New Christmas Guitar?

With the holiday season upon us, many of you may be unwrapping a new guitar this Christmas. If that’s the case, congratulations! There’s nothing quite like the excitement of receiving a new instrument. However, before you dive into playing, there are a few important considerations to ensure your new guitar is set up to perform at its best.

First, it’s important to know that most guitars don’t come perfectly set up straight from the factory or distributor. In fact, many brand-new guitars (and even some used ones) will require a setup to be fully optimized for playability.

A proper "setup" involves a series of fine adjustments made to tailor the instrument to the player’s preferences. These adjustments may include, but are not limited to, a truss rod tweak, action adjustments at the nut and saddle, intonation correction, and pickup height adjustments for electric guitars. In my setup process, I also typically oil the fingerboard—especially if it’s made of dark, unfinished wood—and tend to the bridge of acoustic guitars. Additionally, I’ll polish the frets to ensure smooth playability.

This brings me to the next point: the condition of the frets. Unfortunately, many mass-produced guitars leave the factory with uneven frets. Any luthier or guitar tech worth their salt will tell you that fretwork—specifically leveling, crowning, and polishing the frets—is a meticulous but essential process for a guitar to play at its best. Uneven frets can cause fret buzz and choked notes especially when bending strings—certainly not the kind of experience you want from a new instrument.

If you’re fortunate enough to receive a new guitar this Christmas, I recommend budgeting $100–$150 for a professional setup from an experienced tech or luthier. Keep in mind that if the frets aren’t level, this could add an additional cost. In the end, all of these adjustments come together to create a guitar that not only plays well but inspires creativity without getting in the way of your musical expression.

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with a longtime customer of mine, Rick. As usual, our conversation turned to the great country pickers of the past—legends like Roy Clark, Chet Atkins, Buck Owens, and others. Rick is an exceptional conversationalist, and anyone fortunate enough to spend time with him is bound to walk away with a wealth of knowledge about musicians, both past and present. He has an uncanny ability to introduce you to hidden gems from music history, often uncovering obscure 50s and 60s country-western tracks that you’ve never heard before.

Rick brought in his relatively new Gibson Les Paul Classic, asking me to perform a general setup. Upon evaluating the guitar, I noticed that the frets were uneven, which meant the instrument would need a fret leveling, crowning, and polishing to reach its full potential in terms of playability.

After Rick took the guitar home with the frets properly dressed, he sent me this message:

“Les Paul is playing so great. I had its first set up two years ago, but it's never played this nice, fretwork made a nice difference"

Calico Guitar Works has written this great article which describes a Level, Crown & Polish in more detail.

Nate Wood of Stahman Guitars in Eugene, OR said it best.

“A setup is only as good as its fretwork."

Happy pickin’ and happy holidays!

Rhett