Your guitar is a musical instrument and a finely crafted piece of art. A well playing guitar makes playing and practicing with the instrument more enjoyable. When I first started playing, I purchased a guitar that had some issues and really didn’t play very well. A good friend showed me how to make a few improvements and I immediately became curious about how it worked both from playability and electronic/tonal perspective.
I studied and learned about Truss Rod adjustments and string height above the pickups (which is critical because pickups can introduce a strong magnetic field on the strings if not positioned correctly). I learned about how frets should be crowned and leveled, and the intonation set properly. Over the years I’ve also acquired knowledge about correctly replacing a Bone Nut.
Not done properly you will have a buzz and the guitar will not play easily. Acoustic guitars need special attention as well. The neck should be straight, the frets level, the tuning/machine heads lubricated, and Rosewood and Ebony fretboards must be oiled to keep them from becoming dry and brittle. I’ve worked on new name brand guitars and made them play better.
Inexpensive starter guitars can also be made to play better as well. It makes me happy to see a guitar that has been well played and taken care of. You can tell a well set up a guitar with a hand rubbed wax finish is a pleasure to play. All the parts are essential and require routine maintenance to help make your guitar playing experience even more gratifying.
I do a lot of Charity work for a place called “The Gift Of Music Foundation” located in Marietta. They take donations of all types of instruments from Horns, Wind instruments, amps and guitars. These are repaired and then either rented to local schools or donated to kids. I have the honor of working on all the guitars and basses they receive. If you are looking for an instrument that has been set up and ready to “Rock” give them a call at 770-988-5075 or visit their beautiful new showroom in Marietta.