Doing your First Setup on your First Guitar (Stratocaster or S Style) Part I

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3bolt79

3bolt79

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So you decided to take up guitar playing and you got your first electric guitar. Let’s say it’s a Stratocaster or Strat Style guitar. Every guitar you by, regardless of price point (even some Custom Shop guitars) is going to need a set up.

There are plenty of YouTube videos to guide you in doing the set up yourself. You will need some tools, but they don’t have to be expensive. You may have some of the tools already in your home.

Most of the tools I am going to present in this article were had for cheap from TEMU. Here’s what you will need.

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A Rubber Hammer
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A Phillips screwdriver and possibly a Flathead screw driver

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A business card, an old plastic credit card to cut into a fret rocker, or a metal Fret Rocker

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A 12 inch ruler to use as a Straight edge, a six inch metal ruler that measures in 64ths of an inch, or a luthiers metal credit card type ruler that measures in 64ths of an inch and millimeters

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A capo and metric/SAE Allen Wrenches

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A string winder

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And finally an electronic Tuner and a 10mm wrench and or a pair of household pliers, and a small set of wire cutters for clipping strings.

See Part II
 
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Is that the hammer with the removable hammer heads? Mine came with black plastic, yellow plastic, brass, & aluminum heads. I used it ALLLLLL the time on everything lol.

I would also suggest picking up 1 of 2 things. Or even both. Either an Ernie Ball Power Peg string winder or the adapter/winder for your drill from D'addario/Planet Waves.



The black rechargeable EB Power Peg Pro is on sale at Sweetwater right now for $25 instead of the usual $40. The original Power Peg thats bright yellow is $20 but it isn't rechargeable. I think the D'addario drill piece is like $5. (edit: its $5.89 at Sweetwater with free shipping)


I use it more than the Power Peg because my drill winds much faster than the Power Peg does. I use both but I use the drill adapter the most. If I didn't already have a Power Peg, I'd be ordering the Pro. I got my OG Power Peg a couple of years ago when it was on sale at Sweetwater for $9.99
 
Yeah, I have both of those Power Pegs. Really a time saver. The tools I listed in the thread can be had altogether for around $30.00. Of course I regularly use more expensive tools.
 
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The hammer is the most important of all. If after two hours of trying to get the fret buzz gone and the intonation still won't jive you use the hammer to beat the crap out of the guitar. Then call the dealer telling them that it arrived like that and you'll need a replacement. ;)
 
soulman said:
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And in the event your new guitar has a Floyd Rose bridge.
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Floyd's aren't as bad as people say they are! I learned how to work on them really quickly from watching YouTube videos. The only hassle with them is when a string breaks and you gotta replace the whole set, which takes longer than a hard tail. Once you make all the necessary adjustments, when you change the strings you don't have to touch anything, and seasonal changes only affects the neck so you never have to play around with the bridge height.
 
GrandmaShreds said:
Floyd's aren't as bad as people say they are! I learned how to work on them really quickly from watching YouTube videos. The only hassle with them is when a string breaks and you gotta replace the whole set, which takes longer than a hard tail. Once you make all the necessary adjustments, when you change the strings you don't have to touch anything, and seasonal changes only affects the neck so you never have to play around with the bridge height.
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Uh huh......if you say so. 🤣
 
GrandmaShreds said:
Floyd's aren't as bad as people say
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Agreed. Took me a full afternoon. But once you get them where you want them, it’s set it and forget it.

I keep the locking nut open for a few days till the strings settle in. Once I’m sure they are good and stretched I’ll lock it down.

Then remember NOT (doh) :oops: to use the peg head tuners.
 
GrandmaShreds said:
Some people have the knack, some don't
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I'm not a tremolo guy anyway so whatta I know other than the complaints I've read from those who have used them.

I suppose to some it may like Babicz FCH Bridge. It seems more complex at the start and there's a very specific way to install one and set it up. But once you've done it it's one of the best bridges you'll ever own.
 
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