Suggestions for a training wheels type guitar for set ups and general repair.

DrJazzTap

Hello, I'm looking at getting a super cheap guitar to use for carrying out my own set ups, maybe changing pickups etc.
 I don't really have a decent local shop for set ups anymore....And in all honesty I feel it's something I should be able to do myself. I have the tools, and the information at hand. But I've always been a bit hesitant about using my current guitars. I'd rather use something super cheap.
So what do you guys recommend? I can score a no brand S type electric for £20 or I'm guessing a Pacifica for £50+? Would I be wasting my money by spending £20? I just don't want to go too far the other way.

My biggest fear at the moment, is judging the bow of the neck. I understand now the radius of saddles in relation to the neck and adjusting bridge saddles for intonation. But eyeing down a neck to gauge the bow at the moment confuses me.
I have two Strat type guitars at the moment.

A quality partsocaster which is screaming for a decent set up. And an american standard. Both of them are strung with 11's. The American standard was set up by Guitarvillage and is a joy to play, it requires no effort at all. The vibrato system floats and whilst you cannot do any crazy beck vibrato techniques it stays in tune really well.
The partsocaster is the polar opposite. Both guitars have identical fingerboard radius's, one is 22 and one is 21 frets. I'm intending on setting up the partsocaster so it feels identical to the US Standard. Anyway suggestions guys? Is it worth spending up to £100 on a guitar to get to grips with set ups etc, or should i just buy a £20 piece of junk? I mean if it's badly set up to begin with, then that should help the learning process right? :P

EDIT- MOVED TO MAKING AND MODDING. Seemed a more appropiate place for this.

TTony

I'd say buy a few, different models, to learn about the features (problems) of each.

So, you should have something with a trem, something with a set neck, maybe a semi (etc).

Which probably means, the cheaper the better?

Sassafras

If it's just set ups you need, you don't need a cheapo guitar. You can do it on your Partscaster. As long as you go carefully, you shouldn't break anything. Be especially careful with the truss rod, only make very small adjustments at a time and see what effect each move makes on the neck. There's lots of stuff on youtube about setting neck relief. It helps if you've got feeler gauges to measure relief.

DrJazzTap

Thanks guys, I'm guessing I'd need two guitars. A cheap Gibson one in time and a Strat guitar. I've messaged a few gumtree ads, and I shall scope out some pawn shops tomorrow

FelineGuitars

Don't by too cheap - or you'll end up feeling that you can't do the work when in fact you are just dealing with v poor quality parts

WezV

Take a guitar with headstock end truss tod adjustment.

Sight down the edge of the neck. Compare the edge of the neck to the string which will be straight.

Adjust the truss rod half a turn in either direction.

Sight down the edge of the neck again

Rinse and repeat

WezV

When showing people how to make necks I always do this with a 2-way truss rod before its installed

DrJazzTap

Thanks @wezv my partsocaster has a vintage style neck, so the truss rod adjustment is a pain in the ass to adjust. I'm guessing a cheap squire is the way to go.

Thanks @felineguitars, that's what I don't want. You can't work with junk. I'm guessing a pacifica or a squire is the way to go.

jamie

Buy the Pacifica anyway, nice axe for the money.


Tools you need for a decent setup:
Machinist's steel straightedge
Ball End Allen Wrenches
Decent screwdrivers, flat and Philips
feeler guages

What you may not have thought of is that every guitarist in your area is in the same boat as you, no techs to do a setup. If you learn to do a decent setup you can charge from £25 to £50 to do them on other peoples guitars. It will also open up a huge network of musicians, you get more opportunities to play with others, etc.
So, yeah, invest in a few tools and a beater guitar. Once you have done a setup on it turn your back and have a friend "undo" the setup. You will have to check it out again, figure out what needs to be done, and then do another setup. After two weeks of this you should be able to do one in your sleep. Good luck and go for it.

GuitarMonkey

Nut files
Fret levelling files
Fret dressing files

You can't do a proper setup if the nut and frets are not right

jamie

Yeah, i agree with you but learning to do a basic setup (neck relief, bridge and saddle height adjustment, and setting intonation) should come first. Any "destructive" type of work, where you are PERMANENTLY changing something, should only be done after proper training and practice, didn't want to scare the OP too badly this early.

imalone

Depends what degree of work you mean by setup I suppose, and how much work DrJazzTap is looking to do.
A pacifica you can probably get by with just saddle and neck adjustment (it may not even need that), which you can do non-destructively if careful (yes, you probably can snap the truss rod, for example, if you try hard enough, but the adjust quarter turn at a time and leave to settle approach isn't going to, unless the neck is terrible anyway).
I guess though, from the fact you've got a partscaster (this one?) that you already know how to do that stuff and we're in the realm of nut cutting and fret dresssing? In which case, assuming you don't want to experiment on the partscaster, I think any cheap guitar should be fine, a pacifica might actually be counter-productive as they may not need much done (like jamie says, buy it anyway!). You can experiment with nut cutting relatively non-destructively (if that's not an oxymoron) as you just need to buy a few nuts of the right size so could keep the original untouched if you're really nervous. I think you'll end up spending much more on tools than on the guitar itself though.

jamie said:

Yeah, i agree with you but learning to do a basic setup (neck relief, bridge and saddle height adjustment, and setting intonation) should come first. Any "destructive" type of work, where you are PERMANENTLY changing something, should only be done after proper training and practice, didn't want to scare the OP too badly this early.

Or on something you're happy to mess up to learn on . You're right it's best to learn to do the basic stuff first, but you'll also never be able to get it quite right unless working with a guitar where the harder things are also right. Difficult circle. You can of course do the easy stuff first and then move on to the more difficult bits, but if you've only got one piece to learn on then that first time will be a bit frustrating.