Refining Factory Setups on Electric Guitars: Going the Extra Mile

by Erick Coleman and Evan Gluck

from their 2011 GAL Convention workshop

Originally published in American Lutherie #110, 2012

Erick Coleman: Evan has operated New York Guitar Repair in Manhattan since 2004, and in that time he’s seen more than 10,000 guitars. I work at Stewart-MacDonald and I have my own repair shop, so I see a lot as well. Today we’re going to talk about fine tuning brand-new electric guitars: the fret work may not be perfect, nuts can be improperly cut, and bridges may be set up incorrectly. We ordered brand-new inexpensive but decent Fender and Gibson guitars in the $500 street-price range. Now we’re going to open the boxes for the first time and address any problems.

Evan Gluck: A lot of these guitars are set up for instant gratification at the store; the action is high, so there are no buzzes.

Erick: I have a Gibson Melody Maker.

Evan: This is a newer-style Fender Jazzmaster called a Blacktop.