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?
:PEDIT- MOVED TO MAKING AND MODDING. Seemed a more appropiate place for this.
I would love to change my username, but I fully understand the T&C's (it was an old band nickname). So please feel free to call me Dave.
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Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
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
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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.
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.
Fret levelling files
Fret dressing files
You can't do a proper setup if the nut and frets are not right
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.
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.