Bryan kimsey guitar setup

I don't hesitate to ask them for advice or run a difficult problem past them. I am no wizard and can't promise miracles, but I do what I can do and try to do it as best as I can. Discussion Setup My philosophy and specifications. Martin Tuneup Martin Guitars! I love 'em and they're easily modified for more sound. GE vs. Problems A page of problems that I commonly see.

Ok, there you have it: for a perfect setup of your guitar, you'll have to adjust the neck relief, the saddle height, and the slots in the string nut. Your goal, of course, is to get the smallest gap between any string and any fret without getting string buzz. Performing the setup is not very hard and requires only the most basic tools and skills. There will of course be a lot of trial and error, and a bunch of saddles and perhaps even string nuts will end up in the recycling bin.

But if you hang in there, you will quite likely be rewarded with a noticeable difference in the playability and intonation of your guitar. Before we proceed, though, I would like to bring to your attention Bryan Kimsey's website.

Bryan has done more systematic research on the subject of steel string guitar setup than anybody else that I know of, and he has put a lot of effort into explaining his findings.

My own final conclusions are a bit different from his. But I didn't even have any final conclusions until I studied his work. The intonation is spot on. The action is perfect. The new pickguard brings it all home. I am one happy camper. I never realized how good a guitar can sound when the intonation is spot on. I never realized how sweet it is to play up the neck on a well set up guitar! You won't believe the difference. Needless to say, Bryan is wonderful to work with.

Not only is his work spot on but his communication skills will keep you totally informed as to the progress. He's our MAN, when it comes to instruments. Jim Brown:. Can't thank you enough for the restoration of a late 20th-century Martin you did for me; my playing has moved up another notch! Scott Reichert:. The problem was that around here when I'd had work done on guitar set up before, the repair person would seem to listen to my complaints, seem to express an understanding, and then go on to do whatever it was that was in his head about how a guitar should be.

Not wanting to have that happen again, and remembering Eric's post about the Sheriff's good work, I contacted Bryan about shipping the guitar to him. After Bryan got it, he sent me regular emails on the progress of the work. He advised that when he received the guitar, the neck relief was.

Through stages, he brought the neck relief to. The difference is just amazing. Bryan also replaced the first 5 frets, and did some detective work on the jangly sound of new strings I had complained about. He found that the truss rod was loose and was causing the jangly sound, and the new strings and he noticed it with the old ones as well were accentuating that sound. He did his superglue repair, which I believe he has described for a similar repair in another post.

Shipping went well without any damage to the guitar. Like I say, it feels like a new guitar. It's so easy to play, and it doesn't buzz, even when push it. Anyway, this is rather long, but being a satisfied customer, I thought I'd join the chorus on the great job Bryan does. He's got his schedule organized and can tell you when he'll be able to get right to your guitar in my case, he could take shipment the very next week , and had the job done quickly.