Set-up day

I'm spending a big chunk of the day re-stringing, cleaning and tweaking a trio of guitars.... The 5th Avenue (dialing it in for tone and trying a set of TI flat wounds ), the baritone (I think the relief and action cane slightly improved, and trying a set of XLs on it), and the lap steel (which has needed the right string gauges to be tuned to a C6 since I got it). If I still haven't gone crazy I'll check the set up on the PRS as well (I think it could be a bit flatter).

How do you guys who own 20+ guitars stand it? I thought just setting up one Strat once every couple of years was a PITA.

I usually do 1 guitar a day for my own guitars.....usually they stay good for awhile unless I change string gauges or a radical temperature change.

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Originally Posted by silent j.

I'm spending a big chunk of the day re-stringing, cleaning and tweaking a trio of guitars.... The 5th Avenue (dialing it in for tone and trying a set of TI flat wounds ), the baritone (I think the relief and action cane slightly improved, and trying a set of XLs on it), and the lap steel (which has needed the right string gauges to be tuned to a C6 since I got it). If I still haven't gone crazy I'll check the set up on the PRS as well (I think it could be a bit flatter).

How do you guys who own 20+ guitars stand it? I thought just setting up one Strat once every couple of years was a PITA.

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I'll be doing that tomorrow on my Tele. Difference is that I'm actually looking forward to it...can't wait to hear what she sounds like!

I enjoy working on guitars for me its a relaxing pastime...

I didn't mean to imply that it's not enjoyable... it's fun in its own way. Here's a pic of my 5th Avenue, freshly polished and strung with TI Jazz flats. Compared to the D'Addario Chromes, the TI's are not as loud but much more pleasant to play, and much more sonorous, sustaining, in tune with themselves. I like this guitar even better than I did with these strings.

http://www.gravitymusic.com/tempimages/godin.jpg

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Originally Posted by silent j.

I didn't mean to imply that it's not enjoyable... it's fun in its own way. Here's a pic of my 5th Avenue, freshly polished and strung with TI Jazz flats. Compared to the D'Addario Chromes, the TI's are not as loud but much more pleasant to play, and much more sonorous, sustaining, in tune with themselves. I like this guitar even better than I did with these strings.

http://www.gravitymusic.com/tempimages/godin.jpg

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That is such a COOL guitar! :salud:

Thanks, Refin... it was good before, but with the TI strings it is markedly better... Plays real easy and sounds great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silent j.

I'm spending a big chunk of the day re-stringing, cleaning and tweaking a trio of guitars.... The 5th Avenue (dialing it in for tone and trying a set of TI flat wounds ), the baritone (I think the relief and action cane slightly improved, and trying a set of XLs on it), and the lap steel (which has needed the right string gauges to be tuned to a C6 since I got it). If I still haven't gone crazy I'll check the set up on the PRS as well (I think it could be a bit flatter).

How do you guys who own 20+ guitars stand it? I thought just setting up one Strat once every couple of years was a PITA.

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I've done if for a living. Still, I don't relish setups on Floyd Rose equipped guitars or Rickenbackers. And my WildKat has to get pretty stale before I'm ready to tie into the Bigsby. the Strat, Les Pauls and the SGs I can do in my sleep. The easiest in the bunch are my 2014 Les Paul Melody Makers with the wrap tail. Tune up. Set the bridge height for clean notes frets 15-22, get enough relief to eliminate buzz on frets 1-14, set the intonation with two grub screws and I'm done, about 10 minutes. (Retune between each adjustment) Takes a little longer with the others, but the " no measurement, just clear note"principle is the same. On a Strat, because of the longer scale and different trussrod placement, the trussrod joins around fret 17 so frets 17 through 21(2) are immobile and are the bench marks for bridge saddle height, and the truss rod is used for adequate relief frets 1 and up. Try it, it works.
And oh my, I like that Godin...
;>)/

I hate restringing guitars - that's why I have so many; when one's strings are going, I switch to another for a while. ;)
Actually, I'll usually do them one at a time, and I was half-serious - playing and switching around I don't wear out strings on a given guitar as fast as if it was just one. I also don't really like the sound of fresh strings - they need a few hours of playing time to settle in and sound right to me.
If I was playing shows, I'd replace them a lot more often - probably a day or 2 before a show, so I could get some playing in before going on.