“Wouldn't It Be Great To Be Able To Buy A Guitar That Is Gig-Ready Right
Out Of The Box?"
By: Richard Mariner
Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a mine field, consider "custom" versus "pre-fab" electric guitars.
I love guitars, and there's nothing like a new electric guitar with a proper set up! I like the tone, the way it feels in my
hands, and the way that I can make a guitar sound "right" for any kind of music that I play. Whether it's jazz, blues,
country, hard rock, R&B leads, guitar chords, or just working on guitar tabs, all it takes is a flip of a switch, some
prep, a couple twists of the knobs, neck alignment and I'm right where I need to be. I've bought a lot of guitars over
the years, and discovered that taking that beautiful new Strat or Tele guitar out of the box was always just the first
step in finding the guitar that fit in my hands the way that I imagined that it would when it first caught my eye.
After a close inspection I found that my new guitar wouldn't be quite gig ready until I did all of the little subtle
tweaks, repairs and modifications that would make it play just the way I wanted it to when I got it out onto the gig. I'd
dress the frets, get the intonation just right, tweak the pick-ups, customize the configuration a bit, and before you
know it, I'd be playing a guitar that felt like it was made to be in my hands. Playing music is always fun, but when I'm
on the gig with a guitar that feels just right ... it's just pure guitar joy.
After a while I thought; “Wouldn't it be great to be able to buy a guitar that felt gig ready right out of the box?" As
wonderful as that idea may seem, in reality it’s almost impossible to pick up a guitar in a music store “off the rack”
and have it play right. It just doesn’t happen.
There are many things that need to be done to “prep” the guitar before it’s ready to play. At Haywire Custom Guitars
(http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) we recommend and perform all of the following in prep for a guitar
purchase before it leaves the bench at the workshop.
For our purposes here I will focus only on electric instruments for now. First, let me pose a question to the beginning
through the advanced guitarist. What Is Guitar Intonation and why is it important? Do you know?
Intonation is the accuracy in which an electric guitar or bass can produce a fretted note and the most important issue
with any instrument. Setting the intonation on a guitar is the act of adjusting the length of the strings (by moving the
bridge saddles) to compensate for the thickness of the string and the stretching of a string due to pushing it down to
the fret board to produce a note.
To adjust the intonation of your guitar or bass guitar, you move the bridge saddles toward or away from the fret
board until the 12th fret note and its harmonic are equal in pitch to the same open-string note, which are exactly one
octave apart. Accurate intonation is critical to pitch quality. Pitch quality is essential to "in tune" playing. Poor pitch
quality="out of tune" notes which in turn = poor musical presentation. Wouldn't you or the salesman want to present
your musical talents in the best way possible? Of course, you do.
Now, it is not necessary for a guitar player to know this at all. It is essential however that the guitar possess this
quality and maintain as close to perfect intonation as possible. Buying on looks alone can be very disappointing. If
however, you like an instrument for the looks but realize that you will need to have it worked on to get it playable
then that is a savvy notion. It's best to speak to a luthier or guitar builder previous to any purchase. It's akin to asking
a mechanic which car he would recommend-before you walk into the show room. In this way you can benefit from
his first hand knowledge and experience and not have to go it alone. After all he sees the ones that breakdown more
often than you or the salesman do.
Below, I have outlined the essential adjustments to be performed prior to purchasing and playing a guitar under
optimal circumstances.
1. 4-axis Alignment of the guitar neck. The guitar neck is checked and adjusted to insure that it is true and straight to
insure proper alignment on all axis. This step insures proper action and allows for more accurate and easier guitar
tuning, playing and set-up in the following steps.
2. Inspect and Lube the guitar tuning gears. Each tuning gear is adjusted so that there is no play in the mechanism.
They are then lubricated to insure smooth and even movement to make your guitar tune accurately.
3. Potting the guitar pickups. Dip the pickups in hot wax to reduce squeal and unwanted guitar feedback.
4. Prep the guitar body. Upon installing the guitar electronic components, great care is taken to insure that all wires
are properly routed, spaced, and grounded to insure years of trouble free service with your guitar.
5. Level and polish the frets. This insures that all of the guitar frets are level, eliminating any possibility of fret buzz
due to unevenness.
6. Radius the guitar strings. Most guitar necks have a contour over the top of the neck called the "radius". Adjust the
strings to make sure the height of each string follows the contour of the guitar neck.
7. Adjusting the overall guitar string height and the action. Once the string contour and radius of the guitar strings is
set, it’s time to adjust the overall height or "action" or distance of the strings from the top of the frets to the bottom of
the guitar strings.
8. Set the guitar intonation. This step should be done twice. The intonation is normally set two times with a 24 hour
period in between to allow the new guitar adjustments to properly re-seat.
If these steps are performed before playing your new guitar then, you won't be disappointed. Your focus can then be
on the music and not the problems of the instrument. If it is "set up" properly a player will not have to "get used to" it.
Everything on it will feel natural and fall right into place and the music can flow.
In summary, Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a real disappointment. A thoughtful purchase should include
consideration in buying a "custom" or "Gig-Ready" electric guitar versus a "pre-fab" instrument built on a production
line. Custom guitars are individually built for a specific customer and will have all of the above necessary
operations performed. All the guitarist needs to do is-Play!
http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com
Rick Mariner - Owner and founder of Haywire Value Priced Custom Guitars (http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) and a
member of The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) as well as a guitar player.
Rick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Maryland and a Masters degree from George Washington University.
He developed an 8 - Point “Gig- Ready” guitar process that allows for Haywire Custom Guitars that are "GIG-READY". With
many years of development and guitar set-up experience, we pride ourselves in helping to build you the “Just Right” Haywire
guitar at prices well below market and "set up" to playing perfection.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mariner
Out Of The Box?"
By: Richard Mariner
Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a mine field, consider "custom" versus "pre-fab" electric guitars.
I love guitars, and there's nothing like a new electric guitar with a proper set up! I like the tone, the way it feels in my
hands, and the way that I can make a guitar sound "right" for any kind of music that I play. Whether it's jazz, blues,
country, hard rock, R&B leads, guitar chords, or just working on guitar tabs, all it takes is a flip of a switch, some
prep, a couple twists of the knobs, neck alignment and I'm right where I need to be. I've bought a lot of guitars over
the years, and discovered that taking that beautiful new Strat or Tele guitar out of the box was always just the first
step in finding the guitar that fit in my hands the way that I imagined that it would when it first caught my eye.
After a close inspection I found that my new guitar wouldn't be quite gig ready until I did all of the little subtle
tweaks, repairs and modifications that would make it play just the way I wanted it to when I got it out onto the gig. I'd
dress the frets, get the intonation just right, tweak the pick-ups, customize the configuration a bit, and before you
know it, I'd be playing a guitar that felt like it was made to be in my hands. Playing music is always fun, but when I'm
on the gig with a guitar that feels just right ... it's just pure guitar joy.
After a while I thought; “Wouldn't it be great to be able to buy a guitar that felt gig ready right out of the box?" As
wonderful as that idea may seem, in reality it’s almost impossible to pick up a guitar in a music store “off the rack”
and have it play right. It just doesn’t happen.
There are many things that need to be done to “prep” the guitar before it’s ready to play. At Haywire Custom Guitars
(http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) we recommend and perform all of the following in prep for a guitar
purchase before it leaves the bench at the workshop.
For our purposes here I will focus only on electric instruments for now. First, let me pose a question to the beginning
through the advanced guitarist. What Is Guitar Intonation and why is it important? Do you know?
Intonation is the accuracy in which an electric guitar or bass can produce a fretted note and the most important issue
with any instrument. Setting the intonation on a guitar is the act of adjusting the length of the strings (by moving the
bridge saddles) to compensate for the thickness of the string and the stretching of a string due to pushing it down to
the fret board to produce a note.
To adjust the intonation of your guitar or bass guitar, you move the bridge saddles toward or away from the fret
board until the 12th fret note and its harmonic are equal in pitch to the same open-string note, which are exactly one
octave apart. Accurate intonation is critical to pitch quality. Pitch quality is essential to "in tune" playing. Poor pitch
quality="out of tune" notes which in turn = poor musical presentation. Wouldn't you or the salesman want to present
your musical talents in the best way possible? Of course, you do.
Now, it is not necessary for a guitar player to know this at all. It is essential however that the guitar possess this
quality and maintain as close to perfect intonation as possible. Buying on looks alone can be very disappointing. If
however, you like an instrument for the looks but realize that you will need to have it worked on to get it playable
then that is a savvy notion. It's best to speak to a luthier or guitar builder previous to any purchase. It's akin to asking
a mechanic which car he would recommend-before you walk into the show room. In this way you can benefit from
his first hand knowledge and experience and not have to go it alone. After all he sees the ones that breakdown more
often than you or the salesman do.
Below, I have outlined the essential adjustments to be performed prior to purchasing and playing a guitar under
optimal circumstances.
1. 4-axis Alignment of the guitar neck. The guitar neck is checked and adjusted to insure that it is true and straight to
insure proper alignment on all axis. This step insures proper action and allows for more accurate and easier guitar
tuning, playing and set-up in the following steps.
2. Inspect and Lube the guitar tuning gears. Each tuning gear is adjusted so that there is no play in the mechanism.
They are then lubricated to insure smooth and even movement to make your guitar tune accurately.
3. Potting the guitar pickups. Dip the pickups in hot wax to reduce squeal and unwanted guitar feedback.
4. Prep the guitar body. Upon installing the guitar electronic components, great care is taken to insure that all wires
are properly routed, spaced, and grounded to insure years of trouble free service with your guitar.
5. Level and polish the frets. This insures that all of the guitar frets are level, eliminating any possibility of fret buzz
due to unevenness.
6. Radius the guitar strings. Most guitar necks have a contour over the top of the neck called the "radius". Adjust the
strings to make sure the height of each string follows the contour of the guitar neck.
7. Adjusting the overall guitar string height and the action. Once the string contour and radius of the guitar strings is
set, it’s time to adjust the overall height or "action" or distance of the strings from the top of the frets to the bottom of
the guitar strings.
8. Set the guitar intonation. This step should be done twice. The intonation is normally set two times with a 24 hour
period in between to allow the new guitar adjustments to properly re-seat.
If these steps are performed before playing your new guitar then, you won't be disappointed. Your focus can then be
on the music and not the problems of the instrument. If it is "set up" properly a player will not have to "get used to" it.
Everything on it will feel natural and fall right into place and the music can flow.
In summary, Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a real disappointment. A thoughtful purchase should include
consideration in buying a "custom" or "Gig-Ready" electric guitar versus a "pre-fab" instrument built on a production
line. Custom guitars are individually built for a specific customer and will have all of the above necessary
operations performed. All the guitarist needs to do is-Play!
http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com
Rick Mariner - Owner and founder of Haywire Value Priced Custom Guitars (http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) and a
member of The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) as well as a guitar player.
Rick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Maryland and a Masters degree from George Washington University.
He developed an 8 - Point “Gig- Ready” guitar process that allows for Haywire Custom Guitars that are "GIG-READY". With
many years of development and guitar set-up experience, we pride ourselves in helping to build you the “Just Right” Haywire
guitar at prices well below market and "set up" to playing perfection.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mariner
| You know that Haywire Custom guitars offers "Pro" high-end guitars, but if you were a Professional Guitarist looking for this type of product, you'd need to understand why to choose Haywire over some of the larger competitors. The real value that Haywire offers is its small-scale with greatly individualized attention to customers, detail and playability to enable pros to play a guitar packed with lots of attention to the details of what they need and want, rather than, say, buying and settling for an unready guitar "off-the-rack" in a Mall music store that can do nothing to improve it should it be sub-standard in it's ability to play smoothly and trouble-free. Pros can rely the instrument that they receive from Haywire Custom Shop will be exactly to their specifications and that are just like the larger-scale companies, but contain parts, quality components they want at a reasonable price with the added assurance of a ONE YEAR warranty on our finished work. |
