Cheapo guitar w/ pro tweak and set up…..

strumjoughlamps

Anyone familiar with Milehouse Studio will know he does a cheapo guitar video section on YT

well I have purchased this one for my lad…

https://youtu.be/yGTIZslUqkk?si=hpJl6etLE-MGUs3Q

and it’s such a lesson in the power of a pro set up, it plays like a dream.. how long it will last is the question but no way in the world is there a more playable £100 guitar right now.

the guys a genius, plus he obliged when I asked a favour.

BillDL

Personally I can't stand his presentation style / persona, and for me he just comes across as a dick (although I'm sure he's a decent enough guy in real life), but he's clearly an accomplished repair and maintenance technician.  Doing actual repairs and some modifications obviously demands a lot of knowledge and hands-on experience, but it really doesn't take a whole load of skill to become accomplished at your own setups though.  It's the expense of the specialist nut files for one or two jobs vs the cost of a professional setup that is most likely the main reason why more people don't do their own setups.

Somebody that knows what they are doing can most definitely transform the vast majority of modern production line mediocre or poor "out of the box" budget guitars into very playable instruments.

Funkfingers

The set-up is as stable as the wood. If the maple neck ever bows, the playability will be spoiled. A tweak of the truss rod should fix this … assuming that rod is any good.

FWIIW, I recently sold an elderly Squier Affinity STRAT whose neck had done all of the shifting it was ever likely to. I had it playing very nicely. The new owner is very pleased with it.

InactiveX

Why does it have a rude word written on it? 

strumjoughlamps

InactiveX said:

Why does it have a rude word written on it? 

Because I asked him to laser etch it on for me. 

Offset

InactiveX said:

Why does it have a rude word written on it? 

It's a Trump homage.

BillDL

I'm curious about something.  The Glarry Stratocaster©®™-styled guitar is £79.99 on Amazon in that video.  You mentioned that you now have a £100 guitar that plays so much better after a pro setup, which implies that you paid only £20 for the setup.  I assume he didn't do the fret level, recrown and polish for you, as he demonstrated in the video, because that would have cost at least as much as the guitar again and probably more.  Sometimes you're lucky and the frets don't need levelling other than spot levelling the odd one here and there, but even without a level a good nut, relief, action, intonation, and fret end dress setup can make a massive amount of difference.  I wish we were able to get a beginner guitar with such a fundamentally good neck and body back at the start of the 80s.  You really don't have to pay much these days to have a pretty good guitar after adjustments and minor work like fret end dressing.

strumjoughlamps

@BillDL its the exact guitar in the vid so fret level and dress etc.. bone nut, better string trees, quality strings. 

It really is playing nice, my lad hasn’t stopped playing it, I’ve partnered it with a Positive Grid Spark Go and he’s chuffed to bits. 

BillDL

Thanks @strumjoughlamps.   He gave it the works then, and that's great it's playing so well.  I'm really pleased for your son.  He has a cracking guitar to play.

pt22

Big fan of this. Special wave!!

strumjoughlamps

pt22 said:

Big fan of this. Special wave!!

You ever seen the Lego arm he has? I sent him that when I gave him the Vintage SG for charity.