electric guitar setup egs

© 2013 ElectricGuitarSetup.com All Rights Reserved  |  Home  |  Terms of Agreement  |  Contact Us

red fender stratocaster electric guitar setup

build an electric guitar kit, it won’t be enjoyable to play or sound good if it isn’t set up properly. Setting up a guitar is a process that can be learned and performed by the player. Not only will setting up your guitar save money, but it allows you to experiment and find exactly what works best with your particular instrument and playing style. There is no mysterious magic touch to setting up a guitar; it is simply a matter of learning how.









Electric Guitar Setup

Why You Need To Set Up An Electric Guitar

Electric guitar setup is one of, if not the most important element of guitar playing. Whether you buy a new guitar, used guitar, vintage guitar, or

adjust intonation electric guitar setup guide electric guitar setup parts of the guitar

It is extremely important to adjust the parts of the guitar in the order presented here as they build on each other. It doesn’t do any good to adjust the intonation if the guitar action is too high, as changing the string height directly effects intonation adjustment. So obviously, if the intonation was adjusted before setting the action (string height), the intonation will be off and will have to be readjusted.

Electric Guitar Setup And Environmental Influences

Your electric guitar setup is heavily influenced by the fact that, except for a few specialized instruments, guitars are made out of wood. Therefore,  

guitars are sensitive to environmental changes. Altitude, humidity and ambient temperature changes, as well as age, will cause wood to expand and contract. This expansion or contraction will definitely affect the parts of the guitar. When setting up a new guitar, tune it to pitch and store it for a few days while it adjusts itself to the environment and string tension before proceeding.

Electric Guitar Kit

all the parts of the guitar work together. Hence, when we change one factor, we have to change other corresponding elements as well. Even the most expensive high quality guitars do not come set up. This must be done by the players themselves or a trained guitar repair technician. The easy to follow instructions in this electric guitar setup guide will provide any guitarist with ample knowledge to competently perform setup procedures. It is extremely  

adjust action

important to note, that if you happen to feel uncertain or uncomfortable as to the procedure or your mechanical abilities, we strongly advise you to take your instrument to a luthier or a qualified professional technician. For the rest of you, just follow the electric guitar setup instructions carefully and enjoy your instrument.

How To Setup A Guitar With ElectricGuitarSetup.com

This electric guitar setup guide is divided into nine easy to follow sections. For the best sounding guitar, it is very important that they are performed in the order listed below.


    1) Parts of the Electric Guitar


    2) Electric Guitar Strings


    3) How to String an Electric Guitar


    4) Checking the Guitar Nut: Setting Up and Replacing


    5) Guitar Neck Adjustment and Truss Rod Adjustment


    6) Guitar Action Adjustment and Bridge Adjustment  


    7) Adjust Guitar Bridge and Set Intonation


    8) Electric Guitar Pickup Height Adjustment


    9) Guitar Maintenance: Cleaning, Polishing and Storage



Electric guitars come in many shapes and sizes, but they all need to be set up to meet the player’s needs. Whether we’re cutting a frequency wavelength in half (intonation), or setting the string height (action),