Big thanks to Charlie Chandler for helping me with these series. Do check him out if you're UK based and need an awesome guitar setup!

Before You Buy

Play a potential guitar before you buy it and strum it, and see if you like the sound!

Music and creating is all about identifying what you like

So be sure you like the sound of a guitar, even if you don't know much about playing and are new to the whole thing! Give it a bash and see if you dig it. Beware being told what to like!

Things We Can Do

The things we can adjust to help a guitar be easier to play are:

Adjusting the neck using the Truss Rod
Adjusting the bridge saddle height
Adjusting the nut height (or the cuts in the nut!)

We'll be doing all this and more in the coming lessons!

Checking the Neck Bow/Relief

To see the bend in the neck, press down the thickest string in fret 1 (fretting hand) and then press down the string where the neck meets the body with the other hand (thumb) and then use your index finger to press down around 7th fret.

It shouldn't be very far away from the neck - a good amount is 10,000th's of an inch (0.010") - which is the same thickness as a thin E String - so Charlie suggests using a bit of old E String stuck to a bit of card as a gauge!

Check the treble side too!

Don't panic if it's not even!

Next lesson we adjust the truss rod! :)