Multi award winning luthier, Perry Ormsby, has been manufacturing his custom hand-made instruments in Perth for near on five years. Perry operates from Mega Music and has fast become the 'go to guy' for all stringed instrument repairs, customization. Perry’s keen eye for detail, and fresh imagination, has seen him win multiple lutherie awards in world wide guitar making competitions. Perry currently contributes articles to Australian Guitar Magazine on a bi-monthly basis, and the worlds largest guitar website, ultimate-guitar.com on a monthly basis.

Issue 1 - February 2008

Hi guys, and welcome to my new monthly column. I hope to share with you some ideas, and help you understand the ins and outs of all things related to our favourite instruments, guitars and bass. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send us an email.

Restring vs Setup
We get a lot of instruments booked in for work here at Mega Music, and the majority are for restrings, or setups. Both will have your instrument come back feeling fresh and new, but what exactly is the difference?

Restring:
Remove strings, clean bridge and fretboard.
Polish body,
Oil fretboard (use lemon oil),
Install new strings,
Check and adjust truss rod,
Visual adjustment of action and intonation.

Setup:
Remove strings, clean bridge and fretboard.
Machine buff fretwork,
Recut string nut,
Polish body,
Oil fretboard (use lemon oil),
Tighten machineheads,
Install new strings,
Adjust tremolo springs and angle,
Check and adjust truss rod,
Adjust action to manufacturers specs (or better),
Set intonation with strobe tuner,
Adjust pickup heights

As you can see, there is quite a difference in the amount of work that goes into setup. The result is much better playability, its easier to fret notes, chords ring out longer, the pickups are working as designed, and bends are clearer with longer sustain. In short, your instrument will come back playing like butter, and sounding like heaven (or hell, for the metal guys!).  We recommend that your guitar or bass is setup at least once a year, and for gigging musicians, twice a year. Any guitar will benefit from a setup regardless of its value, but its the lower cost instruments that have the biggest improvements. 
So, next time you decide to change the strings on your instrument, consider booking it in for a setup... the results are definitely worth it.