Are guitars already "set-up" at GuitarCenter and Music stores?

[Hello111]

Do they tune and do all the setups on a guitar before they hang them up?

[dwerlin]

many smaller mom & pop stores do, yes. guitar center, for the most part, no. they might on the top-end guitars, although on your standard run of the mill guitars you'll see setups all over the place. one guitar center i went to had a MIM Tele with the high e string literally off the edge of the fretboard it was so bad!

[HRM]

In my experience? Not all of them, no, but most of them, especially in smaller shops. Larger stores have a hard time keeping track of all their inventory.

[zepfan976]

yep all depends on where you go

[GreatDane]

The majority of guitars and basses at my local GC need a serious setup.

[pulse765]

Sweetwater sets up guitars before they ship them to you

 

-K

[Oldskool Texas]

 

Sweetwater sets up guitars before they ship them to you -K

 

 

Elderly Instruments also does an exceptional job of ensuring their guitars are, at the very least, tuned and that the action is set up at the bridge before they ship. Problem is, sending them to other parts of the country can affect the neck adjustment, etc., so things can change. My recent experience at GC tells me that the guitars are taken out of the box, tuned, and hung on the wall. Maybe they go to more trouble during slow times of year.

[MahaAtTheVishnu]

I worked at a mom and pop store for a while, all we did was tune them; we only fixed the setup if there was fret buzz, not if it was just to high to be good.

[person999]

I haven't been in a guitar store that doesnt set up their guitars. But then again, I've never been to a GC.

[Verne Andru]

I'm going through this with a Tele I'm buying. Action is way hi so I told them to drop the action and do a setup before they get my money. I got a call a few days later and their in-house luthier's idea of a "setup" was to put on heavier gauge strings and leave the action alone. So I went in with an Allen key, dropped the saddles down to where I like them and told the sales guy to give it back to the lutheir for a setup. He asked "what's your ideal of a setup? Quite surprised at the question, I answered, "adjust the truss rod so there is a proper relief on the neck, dress any frets that are buzzing, do any nut work as necessary and adjust the intonation." He had me follow him to the back to meet with the luthier who's around 800 years old and surrounded by fiddles, double-basses and the such. He looked at what I had done and refused to do any work on the guitar. As we were leaving he shouts at me "I've been in this business long enough to know what can and can't be done." It seems to have been all about him [the luthier and his old ego] and not about the customer - the guy should be given his walking papers and shown the door IMO. I'm making them send the guitar to another store in the chain where I've had setups done before and know they know what they're doing - which apparently doesn't apply to them all.

[Darkstorm]

Why would you want a GC employee to set up your guitar? Most GC employees are qute ignorant about the stuff they are trying to sell. Most stores just sell the guitars out of the box with them having received whatever degree of mfg setup. Lotsa stores will do set up for a price. But that in no way gaurantees it will be set up with the type of action you want. Typical factory set up guidelines are for medium not low action. Everyone should be able to set up their own guitars for personal preffered action. Learning to do this is fairly easy and will give you a better playing guitar action wise then most stores would give you if someone other then you did it. Learn to do setups yourself. It'll benefit the guitars playablity to you. GC doing setup for you? LMAO youd be lucky if it wasnt really screwed up after that. GC monkees doing pro style setup to customer order? LMAO

[Armitage]

Who are you guys kidding? MOST guitar stores unpack a guitar, tune it, then hang it up. Unless something is obviously wrong.

 

MOST guitar stores will setup a guitar you're buying free IF you ask for it before you actually buy it.

[Hudman]

No. They tune them up and hang them on the wall.

 

Most guitar companies set them up before shipping them. Unfortunately, due to the shipping process and climate change, they usually need a full set up or a minor tweaking to get them to play well.

[henryp]

 

Do they tune and do all the setups on a guitar before they hang them up?

 

 

There's a Guitar Center in Larchmont, NY I visit periodically. Last time I was there all I could think was that if Fender & Gibson & Martin could see the miserably filthy ancient strings on their instruments they'd pull up in trucks and walk out with all their inventory. I tried a Martin HD-28 with what must have been the first set of strings ever invented. Shame.

[EdMan63]

 

No. They tune them up and hang them on the wall. Most guitar companies set them up before shipping them. Unfortunately, due to the shipping process and climate change, they usually need a full set up or a minor tweaking to get them to play well.

 

 

This is the most logical answer. Besides, get a professional to do it or do it yourself if you know how. Any factory setup is done for the masses and not for your personal preference.

[DenverDave]

 

There's a Guitar Center in Larchmont, NY I visit periodically. Last time I was there all I could think was that if Fender & Gibson & Martin could see the miserably filthy ancient strings on their instruments they'd pull up in trucks and walk out with all their inventory. I tried a Martin HD-28 with what must have been the first set of strings ever invented. Shame.

 

 

Not surprisingly, that is why several guitar makers went to shipping their guitars with Elixir strings. They know the stores will not change strings and the Elixirs last a whole lot longer before dying. Martin guitars in particular really sound bad when the strings are dead.

 

None of the chain stores I know of setup the guitars prior to selling them, but that can be part of the negotiations when buying one - throw in a set of new strings and a setup....

[Bruce Bennett]

Not at the Guitars Centers I have visited..

 

but many ( not all though) of the smaller stores do..

I know we do

 

(the Pickers Exchange, Chattanooga Tn)

[Bruce Bennett]

Not surprisingly, that is why several guitar makers went to shipping their guitars with Elixir strings. They know the stores will not change strings and the Elixirs last a whole lot longer before dying. Martin guitars in particular really sound bad when the strings are dead. None of the chain stores I know of setup the guitars prior to selling them, but that can be part of the negotiations when buying one - throw in a set of new strings and a setup....

 

sorry, but I must inform you that the MAIN reason Manufacturers started useing Elixers is...

 

They sold them full sets for 1 buck per set..

 

 

NOBODY else even got close to that price.

[Burgess]

A setup is simply adjusting the guitar to the player's personal preference. Since every player's gonna have a different preference by definition the answer is no.

[guitarNed]

Here's the problem: a *real* setup is a bit time consuming. The intonation, alone, will usually take 10 minutes. Setting the truss rod is 5 minutes or so. Any nut work that's really needed would add 20 minutes.

 

No in-house guitar tech is gonna do that for free. Regardless of what should or should not be done, they won't do it, because they just won't. If you want a setup, you will need to pay a guitar tech to do it. Getting the store to AGREE to have their guitar tech do a setup will not actually cause the guitar tech to do the setup. It will cause the guitar tech to wave his hand at the guitar and declare it fine.

 

I know this is hard to believe. The root of the problem is that the store won't actually PAY the guitar tech to do the setup. Really, they won't. They will, instead, maybe, TELL the tech to do a setup. And the tech will say, "ok," and will then declare it done. But the tech will not DO it. Really.

 

I have been through this and been through it again. What you must do is buy the guitar and then take it to a guitar tech, at the same store or wherever, and pay to have it set up. I am not kidding.

 

The alternative is to learn to do it yourself. But paying a tech is not a bad alternative. You just have to PAY the tech! And there's no point in pissing around and complaining and demanding. The techs won't set up your guitar, no matter what. Why? Because, if they did, half their day would be unpaid. And the store can't afford to let them go. Seriously, this is the first thing guitar techs are taught.

[docjeffrey]

Drum City/Guitarland in Denver will set up a guitar to your specs after you buy it. They routinely assess the player and put a fresh set of strings (even if the guitar comes straight out of the box and has never been touched), set intonation, neck relief, string height, and pickup height.

 

Wildwood will do the same, but you have to ask.

 

Guitar Center, contrary to what others have said, do have some very knowledgeable sales people, but I still would not trust them to mess with a new guitar.

[Deadite99]

I had to do a setup with both of my B.C.Rich's I bought from guitar center,hell the action on my warlock was a half inch or so on the last fret.The only guitar I ever got that didnt need adjusting(exept the pickup hight)was my Ibanez bass I bought from a local shop.

[fred zappelin]

I was at GC recently abd noticed more than a few guitars that had broken pots, switches and bad fretwork hanging on the walls. They don`t give a rats ass. I was over to a Sam Ash store after that and seen a guy buying a guitar for his kid an d the guy behind the counter says "I`ll set it up for you for 35 dollars cash" WTF ?

When I bought my American Strat from a small shop back in 02 it was OK off the wall but still needed a 50 dollar treatment from a professional luthier that included cleaning up the frets and some other adjustments so it depends.

I bought a cheapo Oscar Schmidt 335 a few years back from MF and the thing was perfect right out of the box after a string change. Go figure.

[Brooklyn Zeke]

You go into a store to buy a $500 - $3,000 instrument. None of them are set up properly. How in hell are you supposed to judge whether that instrument is even playable, or what it optimally sounds like, or even if it can be properly set up with the action and relief you prefer, and intonated before it is set up? A buyer should make it clear that a purchase is contingent upon a no-charge, pre-sale set up to the specs you specify, without obligation to buy if, after it is set up, you do not find it suitable for your needs, or doesn't have the "feel" you expect. That is reasonable. If they refuse those terms of sale, go somewhere else.

[jtr654]

No very Few the ones that do sometime add a shop fee to the guitar.