Official Luthiers Forum!

Once you string a new guitar up for the first time, how long do you let it settle in under string tension before doing final setup? (this should be an interesting poll)

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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As soon as the joy of playing the latest starts to wear off and my fingers start to bleed. Usually takes about 20 hours of playing.

Much the same as Danny - I'll trim the saddle enough to get it playable initially (with minimum relief), rough out the string height, then stick a capo on at the first fret to eliminate the nut, then play until the rush wears off.
I usually take about a week to get back to "final set-up"
But all my guitars have needed slight further adjustment after a further months or two, usually relief.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I get it perfect right away, then adjust as it changes from tension...

I get it close initially, but I usually can't wait to play a new build, so once it's close, I will play it for a few days to a week, then go back and do the final set up before delivery. I am just to impatient to play a guitar to do a full set up, intonate the saddle, etc. Plus, I know things will settle in over the first week or two, so I will need to adjust the action anyway.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I try to get it as close as possible... why anything else?

Usually after playing for a bit I end up tweaking something.

Realistically, as long as possible. Or, in other words, I'm always checking it while I have it.

I'll do a precise fret level check after a week and at that time set the string height. A good tip I remember reading from Mark Blanchard (that I have been using) is to at that time install a .020 shim under the saddle. Usually things will pull up a slight bit over time and removing that will drop your action at the 12th by ten thou. Easier than another setup for a customer after a month or three of settling in.

I send them all out with that shim in place.

I'm curious too what people shoot for for numbers. For fingerstyle I look for app. .085-.065 hi to low at the 12th and .004-.006 relief. For a more versatile guitar I go up just a bit to .09-.07 and am fine with a bit more relief although not more than .01.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I wait until it stops changing.

Burton,

My numbers are very close to yours, another .005" higher for the low E if the customer uses open or dropped D tuning.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Like Burton, about a week or two. I don't shim and have not seen a need too but depending on your builds it may be a good idea. My action does not seem to change much after that except for seasonal changes.

As for my target numbers, my standard set up is 5/64- 3/64 at about .008 relief. Most find that agreeable. Bluegrassers and other heavy handed folks get a bit more, say 6-1/2- 4/64 and .010 relief or even a tad more.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

About a week. I always ask the customer for action numbers, but if they don't know I shoot for 5-4/64ths from low to high with very little (like .005" or so) relief for fingerstylers and 6-4.5 with a hair more relief for heavy pickers. For the most part I think relief is highly overrated and much prefer too little over too much. Just my $.02 and probably worth a cent or two less than that.

"As long as possible" works for me too, as I'm a hobbyist builder. That said, 30 days seems to be about enough as a rough rule of thumb.

Has anyone else noticed that the distance from the nut to the saddle always shrinks a bit during this period? I find this to be of more concern than action height, which can always be adjusted. It appears that as the guitar settles in, the wood compresses a little and the body distorts a little. I now set my initial location of the saddle so that the intonation (with roughly ramped saddle) is about 4-5 cents flat. After a month, it settles in and can be dialed in to just about perfect.

I have noticed that the aquarium pump treatment that some of us use on new instruments, i.e. poor man's "Tone-Rite", significantly cuts down on the time it take for a guitar to settle in, become stable etc.; all those phases it goes through initially seems to take less time. I've seen Al Carruth mention that this process could be comparable to "stone washing" jeans, and may shorten the whole life expectancy of the instrument, and perhaps it does. My hope is that it will only help it reach its potential faster, and shorten its edgy youth somewhat. Time will tell, I guess...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I use the "pump" for 3 or 4 days before final setup. No downside that I've seen. If it stays in tune for 24hrs I go ahead and set it up. I like to keep them around at least a week or more before they enter the world.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

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Whats this wait BS? Wooden boxes under tension are alive and moving and so...guess what that means ... eh?
Wait? Ya right! For what?

Set the sucker up ....and and and..... yup set it up again down the road. Then you can wait, and, yup, you got it...you set it up again.

Wait eh? Just like Sam and Dave said, "Hold on" to which me say "Wait...let me set her up before you take her out the door cuz, like life, the warranted ends on the other side of the threshold."

Wait... right! Do it now! But then she said, lets do it again. Now what. See me point?


Blessings
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Whats this wait BS? Wooden boxes under tension are alive and moving and so...guess what that means ... eh?
Wait? Ya right! For what?

Set the sucker up ....and and and..... yup set it up again down the road. Then you can wait, and, yup, you got it...you set it up again.

Wait eh? Just like Sam and Dave said, "Hold on......." to which me say "Wait...let me set her up before you take her out the door cuz, like life, the warranty ends on the other side of the threshold."

Wait... right! Do it now! But then she said, lets do it again. Now what? See me point?


Blessings
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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I set it up to final spec right away because it's really not that hard or time consuming to do so, then I adjust as I go.

I'll wait a week or so before delivery, and having it set up right to begin with helps me monitor how much it's actually settling in.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I set it up and make the final adjustments about a week or so , It seems most movement is in the first 5 days. Most cases I just need to adjust the saddle,

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it