This is pretty much exactly how I set up my guitars…works perfectly every time👍

Really great video. But it's important to consider that most new guitars do not have perfectly level frets. So you may get lots of fret buzz at 5/64 string height on the bass side. Fenders are well known for this, even the American Pro range. If you do your own fret leveling and recrowning it'll also immediately void the manufacturers warranty on the neck. It has to be done by an authorized Fender dealers tech which means a fair bit of coin for a full fret leveling and filing job. If you aren't worried about any potential problems with the necck within the warranty period, no problem, fixing a couple high frets isn't difficult for the average person to do. I know this wasn't in the scope of this video, but you were pretty confident that setting the relief flat and setting string height at 5/64 wouldn't result in fret buzz. Not trying to troll or hold you accountable, just some folks may find if they follow this set up process exactly they will still have fret buzz and may have to raise their bass side wound strings quite a bit to get the buzz to a manageable level without leveling their frets. On my brand new American Pro II tele my low E and A strings are just about an 8th of an inch, about double manufacturers recommended height, just to get fret buzz to the point where you can't hear it through the amp. This is with flat relief, a decent nut within spec and 2 or 3 high frets using 10-46 strings.

Michigan here.. just starting out on making a hobby and part time business out of rescuing broken or discarded guitars by fixing them up to playing condition. Being new to guitar building / fixing / setup I naturally fell into finding that the neck must be flat in order to cure all fret buzzing issues. I did start out with the slight bow as I watched on other videos but would keep running into every third for fourth guitar having somewhere from around the fret within six of the bridge. After about twenty guitars I realized that I needed to level the frets with flat neck and I needed to pull the neck back to flat once the strings were on and at tension. Amazingly.. problem solved for all but three guitars. Two of those the frets are to low below the sixth fret from the bridge so they needed to be re fretted. The last one I have no idea why it buzzes but it is only on one string and I like the guitar so I guess I will keep it and in the future when I know more about guitars and fixing them I may discover how to fix the issue. I use your videos for guides when I try newer things and like the links to tools.. that is a big help.

You're right Dylan in that if you own a few guitars its a good idea to invest in some tools. I started my collection over 30 years ago so gauges, nut/fret files etc were a must for me and they're still going strong. When I'm setting up, I do (in order): - Relief - Action - Nut - Intonation - Pickup heights (then pole pieces if necessary) Neck relief really depends on the player. If you're a soft player, you might not need too much. If you're heavy handed (like me), then you probably need a little more. Temperature can stuff around with the neck so resetting occasionally is a good idea. Unfortunately most people think because the frets are buzzing it's the action, but 9/10 its the relief. And while it's a good general idea to fret the string where the body meets the neck when setting up, each manufacturer has their own spec's depending on the guitar (usually available at their website under support).

i really really like that green 💚 finish on your strat style guitar 🎸

The way I always think of setting intonation is “if it’s sharp make it sharper, if it’s flat make it flatter” meaning how my adjustment will effect the pitch of the string before I tune it back to pitch. I don’t know if that sounds convoluted, but it’s the easiest way for me to remember.

Best guitar channel on KZfaq, thanks man!

That body is one of the few that would look killer w/a mint green pick guard.

Dylan, I like your idea of using the DAW to setup pickup height. I'm gonna give this a try.

This is EXACTLY the information I've been searching for! Yhank you!

I expect a new (or used) guitar will need a set up but I don't set up new guitars out of the box. I play it a while first using a mix of open strings & fretted notes on different strings in different areas up & down the neck. Aside from being impatient, it gives me a chance to feel & hear what I I'll want to work on.

I will keep this for reference. You have a few others from which I've learned how to do this for myself. This one is concise a great refresher. Thanks again!!

intonation is best thought of as string length simplicitar all else being equal, a longer string is flatter and a shorter string is sharper... fix the bridge to shorten or lengthen the string (string length between the 12th fret and bridge)

Thanks for spelling “set up” (verb) correctly 👍

Dylan - please do a pickup video about Dynasonics! such an underrated pickup

This is why I subscribe to your channel, Dylan! Great usable information.

I have that exact same screwdriver set, Amazingly good tool for the price, thank you blue home improvement store.

GLORIOUS!!!

been gone for a few weeks for my wounds ⛑️at hospital care Thank you sO much Dylan Talks Tone this is great extremely helpful for us to set up guitar 🎸 and not cause damage by making unnecessary mistakes due to lack of knowledge i really greatly appreciate your KZfaq channel so much

That is a BEAUTIFUL green on that body!

I like your method because it's direct and simple. I don't get how touching the string at the midpoint gives me an octave higher note if the wave is going up and down the string. On the other hand if something works, it works, means flat neck works. I just figure if it buzzes near the nut, more relief. Up the neck, less relief. Both, raise the action. Some weird spot, fix the frets. Everywhere, raise the action. Only on open strings, shim or replace the nut. And then I get confused.

One of your guitars is on my bucket list

Texas Toast Matt taught us to set the neck totally flat in the tele class I attended as well. You and others in the know say totally flat is the way to go so I'm nobody to argue. I must be doing something wrong though because I always end up with buzz unless I give myself a hair of relief. What might I want to consider checking or trying??

Every guitar I've bought from a $200 Squier to a $1500 Rickenbacker needed a set-up of some sort. My luthier always takes care of me.

A home made Strat-O-Sonic. Nice!

I use the Garage Band tuner, which I find to be better than the Peterson strobe tuner. The Garage Band tuner shows me exactly how many cents I'm off. The Peterson does not have that feature. I do use the Peterson strobe clip on tuner to check the intonation on acoustic guitars, though.

Very Cool, Thankyou. Such an Awesome Setup demo. Very Useful. All the best, Cheers.

P.S. Great tip on the P90. I received my DTT Soapbars recently and will keep that in mind. Always good stuff here.

I want one!!! 🤩

Yeah, man! The new guitar is like an off-the-rack suit. You gotta tailor it.

Great setup video. You like the relief dead flat (paraphrasing), but also to set between .005” and .010”. Is that what you mean by flat-aka almost flat?

Thanks Mr. Dylan. I bought a new HB TE62 and I’m pretty sure that guitar being so cheap the action and intonation are way off. All the frets are level though, which is good 👍🏼.

I know this isn't the point of this video, but I just want to say your Floyd video from 3 years ago is an effi g God send. It's the only reason I had the confidence to change the strings on my RG550.

excellent set-up video ! --- I just took a Squier Sonic strat and put in 2 P-90's.... I hope it sounds close to yours.... (guitar fetish p-90's)

Hi Dylan. Are those Kluson's locking tuners staggered?

Very useful !

Links to the body and neck (reverse?)...I know where to get pick ups

Can you recommend a tuner for intonation that is reasonably priced?

Were do you get your body and necks?

Thank you for this one question, should you test frets for level prior to all of this with a fret rocker? Is there an assumption all are level?

"Built" this guitar means? You've done all the craft by yourself from scratch or did you just order parts as I suppose?

I have a MIM tele that has fret buzz regardless of how much I adjust the truss rod. My last resort is it looks like I can raise the height of each of the 6 saddles, but I don't know how to do it and keep the neck right radius....

am always going to like 👍 channels i follow like you and support content / plus + the algorithm yAa

Hey! I was watching a John Mayer short, and I was struck by the quality of his speaking voice, I was thinking, "who does this remind me of", and then I realized that it was you Dylan! Has anyone ever told you that you have a speaking voice that is remarkably similar to John Mayer's speaking voice? Because you do.

P90s… So tasty

How to measure height of strings 2-5 without spending big $ on a digital gauge?

🙂

what pickup is this?

Strings too low = loss of resonance.

That guitar would give me wood...but not tone wood...

Dylan, why does everyone want to skin a cat, poor kitty didn't do anything.... lol

Epiphone's poor frets are no excuse. A Firebird and an LP special both with terrible frets. Brand new "Inspired by Gibson" . They seem to both have poorly installed frets. Only my Epiphones and Gibsons have that issue and Gibson is my favorite style. My Squier CVs never have that issue. The Gibson/Epiphones seem to need fret levels. So you're saying if I set the neck totally straight that will fix the problem?