Guitar restring/service - would you pay?

riddlermarc · 23 Sep 2008 at 21:20

I have just spent the afternoon working on my brother's guitar, cleaning and oiling the neck, sorting out the floating trem and restringing. Finished off with a good cleaning of all the accumulated crap.

It got me thinking, I don't work at the moment (due to health reasons) but I would completely be able to do this.. if I advertised my wares do you think there is a market out there servicing guitars?

Apparently there is a shop in Poole/Bournemouth that charges between £16-25 for a restring and between £59-79 for an Intermediate service (Remove and dispose of your old strings; clean and oil fingerboard; buff and polish frets; re-string; check /adjust truss rod (neck angle); check / adjust intonation and action; set / adjust trem; test / clean electronics; tune up; play / test and repeat above until we're satisfied it's right; clean and polish body.).

I have spent the last 20 years sorting my own guitars as well as those of my bandmates and other friends so I think I am 100% capable, I'm just wondering if there really are people out there that are willing to pay to get their axes sorted etc.

Would you pay to get this done or do you think other people would?

hyster · 23 Sep 2008 at 21:45

I'm sure there is a market for it, I've paid £50-60 for a set-up in the past as I was not happy having a go at adjusting a truss rod.

Up here there is a guitar tech who goes between guitar shops on different days.

I'm pretty technically minded (mechanic) and more than happy setting up a trem or changing strings etc. but I would pay someone with experience and who has their "hand in" everyday.There are things I don't have the tools to do, a refret for instance.

If you lived locally I would be pming you now.

Nitefly · 23 Sep 2008 at 23:51

Yes. I will soon be paying for a local service.

Only on the condition that they show me how to do it myself.

Ampeg · 24 Sep 2008 at 14:20

I wouldnt bother paying to get strings changed but i'll happily pay for a good setup. Im pretty sure though that there would be people willing to pay for string changes or for various levels of care/setting up to be lavished on their guitar.

uv · 24 Sep 2008 at 14:46

I wouldn't pay for a restringing, but I'd definitely pay for someone to correctly tune the bridge and sort out the one dodgy fret, and give the thing a general buff and polish

Noel Gallagher · 24 Sep 2008 at 15:09

It's easy to do it yourself.

It's really not hard!

Deiwos · 24 Sep 2008 at 15:17

Noel Gallagher said:
It's easy to do it yourself.

It's really not hard!

Some people, me included, lack the confidence to do some things. I always found restringing a massive pain because I had a guitar with a Floyd Rose and I didn't completely trust myself with it.

If you priced things reasonably (£10-15 for a restring) then I'm sure you'd get takers. To save myself the hassle of restringing my guitar I'd definitely pay £10.

Robosapien · 24 Sep 2008 at 16:13

Noel Gallagher said:
It's easy to do it yourself.

It's really not hard!

No, it's bloody impossible actually, at least on an old Floyd Rose (copy). My intonation is constantly out. I've paid around £20 for a setup before, that often goes spazzy after a few plays, or the action is either too high and annoying to play or too low with constant fret buzz,...etc. There are a myriad of different configurations for the springs at the back and it doesn't seem to matter what I do, if I tinker with it myself it always makes it worse.

I'd probably pay £80 to get it done properly, yeah. So it comes back and it's absolutely immaculate, perect, no fret buzz, action at right height, no need to tinker with springs at the back, intonation perfect, doesn't go out of tune after one use of the whammy bar, strings all clean, fretboard clean, polished, zero problems, hell yeah. There's always some tiny problem once I get it home though. Grr.

Don't get me wrong, I can string it up no problem so that it makes do, it's always the ****ing intonation that's the problem, that then leads me to think there's some problem with string tension, which impacts on the entire set-up. If it would stay in shape after a string change then there's no problem - i.e. the actual act of changing the strings and cleaning I can do, it's the other **** that I can waste a whole week on that I can't be bothered with.

helmet · 24 Sep 2008 at 17:13

Robosapien said:
stuff..

cokecan · 24 Sep 2008 at 19:02

I tend to do all that kinda work my self on my guitars, but it would be interesting to see how much difference it actually makes compared to how I've set, say my tele with bigsby trem up by paying for someone to set it up professionally, thats had a lot more experience at it than i have

Johno please? · 24 Sep 2008 at 19:25

Deiwos said:
Some people, me included, lack the confidence to do some things. I always found restringing a massive pain because I had a guitar with a Floyd Rose and I didn't completely trust myself with it.

If you priced things reasonably (£10-15 for a restring) then I'm sure you'd get takers. To save myself the hassle of restringing my guitar I'd definitely pay £10.

Practice makes perfect

I was scared of my floyd rose trem, until I did some research on youtube and braved it. It didn't go too well first time, used the whammy bar and broke a string lol.

But im quite confident the next time I change them I will do ok.

riddlermarc · 24 Sep 2008 at 20:43

Interesting replies guys, thanks a lot.

One potential spanner in the works could be an insurance issue - if I was changing the strings on someone's £1k Les Paul and I accidentally knocked it against, say, a chair then I'd be liable for any chips/damage etc.. so I think insurance would be a definite thing if it's available :/

Guinny · 24 Sep 2008 at 21:58

I certainly wouldn't pay someone to re string my guitars!
Even a complicated Floyd Rose can be re strung in under ten minutes and a regularly played guitar should be re strung at least once a month.

I also don't know why people pay for set ups as it is so easy to do.

Things like truss rod, relief and action are very dependent on personal taste, climate and playing styles...the best way is to learn and master it yourself!

The only thing I have ever payed for is a re-fret as this needs special tools experience.

Guinny · 24 Sep 2008 at 22:03

Robosapien said:
No, it's bloody impossible actually, at least on an old Floyd Rose (copy). My intonation is constantly out. I've paid around £20 for a setup before, that often goes spazzy after a few plays, or the action is either too high and annoying to play or too low with constant fret buzz,...etc. There are a myriad of different configurations for the springs at the back and it doesn't seem to matter what I do, if I tinker with it myself it always makes it worse.

I'd probably pay £80 to get it done properly, yeah. So it comes back and it's absolutely immaculate, perect, no fret buzz, action at right height, no need to tinker with springs at the back, intonation perfect, doesn't go out of tune after one use of the whammy bar, strings all clean, fretboard clean, polished, zero problems, hell yeah. There's always some tiny problem once I get it home though. Grr.

Don't get me wrong, I can string it up no problem so that it makes do, it's always the ****ing intonation that's the problem, that then leads me to think there's some problem with string tension, which impacts on the entire set-up. If it would stay in shape after a string change then there's no problem - i.e. the actual act of changing the strings and cleaning I can do, it's the other **** that I can waste a whole week on that I can't be bothered with.

The biggest issue people miss with a Floyd Rose is that the unit should be completely horizontal to the body or even a minute backwards tilt.
This is normaly a simple spring tension against string force adjustment.

If the Floyd is dipping forwards when at rest you will get intonation problems for sure!

Robosapien · 24 Sep 2008 at 22:40

Guinny said:
This is normaly a simple spring tension against string force adjustment.

It's not that simple though because any change you make affects something else. There's the matter of the adjusting the string holders incrementally to adjust the intonation for each individual string. To do that you have to undo the string to give it some considerable slack (unless you give it a whack with a small hammer whilst under tension or something, undoubtably leading to damage). Then obviously any change in tension of one string effects the tension in the other strings. In turn that then effects the overall tension which effects ever so slightly the tilt of the unit. Etc Etc. Trying to get it 'spot on' requires so much time and patience, and practically a guitar work bench with a good tuner, screwdrivers, allen keys, etc, even the simple act and pulling out the old strings and putting new ones in place without those blocks falling out and having to dig around for ages underneath the string holders and slot them carefully back in whilst trying to, oh man. It's just a fine art - not good when you're a lazy b***** like me.

Robosapien · 24 Sep 2008 at 22:49

I've paid around £80 for a refret before

. Can't say it feels or sounds any better really. Feels violated.
In the past I've paid £20 for a set up. Which soon develops some faults wiht intonation.

It still infuriates me even after a supposed proffesional has done it, so going through the hassle of learning how to do it myself, then actually doing it every single time, then finding to my dismay it was futile, I'm likely to go insane and fall into a pattern of perfecting it endlessly.
At least if I limit myself financially and in technical ability I'll get more playing and enjoyment out of it and acceptance that it can't be 100% perfect 100% of the time.
Did I really just spout this nonsense? Ah well.

Edit: My overall point is, it's not that simple a job to change strings with a Floyd Rose. Everyone knows this. And even once you know how to do it properly, it's still a blinkin' chore, and a fiddly one at that. I'd still probably pay someone else to do it, £20 3 or 4 times a year is money well spent to pass on the hassle.

helmet · 24 Sep 2008 at 23:05

Robosapien said:
problems

You do change the strings one at a time don't you?
I do on my Jackson with a Floyd and never had those issues in just changing strings. The rest of your post is spot on aout all the other hassles they cause.

Robosapien · 25 Sep 2008 at 00:13

helmet said:
Slightly patronising one word summations of my entire posts but hilarious and neccesary nonetheless in the aim of thread conciseness

You know, I never tried it that way actually,

.
I undo the whole lot then replace the whole lot and bring everything back to tension again. :rolleyes:

I'll try it one by one next time whilst retaining overall string tension.
Theoretically shouldn't make any difference but I bet it does in practice.

helmet · 25 Sep 2008 at 00:17

Robosapien said:
Take it that way if you want, but I was just summing up what I'd read without killing peoples index fingers on the scroll wheel

Give it a whirl, only reason I tried it like that was because I watched my mates face drop to the floor when he took all the strings off, priceless. Much fun that day

.

Guinny · 25 Sep 2008 at 08:11

Robosapien,

Be careful of shops and some people who advertise for a set up because all they'll do is adjust the sadle or bridge height a bit and charge you £30.

I understand your frustration with the Floyd but there must be some underlying problem causing it because they do work extremeley well!

If you were near Staffs I'd be happy to set up your guitar for free.