Learning to do my own set ups

[charles Tauber]

Guitar making, just like performing your own setups, is easy.

There is no reason not to learn this.

It is easy and just a simple matter of following steps.


In order

buy wood
cut it out
put it together
apply finish


String guitar


Tools needed

planes
chisels
sanders
a few others

Just a rough guide for a basic easy guitar making.

My tongue-in-cheek point is that while there are a few procedures that can easily be accomplished by the eager do-it-yourselfer, beyond those few things, there is nothing easy about it. People who do this professionally spend years developing the knowledge and skills required to do it well.

If you want to try your hand at it, by all means try it. But don't be fooled by anyone telling you its quick and easy to do. Or that you'll save lots of money doing it yourself: it's like buying a boat to save money on fish. If you decide to have a go at it, just be aware that it will take time, effort and money to acquire the knowledge and skills to do it well.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

If you want to try your hand at it, by all means try it. But don't be fooled by anyone telling you its quick and easy to do.

Something that helped me stumble along the path was figuring out that each manipulation serves it's own purpose, but, at the same time, each one is interrelated.

E.g., filing away at the nut is going to affect the other measures, but if the nut slots are high, and it's tough the barre at the first fret, what else are you gonna do except file 'em down?

[TwoMartinMan]

Originally Posted by SFCRetired

To those wanting to learn. My guy learned by going to pawn shops and the like and buying old guitars for cheap and taking them apart and putting them back together, and setting them up. Then he resold them to recoup his money. Some he made money on because people had a guitar that needed set up and they didn't realize it was that simple, so they just got rid of it.

This is exactly how I got started 7 years ago. Now its a sideline business/hobby for me. I do about 30-40 set ups per year, also fretwork, tuner installs, and minor electronics jobs. I put some of my profits back into tools to outfit a small home workshop. Started by picking up $40 used Yamahas on Craigslist, trial and error work, and re-selling them for a profit. Also took a few luthier courses. Just set up a Taylor 814CE last night for a neighbor/customer. He's very happy.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by TwoMartinMan

This is exactly how I got started 7 years ago. Now its a sideline business/hobby for me.

Serious question. How long did it take you to feel comfortable enough with the process before you started working on other peoples' guitars?

I work on guitars within my family, but it feels like a big step going beyond that.