardiff

SEs pass through the Stevensville factory where they are checked for quality and setup. The great setup on your semi was no accident.

 

[Mixstar]

Cool, I didn't know that but it makes sense.

 

[László]

About a year and a half ago, CoreyT posted a video about a solution to some of those pesky seasonal changes we get in the North, and it seems to work nicely. I actually have been using this with both my acoustic and electric guitars...

I started sticking a single Planet Waves humidity pack in my electric guitar cases for the purpose of combatting the humidity changes. The chemicals in the pack actually prevent the humidity inside the case from falling below around 40% RH or higher than around 50% RH. After a few months, the packs themselves dry out in winter, but they last a lot longer in the spring and summer for obvious reasons.

In any case, they use a chemical technology that releases moisture into the case in winter when it's too dry, and absorbs moisture when it's too humid.

Most PRS electric guitar cases have an open area near the neck that's a good place to put one of the pouches, but the PS guitars only have room in the headstock area, where the thing still seems to be effective. I simply place a pack so that when the case is upright as it is when stored or carried, the pack rests on the bottom of the case. It doesn't touch the guitar.

Anyway, I haven't needed any neck adjustments since I started using them.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

About a year and a half ago, CoreyT posted a video about a solution to some of those pesky seasonal changes we get in the North, and it seems to work nicely. I actually have been using this with both my acoustic and electric guitars...

I started sticking a single Planet Waves humidity pack in my electric guitar cases for the purpose of combatting the humidity changes. The chemicals in the pack actually prevent the humidity inside the case from falling below around 40% RH or higher than around 50% RH. After a few months, the packs themselves dry out in winter, but they last a lot longer in the spring and summer for obvious reasons.

In any case, they use a chemical technology that releases moisture into the case in winter when it's too dry, and absorbs moisture when it's too humid.

Most PRS electric guitar cases have an open area near the neck that's a good place to put one of the pouches, but the PS guitars only have room in the headstock area, where the thing still seems to be effective. I simply place a pack so that when the case is upright as it is when stored or carried, the pack rests on the bottom of the case. It doesn't touch the guitar.

Anyway, I haven't needed any neck adjustments since I started using them.

+1 on the humidipak for electrics. I bought a bulk pack for my acoustics, and when I wasn't going through the as fast as I thought, I started sticking them in some of my PRSes (and semi-hollow Hamer Artists) too. Definitely makes a difference.

That being said, I am used to having to make small seasonal truss rod tweaks. No biggie.

 

[László]

That being said, I am used to having to make small seasonal truss rod tweaks. No biggie.

I'm very bad at setting up my guitars and tweaking truss rods. I've watched all the videos, and read the Erlewine book, and others, and I still can't seem to do it as well as the pro setup folks.

 

[CoreyT]

I'm very bad at setting up my guitars and tweaking truss rods. I've watched all the videos, and read the Erlewine book, and others, and I still can't seem to do it as well as the pro setup folks.

Les, you need to come over and we will practice on my new tech station.
Of course we shall use "The Hammer Of The Gods" as our first test subject