What is the importance of getting a guitar setup?

Question

is it dangerous to the guitar not to get a setup? b/c i think my guitar sounds great....but i asked why i would need a setup, and ppl are telling me its important so that i dont have sharp and flat notes....im not that obsessed about flat and sharp notes right now..

and im not crazy about the idea of spending 100 bucks for a setup that takes 30 minutes.

and by the way....im deaf to flat and sharp notes...i cant tell the difference.

Answer 1

I think you miss understood what they meant. Maybe they did not know what they are talking about.

A set up simply positions the strings at the right height up and down the fret board for your style of playing. Most guitars straight out of the factory are off a little at the nut a little at the bridge and may have some frets of different heights. This will impact the intonation or the ability of the guitar to stay in tune as you play up and down the fretboard.

If you like the string heights or the action of the guitar try this.
Tune your guitar to a tuner for each string. Then play each note at the 12th fret you should stay in tune. The needle should not move in theory. It will ofcourse move a little but should not move much.

Bottom line some guitars are set up by previous owners. Taylors don't leave the factory without a thorough set up. Some small shops won't put a guitar out that is not set up well. You however may like the action higher or lower.

Its not dangerous, but a good set up can help you learn to be a better player a bad one can inhibit your learning.

Answer 2

If your guitar sounds good to you, and the action is OK, then leave it alone.

If you get serious about playing in a band, though, you'll probably want to have it setup for even better tone, better action, and (especially if you play in the high octave) accurate pitch.

A good luthier can work wonders with a new guitar -- you'll be amazed.


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Answer 3

I used to be blind to intonation and I don't know how I survived. You really can't be too concerned with the accuracy of your instrument. I did a lot of online research and taught myself how to set and maintain the proper action and intonation on a guitar. Once you learn how, you can do it yourself and you'll be glad you did when you hear how much better it sounds. With guitars, anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Answer 4

TWO WORDS:

Action and Intonation.

If you don't care if your neck is slow, or if you're off key, you might as just well hang it up because you're just wasting the time of people you are jamming with. They aren't telling you to have a setup for nothing.

Get with the program :-)

Answer 5

If you think it sounds right, subscribe to this theory, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". And why worry what others think, they might be tone deaf for all you know.