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Thread: Why dont music stores set up their guitars correctly?

  1. #1
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    390

    Why dont music stores set up their guitars correctly?

    Im getting back into guitar after a few years of not playing at all and i have a hankering for a tele. I dont need one, i have plenty of guitars and really, my ability doesnt warrant another guitar, but i still want one!
    Went to the local music store today to try a few.

    First a tele baja, gets great reviews, plenty saying its nice than much more expensive guitars.
    Either they are all wrong or more likely, the guitar was just set up like a bow for archery. Action was brutal, getting progressively higher toward the end of the fret board, with enough space under the string to park a small bus.
    Tried a 2nd baja - same issue and intonation was so far off.

    Thought maybe the baja is just a rough guitar and all the reviews are wrong, so ill try a Am Standard Tele.
    Again, action and intonation was absolutely terrible.
    At this point i left the store, knowing that even if there was an excellent guitar on the wall, i wouldn't recognize it under the brutal setup they all had.
    Im hardly going to drop a min of 1k (and probably a lot more) on a guitar that may be a complete lemon, but i wont find out until i part with some cash, get it home and do a set up on it myself.

    This made me question:
    • - does fender even set up thier guitars, besides putting a set of strings on and hoping for the best?
    • - shouldn't an established music shop know to do a set up on any guitars for sale to show them in their best light?
    • - do people actually buy these guitars at 1k + that have no discernible setup, with action that could slice cheese?

  2. #2
    Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Berkshire
    Posts
    5,105
    A decent shop should have their guitars set up properly sure. When I was looking to buy one a while back, the shop that had the one I wanted was a way away but I made the trip to go and see it. Bit like your experience, badly set-up and buzzed like made. When I pointed it out, their response was 'well you can get that fixed once you've bought it'. Yeah right, you want me to pay you for something that isn't right and hope that I can either fix it or pay someone else to do it.

    Having said that, the Fender I did buy eventually was really well set-up and played really well.

  3. #3
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    SE England
    Posts
    27,035
    Maybe ask the shop to set up the guitars you are interested in?

    Most demo models have grubby strings (they are probably played everyday) plus everybody likes guitars set up a different way.

    Some prefer a low action, some a high, and everything in between.

    That said, I bought a Strat on the net, it came to me completely sealed and played perfectly out of the box!
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

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