I was playing my Martin OM-1 today, and...

I was trying some new cords and getting really frustrated. Barre chords on the first fret were not going well. I had noticed before that this guitar wasn't as easy to play as my Yamaha FG700. The Martin is on the right in this picture.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/1115/medium/Picture_114_crop.jpg

I usually would blame the neck, the frets or something and put it away in favor of the Yamaha. Today I decided to do something about it. I got out my long allen wrenches and adjusted the truss rod. I detuned all the strings, then turned the rod until I got the neck really straight. After tightening the strings back up I would check for playability. I did this a couple of times, and now I have it to where the action is quite low and I have no string buzz whatsoever. I can play any chord I want on it VERY easily now, at least compared to the way it was before. I can tell you the Martin is going to get some serious use in the near future!

It made me wonder... How many other folks have a perfectly good guitar they don't play for lack of a decent set-up? I bet many guitars get sold when owners get frustrated at their lack of playability, then someone picks it up cheap, sets it up correctly and has a wonderful instrument.

It made me wonder... How many other folks have a perfectly good guitar they don't play for lack of a decent set-up? I bet many guitars get sold when owners get frustrated at their lack of playability, then someone picks it up cheap, sets up correctly and has a wonderful instrument.

Plenty. I work with a guy who is an accomplished player and who has a Taylor 716CE and an Ovation. He was always complaining that both guitars were very hard to play. I finally convinced him that a setup was in order, so he took the Ovation to get it done. Now he says the Ovation is the best playing guitar he's ever had. I just have to convince him to do the same for the Taylor.

Jim

I set the truss rod with nearly zero relief for an old Epiphone PR350SL, to get more mileage out of it before the neck bows forward any more. :) Using Newtone Heritage low tension strings also helped greatly, and they even go as low as 9's too (I'll trade a little loss of tone for ease of play), though they are rather pricey ($12.50/set).

I had my Seagull professionally set - up ( I do all my electrics myself ). Worth every penny. I play with 12 - 56 strings, so a good setup is key to my fingers after a long practice session. I still tweek the truss rod occasionally to keep it dialed in just right.