I was two minutes in and I was like, darn I know this guy but I couldn’t place it. Then it hit me, it’s Brian who used to lead worship at my local church. Small world and great content sir.
I’ve watched a million of these videos, as I’m trying to get into doing regular setups and repairs myself, and NONE of them were as thorough as yours. Great confidence boost for me! Thanks!
I've been doing the rounds on YT watching countless videos and I always leave those videos somehow more confused than before. They're all like "Heres how you set up a guitar, I'm gonna do this on my already set up $3k guitar" and just skim over stuff because its not needed. There was some stuff here where Brian did that but then he showed how to do it anyways like the truss rod.
One important note on truss rod adjustment: righty-tighty, lefty-loosy from the perspective of looking down the neck from the headstock to the bridge on a headstock located rod like this one. I believe he showed the opposite.
I'm a complete novice with a guitar, both at setups and playing, but following this video has made such a difference to my Squier. Thorough and well explained without detail overkill. Liked, subscribed and this video saved for future reference!
As a beginner I'm so happy this video came up. It's awesome for giving one the mechanical aspect for creating a tonal sound. Thanks for posting this terrific learning video.
This, I'm afraid, is a classic example of someone passing on their bad habits in a completely unregulated place (i.e., the Internet). The sequence of activities was incorrect, and some of the techniques were ill-advised. Attacking the nut with folded abrasive paper may solve one problem, but it's likely to cause others. The first thing I'd do is check that every note was clear on every fret, to see if they needed levelling. Assuming the fret levels were ok, I'd remove the strings, clean and oil the fretboard, and polish the frets. Then (this being a Squier CV) I'd remove the pickguard, screen the cavity with aluminium foil, reassemble and check the output just in case I'd disturbed something. Next, restring and float the bridge. Then set the relief, action, and intonation. There's no point in setting the action before the bridge is floated, as it will change. Finally, adjust the nut slots to taste. That's how it's done.
Nice work! Couple of things I do personally: 1) May need to check your intonation again after either floating or blocking your trem. 2) I always change out nuts with Tusq nuts. They’re only like $15 and usually fix tuning issues. If you don’t want to do a swap, sharpen a pencil and rub a little graphite in the slots. It can stain the nut so be careful. 3) if you don’t have feeler gauges, just test each fret to see if you have any fret buzz. If you do, raise the saddles, if not, lower them. Sorry if any of this was already mentioned, didn’t watch the whole vid.
Brian, I have that very same 60's Classic Vibe Squier Stratocaster (in Lake Placid Blue) which I bought from Sweetwater earlier this year! I did all of the same setups which you did in your video, plus I swapped out the vintage tuners to help on the tuning issues. I picked up a nice inexpensive set of locking vintage tuners on Reverb: That plus a little Big Bend's sauce and some graphite like you suggested did the trick. Now I can dive bomb (although usually it's just little vibrato warbles for me) without any tuning issues. Great job on your video. Nicely presented as always and appreciate all that you do!!!
Thanks Brian. Cover those pickups with painters tape to provide a barrier from metal frags. You can do the same with painters tape in between the frets as you shape the fret ends. Protects the fretboard.
I wanted to see what your measurements were and where you started. Exactly the same way I do my setups. I learned several years ago to use the acronym "TRAIN" when doing setups. T - Tune R- Relied A- Action I - Intonation N- Noodle Noodle is playing some and then re check the whole setup again. Great job explaining the process for musicians who want to learn about their instruments.
For floating the bridge use a 2mm shim under the back edge of the bridge and tune the guitar to pitch. Then tighten the claw until the shim drops out from under the bridge. Then finally adjust each claw screw until the guitar is in tune. If you adjust the screws carefully you will not need to retune as the guitar will settle into tune. Another tip is to do your fret work and polishing as well as the fretboard treatment before you do the setup. I never use steel wool on a guitar without first masking the pickup to prevent steel wool fibres getting magnetically attached to the pickups. Better to use a soft cloth to spread the fingerboard treatment. One thing you didn't check was the nut hight. It can have a serious impact on the note on the first fret as a too high nut will cause the note at the first fret to be sharp. Good video for beginners as these things are all easy for a beginner to do with care and patience.
Brian, I am so pumped for this video. First off, you did such a GREAT job of explaining a basic setup process and showing it. You are a master at coverting mystery into lamens. We are lucky to have you and get to watch videos like this. I'm also pumped because like you, I have some stellar guitars but I also have a pair of the classic vibe 60s strat and the classic vibe 60s tele and I can't wait to see how you upgrade it. Really excited for the future content on this!
You didn’t check if the nut was cut properly in the beginning of your set up. This is important. Check the depth by fretting the 3rd fret, and use feeler gauges to measure at the 1st fret. Also check the break angle of the nut to the tuners.
Eucalyptus oil removes dried dirt and skin that builds up on the frets and fingerboard. Lemon oil will condition the fingerboard. I put a tiny dot of Vaseline between the string and the saddle. This helps the string slide and return to where it is needed. I watched a Luthier from Fender Custom Shop make adjustments to the saddles and the Nut so that the strings would move freely allowing the tremolo to be used with force and the guitar to remain in tune. The slot of each string only came up to just above halfway of the gauge height of each particular string. The top of each slot is slowly reduced using small narrow files til it sits just above halfway of the string. The strings moved easily in the nut keeping everything in tune. Even diving the strings while using the tremolo didn't cause the strings to jump out of the nut/slot even whilst string bending and vibrato being used.
Brian wanted thank you so much for posting this setup video. I have always done my own intonation and action adjustments. I was always apprehensive about venturing into neck adjustment land. I have a PRS CE I bought and used on worship teams for many years. I take care of it and always kept it in the case. However as you know over time the best of guitars can lose their ability to stay in tune and can lose the string consistency across the neck. I just gave up on using it since I have other guitars. I decided to try out the neck adjustment. Wow! It actually worked and I am now using it in worship again. I always loved the pickups, the warmth, and chimeyness of my PRS. Thanks to you I am able to use it again.
I would advise against saddle height adjustment under tension. I had to change out an American Vintage saddle recently because the threads started locking after adjustment under tension. It damaged the saddle not the screw. I understand this is not an American Vintage but I would at least detune to a nice flop. Also I would float the bridge where I want it, tune to pitch, check and then adjust the saddles to the 1000th of an inch. If you set your action first you've just changed it by rising the bridge.
I have a Squier Affinity strat with a sunburst finish and a maple board with a slightly bigger ‘70’s style headstock that feels pretty good and plays reasonably well. I have swapped the pickups out and put in Texas Specials which was an improvement in the tone. I feel like the last step is filing the frets and polishing them. I know from watching interviews with the guys at the Fender Custom Shop that what separates their guitars from the cheaper models is the fret work and details like that. Little things take time but make a big difference in playability. I was concerned about doing this myself until I watched this video. Great examples and explanations throughout. I so appreciate what you and the other guys do for all of us and the great info you give us on gear and worship. Be encouraged, you are making a positive difference in our lives and helping us all be better at what we do. At the end of the day, is there anything better than nerding out on guitars? 😆😁😂👊🏻👍🙌🏻
@@A-Wa I sold it awhile back to a guy that was using it for a project. I loved the maple neck on the guitar and he ruined it doing the project and is just using the stuff for parts. That kind of bugs me but oh well. It was not a magic guitar and upgrading stuff on Squiers does nothing for the value when selling them. If you are going to upgrade a Squier and keep it forever there are some that are magical and better than Fenders at twice the price. Having Fender on the headstock means everything to people even if the guitar is a piece of crap. It makes no sense at all. Such is life. Still looking for my next electric.
@@rdmkeytohwy thanks for your honest reply! Fender headstock holds better the value unfortunately. I still cant decide which one to buy although I dont intend to resell it. Maybe its going to be Squier again :)
@@A-Wa I hope I am not bugging you but I thought I ought to mention I have heard that the Fender Player series of guitars are really good and so is their Vintera line. Obviously a bit more money but may hold it’s value better. You might not need to change anything, maybe pickups down the road. The new PRS SE Silver Sky, John Mayer’s signature guitar, is getting rave reviews from about everyone. They go for about $850 but good luck finding one right now. No changes or upgrades required on it. Happy hunting!
@@rdmkeytohwy no you’re not bugging, thanks for your insight. The Player series and Silver Sky SE are about 1000$ due to import costs. I thought about them too but Im not sure if they are too expensive for a casual beginner/intermediate player at home like me
Videos like this are what make RUclips great. Going to take a couple hours out of my day soon and do all of these steps to my new Squier. They are really making great instruments now. Thumbs up and thank you for making this video!
I'm in love with my 50s Strat.. And my luthier upgraded my Affinity Tele with vintage 70s russian electronics... It's straight up fabulous. Squier is the bomb.
I noticed 2 things while still watching this great video. The truss rod slot is made of black plastic, the 2020 models are coming in walnut. and the bridge block is thick like the fender models. Usually squire model have that thin tremolo block.
I got a Contemporary Active Starcaster a lil' while back. GraphTech nut, ToneNinja locking tuners, and I did a good setup on it. It plays like a dream and it screams! Squires are great guitars.
If you happen to get a good piece of wood for your neck that is. I did not win the lottery and got a POS for a neck. It warped badly. Not even a truss rod adjustment will help that neck. I have a noticeable upward bow from 3rd fret up to nut. Just a bad piece of wood.
@@suminshizzles6951 there is nothing wrong with my neck whatsoever. Did you try calling Fender? Thier warranty team is excellent. Those Starcaster have not been out that long. They should cover it.
Great job! This is the best guitar “total setup” video I’ve seen. I also happen to own that exact same Squire guitar; which is how I found your video. The guitar does have a surprisingly high quality:cost ratio; but I did have to do some of the same adjustments to get it right.
Yeah I like the depth of his info. I have a 20 year old squier that was out of shape even back then and badly needs a setup. I already adjusted the truss rod, but now I know how to go back in and check my work. Then I can move on to doing the rest of these well recommended adjustments.
I'm always amazed at how much better most "high end" Squiers play than (still more expensive) low end Fenders. Especially the fret ends are horribly sharp on mim Models
Great tutorial. Lots of detailed info, thanks. 4:33 Righty tighty is correct but the motion you showed is lefty loosey. 🙂 It's righty tighty if you're looking down the neck from the headstock. Oops, 7:36, you corrected yourself. 🙂
As soon as you set the bridge, you need to re-intonate all strings and double-check the action. Also, if you have tremolo tuning issues, it is wise to remove the tree and let strings float without additional friction point.
Absolutely lovely guitar, I own this exact same model and color since about 1 1/2 years now and it's absoltely great for the price. I was just looking for a video about basic maintainance and setup stuff because I feel it could need some now and I found this ... awesome! They do a pretty good job at the factory, I bought mine at a local guitar store and I asked them to check it and set it up for me. Well, the guy took about 2 minutes to check everything and said to me there's not much to set up there. I didn't belive it but it really was, ok he could have done some little tweaks but the basic setup was really good.
Good video; however you should check the nut distance from the strings early. As most playing is done on first five frets this is imperative. If the distance is to high at the nut, your playing will be adversely affected. In sum, nut space distance is key!
Great all-in-one video. I like to use bronze wool instead of steel wool since bronze is not magnetic and I don't have to worry about getting filings in my pickups
Thanks a lot for the detailed tutorial! But I had a second opinion with the floating bridge setup after I tried it following the instruction. The floating bridge allows the strings to vibrate more freely, especially the low E string. As a result there's a huge muffle bass booming and I lost the clearity and brightness in the tone. Pulling and locking the bridge to the body in one direction will also allow the string vibrations to transmit better to the body, guess it will increase the resonance of the whole guitar and add a bit fullness in the tone. Of course the bass booming effect depends on the stiffness of the bridge and the response curve of the pickup, but anyway, I tightened pulling to the bridge and landed it firmly on the body, the clear and sweet tone came back.
I've had your video saved since ordering mine (they are beautiful guitars...I have the same year, model, and finish) and it arrived with the same great playability out of the box and with the tremelo screwed down tight. The fretboard does need to be polished, and I also noted the same tuning problem as yours after floating the trem, especially in the low E and A string nut slots, so it appears to be a consistent factory QC issue. I was a little perplexed as to course of action until reviewing your vid, and had some of that same sandpaper handy and smoothed out the roughness of the slots, slapped some Nut Sauce in 'em, retuned and found the problem solved. Trem floats great, everything stays in tune, and it all made me like this guitar even more....now for some pickups. Thanks for posting this, Brian!
Don't forget the NUT! On a Squire it will be as big of a payoff as your nice fret work. Generally shoot for .018 clearance on first fret and take the top of the nut down so you have about 1/2 the wound strings above the slots. On a Strat you don't cut the slots at an extreme angle like a bent headstock Gibson, the D and G are almost flat cuts about 5 degrees, just a little more angle on the other strings. Now it will play like a $500 guitar if you are shooting for a $2500 guitar you need a loaded pickguard with better pickups and electronics, an upgraded tremolo, some locking tuners, a new nut, and some string tree work. It still says Squire on the headstock but it will be a nice guitar if you lucked out and got a good neck and fret job to start with.
@Mitchell yeah for sure. Generally the cheap ones will do the job. But if you do find yourself having issues, like the strings not going back to pitch when using the whammy bar, or string bending, or even just when tuning. It will usually be either a problem with the nut, sometimes the cheaper ones aren't cut so we'll and the string can get hung up on it, or, it's those string trees. And yes they are super easy to replace and if memory serves, pretty affordable. Either the graphite or the rounded ones you speak of are great and can often make a huge difference if you're having related issues.
Wow, thanks. So easy to watch, for a 45 minute vid it zipped by and with the necessary information. One gripe I have with budget guitar makers is they spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar. For minimal increase in cost the neglect of the fret finishing annoys me, especially for the novice player. A factory level pre-set up basic finishing and polishing of the frets would surely be a huge, minimal cost, improvement in the quality and playability of the product? Gripe over, thanks again, sir, marvellous video.
If you float a strat vintage style bridge tune it by dive bombing the tremolo it fixes the stability issue because if you pull a note out hit the tremolo and it’s back in tune
Glad this video came out, have been having problems with my player strat. Nothing wrong with the he guitar itself but haven't been 'vibing' with it so much compared to my tele
Thanks for this. I need a working guitar on the budget and love what you done here. I’ll get me one of those, add some gotos and play around with the setup. I love working 9m guitars and it’s great when they’re reasonably cheap (especially since I will scratch the thing). Aloha from Scotland.
I have 4 Squier strats, none cost more than $100. New pickups on a couple and saddles and tuners and a good setup and its 4 guitars for less than one Fender.
Love the colour I could only find the sunburst here in the UK but for a money £340 , a really lovely guitar, I feel squire have really got it right with this model, I've bought much more expensive guitars, and had to do a lot of work on them ,where as, with the squire, just a few small changes
Interesting that they now come with full size zinc? block, oak bigsby type 5-way switch and a bone nut. Quality went up without too much $$$ increase. Stratosphere has a mim tremolo complete kit that includes a steel block for $27 for those who prefer steel block over zinc. I use those graphtech pre-cut nuts along with their string saver saddles (black ones) and they're both fantastic. The nut is a direct replacement no work needed except maybe sanding the bottom of the nut for proper string to 1st fret clearance. I don't even use glue to hold the nut in place, the string pressure does it, even when bending strings next to the nut.
I jumped into electric with this guitar (in natural finish) based in large part on your review and this really helpful setup video. Sweetwater delivered a perfect guitar well set up already, but this video really helped me check things and tweak the action with relative confidence. Thank you. I will say, my fret ends are perfect - really smooth - out of the box. I will polish the fret tops though after I've played it a bit.
Ok already...lol...I became convinced to purchase a black one early today...can't wait but should be here next Friday...I be gotta ibenez acoustic and a strat will expand my potential...wish me luck...
How many mental saws! I have a classic vibe 60s stratocaster olimpic white Ltd edition and it doesn't have any of the issues you are listing in the video. I made the bridge movable, raising about 3mm from the body and the tuning holds no more and no less than any American vintage reissue stratocaster. The mechanics are excellent and so are the bridge and pickups. In fact, I have heard / seen many comparative videos with American stratocasters which cost three or four times as much and the classic vibe sounded better, with no changes made.
i just got a 2000 Squier China strat for $50 from Facebook. Still had the plastic on pick guard. I was about to have someone set it up since the strings are high but i might try it myself. The neck feels nice. I had a lighter Indo Squier strat but too it apart to sand the paint off but that was above my pay grade. I still got $75 for the parts tho on ebay.
Regarding the trem bar causing the strings to go sharp, I recently read an article that said the winds on the tuning pegs, may be the culprit. When you dive bomb the trem bar, it loosens the string tension, which loosens the winds. Then when you release the bar, the strings try to come back to their original position, but friction between the winds can leave the string sharp. The article said the best way to eliminate that issue is locking tuners, but do you really want to put $100 tuners on a $400 guitar? As I mentioned in another comment here, I recently received the exact same Squire Strat as a Father’s Day present. Up until now, I have not used the whammy bar. I’m about to buff out the frets and replace the strings. I’ll definitely check the nut slot widths and add powdered graphite (which I typically do whenever I change strings). I may also try to get by with fewer winds (say only 2 on the wound strings and (3 on the thin strings) to see if it helps.
Off topic - Thankyou so much for mentioning England or Great Britain as being and imperial country which it is. We measure in feet and inches and have pints and buy gallons of fuel and our speedometers are in miles just like the USA. Unfortunately, as we are part of Europe, Britain joined the EEC back @ 1970 and the government has slowly started to adopt the metric system. This was to align with the continent but has predominantly been used to increase prices or to hide the increase. The main example being the change of gallons to litres. It annoys me that on television over here nearly everyone quotes distances in Kilometres instead of miles. We don't measure distances in kilometres in this country but miles. All our roads are measured in miles and our speedometers are in miles per hour.
Great video! The CV line really punches above it's weight & glad to see it get the validation/recognition it deserves after years of Squiers being thought of less than. One thing I'd suggest whenever doing fret work: Unbolt the neck from the body. Why? The nickel shavings & wood particles can find their way into your pickups. Not super mandatory, but they are magnets after all :) Keep up the good stuff!
Thanks for posting this Brian. I've seen a few other "setup" videos before, I like how you explain the why behind what you are doing as well. Do you normally sit with the axe in your lap like that, or do you have a bench where you do real work?
I like this video all though there are some things that don't add up to me like when you do adjustments on the floating bridge after the .012 measurement on the string and the 7th fret, I don't understand why that would not change the tolerance of the .012 setting some how? Secondly I'll will give you a a tid bit for lack of better words when you do any kind of filing you always file in one direction against the teeth of the file it serves two results better control over your work and secondly it causes the file's teeth to last longer. I must say for the price I bought my squires both for $240.00 I am very happy I found this video good work keep them coming
Nice video! Will be looking forward to upcoming videos on this guitar and how good it will end up being. Btw. as far as I know the guitar comes from the factory with 9's and when you then put 10's on it the nut sluts often are too narrow especially with guitars with tremolo there will then be tuning issues.
I played one today (Guitar Center - McAllen, TX) with initial intention to buy (love the Lake Placid strat look). Now....I know it’s not fair to compare it to my Tom Anderson, but I compared it to a Guitar Mill Partscaster I assembled last summer (which is basically a money-dump)...and I just didn’t like it. In fact, it felt rather toy-ish...so while partscasters can be expensive and a pain in the arse (especially when you’re doing your own finish), I left with the impression that I’d rather go through that pain vs getting this guitar. Just my honest opinion.
I was two minutes in and I was like, darn I know this guy but I couldn’t place it. Then it hit me, it’s Brian who used to lead worship at my local church. Small world and great content sir.
I’ve watched a million of these videos, as I’m trying to get into doing regular setups and repairs myself, and NONE of them were as thorough as yours. Great confidence boost for me! Thanks!
loosen the string tension BEFORE altering the Allen screws (2) in a saddle higher , see?
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Pup for you and I 💜 and get that beautiful
I've been doing the rounds on YT watching countless videos and I always leave those videos somehow more confused than before. They're all like "Heres how you set up a guitar, I'm gonna do this on my already set up $3k guitar" and just skim over stuff because its not needed. There was some stuff here where Brian did that but then he showed how to do it anyways like the truss rod.
What nomadmusic set up video.
This is the most underrated setup video on RUclips! Thanks for putting this together!
One important note on truss rod adjustment: righty-tighty, lefty-loosy from the perspective of looking down the neck from the headstock to the bridge on a headstock located rod like this one. I believe he showed the opposite.
He did correct himself when it came to making the adjustment.
I'm a complete novice with a guitar, both at setups and playing, but following this video has made such a difference to my Squier. Thorough and well explained without detail overkill. Liked, subscribed and this video saved for future reference!
As a beginner I'm so happy this video came up. It's awesome for giving one the mechanical aspect for creating a tonal sound. Thanks for posting this terrific learning video.
This, I'm afraid, is a classic example of someone passing on their bad habits in a completely unregulated place (i.e., the Internet). The sequence of activities was incorrect, and some of the techniques were ill-advised. Attacking the nut with folded abrasive paper may solve one problem, but it's likely to cause others. The first thing I'd do is check that every note was clear on every fret, to see if they needed levelling. Assuming the fret levels were ok, I'd remove the strings, clean and oil the fretboard, and polish the frets. Then (this being a Squier CV) I'd remove the pickguard, screen the cavity with aluminium foil, reassemble and check the output just in case I'd disturbed something. Next, restring and float the bridge. Then set the relief, action, and intonation. There's no point in setting the action before the bridge is floated, as it will change. Finally, adjust the nut slots to taste. That's how it's done.
This video couldn't have come at a better time - just ordered a 70's CV strat today!
Nice work! Couple of things I do personally:
1) May need to check your intonation again after either floating or blocking your trem.
2) I always change out nuts with Tusq nuts. They’re only like $15 and usually fix tuning issues. If you don’t want to do a swap, sharpen a pencil and rub a little graphite in the slots. It can stain the nut so be careful.
3) if you don’t have feeler gauges, just test each fret to see if you have any fret buzz. If you do, raise the saddles, if not, lower them.
Sorry if any of this was already mentioned, didn’t watch the whole vid.
Any suggestions on brand of nut? I'm new to guitar an only have a squire at the moment but she's pretty solid from what I can tell so far..
Brian, I have that very same 60's Classic Vibe Squier Stratocaster (in Lake Placid Blue) which I bought from Sweetwater earlier this year! I did all of the same setups which you did in your video, plus I swapped out the vintage tuners to help on the tuning issues. I picked up a nice inexpensive set of locking vintage tuners on Reverb: That plus a little Big Bend's sauce and some graphite like you suggested did the trick. Now I can dive bomb (although usually it's just little vibrato warbles for me) without any tuning issues. Great job on your video. Nicely presented as always and appreciate all that you do!!!
Mine was straight out of the box, almost spot on. I really like it, for a higher end of the squier range, it's really nice.
Thanks Brian. Cover those pickups with painters tape to provide a barrier from metal frags. You can do the same with painters tape in between the frets as you shape the fret ends. Protects the fretboard.
My CV 60's Strat is Candy Apple Red. I had it fully set up and a fret job and now it's my favorite out of all the guitars I own.
I wanted to see what your measurements were and where you started. Exactly the same way I do my setups. I learned several years ago to use the acronym "TRAIN" when doing setups.
T - Tune
R- Relied
A- Action
I - Intonation
N- Noodle
Noodle is playing some and then re check the whole setup again. Great job explaining the process for musicians who want to learn about their instruments.
For floating the bridge use a 2mm shim under the back edge of the bridge and tune the guitar to pitch. Then tighten the claw until the shim drops out from under the bridge. Then finally adjust each claw screw until the guitar is in tune. If you adjust the screws carefully you will not need to retune as the guitar will settle into tune. Another tip is to do your fret work and polishing as well as the fretboard treatment before you do the setup. I never use steel wool on a guitar without first masking the pickup to prevent steel wool fibres getting magnetically attached to the pickups. Better to use a soft cloth to spread the fingerboard treatment. One thing you didn't check was the nut hight. It can have a serious impact on the note on the first fret as a too high nut will cause the note at the first fret to be sharp. Good video for beginners as these things are all easy for a beginner to do with care and patience.
Brian, I am so pumped for this video. First off, you did such a GREAT job of explaining a basic setup process and showing it. You are a master at coverting mystery into lamens. We are lucky to have you and get to watch videos like this. I'm also pumped because like you, I have some stellar guitars but I also have a pair of the classic vibe 60s strat and the classic vibe 60s tele and I can't wait to see how you upgrade it. Really excited for the future content on this!
You didn’t check if the nut was cut properly in the beginning of your set up. This is important. Check the depth by fretting the 3rd fret, and use feeler gauges to measure at the 1st fret. Also check the break angle of the nut to the tuners.
Eucalyptus oil removes dried dirt and skin that builds up on the frets and fingerboard. Lemon oil will condition the fingerboard. I put a tiny dot of Vaseline between the string and the saddle. This helps the string slide and return to where it is needed.
I watched a Luthier from Fender Custom Shop make adjustments to the saddles and the Nut so that the strings would move freely allowing the tremolo to be used with force and the guitar to remain in tune. The slot of each string only came up to just above halfway of the gauge height of each particular string. The top of each slot is slowly reduced using small narrow files til it sits just above halfway of the string. The strings moved easily in the nut keeping everything in tune.
Even diving the strings while using the tremolo didn't cause the strings to jump out of the nut/slot even whilst string bending and vibrato being used.
Brian wanted thank you so much for posting this setup video. I have always done my own intonation and action adjustments. I was always apprehensive about venturing into neck adjustment land. I have a PRS CE I bought and used on worship teams for many years. I take care of it and always kept it in the case. However as you know over time the best of guitars can lose their ability to stay in tune and can lose the string consistency across the neck. I just gave up on using it since I have other guitars. I decided to try out the neck adjustment. Wow! It actually worked and I am now using it in worship again. I always loved the pickups, the warmth, and chimeyness of my PRS. Thanks to you I am able to use it again.
I would advise against saddle height adjustment under tension.
I had to change out an American Vintage saddle recently because the threads started locking after adjustment under tension. It damaged the saddle not the screw.
I understand this is not an American Vintage but I would at least detune to a nice flop.
Also I would float the bridge where I want it, tune to pitch, check and then adjust the saddles to the 1000th of an inch. If you set your action first you've just changed it by rising the bridge.
Many years experience playing. As others have said, this is a great and simple explanation. I appreciate it.
I have a Squier Affinity strat with a sunburst finish and a maple board with a slightly bigger ‘70’s style headstock that feels pretty good and plays reasonably well. I have swapped the pickups out and put in Texas Specials which was an improvement in the tone. I feel like the last step is filing the frets and polishing them. I know from watching interviews with the guys at the Fender Custom Shop that what separates their guitars from the cheaper models is the fret work and details like that. Little things take time but make a big difference in playability. I was concerned about doing this myself until I watched this video. Great examples and explanations throughout. I so appreciate what you and the other guys do for all of us and the great info you give us on gear and worship. Be encouraged, you are making a positive difference in our lives and helping us all be better at what we do. At the end of the day, is there anything better than nerding out on guitars? 😆😁😂👊🏻👍🙌🏻
are you still satisfied with your upgraded affinity?:D
@@A-Wa I sold it awhile back to a guy that was using it for a project. I loved the maple neck on the guitar and he ruined it doing the project and is just using the stuff for parts. That kind of bugs me but oh well. It was not a magic guitar and upgrading stuff on Squiers does nothing for the value when selling them. If you are going to upgrade a Squier and keep it forever there are some that are magical and better than Fenders at twice the price. Having Fender on the headstock means everything to people even if the guitar is a piece of crap. It makes no sense at all. Such is life. Still looking for my next electric.
@@rdmkeytohwy thanks for your honest reply! Fender headstock holds better the value unfortunately. I still cant decide which one to buy although I dont intend to resell it. Maybe its going to be Squier again :)
@@A-Wa I hope I am not bugging you but I thought I ought to mention I have heard that the Fender Player series of guitars are really good and so is their Vintera line. Obviously a bit more money but may hold it’s value better. You might not need to change anything, maybe pickups down the road. The new PRS SE Silver Sky, John Mayer’s signature guitar, is getting rave reviews from about everyone. They go for about $850 but good luck finding one right now. No changes or upgrades required on it. Happy hunting!
@@rdmkeytohwy no you’re not bugging, thanks for your insight. The Player series and Silver Sky SE are about 1000$ due to import costs. I thought about them too but Im not sure if they are too expensive for a casual beginner/intermediate player at home like me
Yeah man! I just bought a Wine Red Squier Strat from guitar center and it was all kinds of jacked up. This vid saved meeeeee. Thanks so much man!
Got one of these bad boys coming today! Looking forward to seeing what you do to it. Thanks for doing this video.
did you keep it ?
Nice job explaining all the various adjustments in a very easy to understand way!
This is the best set up video ever. Period. Thank you!
I don't have a guitar yet I wanted to learn how to do this. Learned so much. Cheers.
Videos like this are what make RUclips great. Going to take a couple hours out of my day soon and do all of these steps to my new Squier. They are really making great instruments now. Thumbs up and thank you for making this video!
Thanks so much! I agree - it’s amazing what level of quality you get with these more budget friendly guitars.
This was so well explained. Will be my go to video now for guitar setups. Thank you.
That's the exact guitar I want. The colour is beautiful. I'm hoping to get one on sale!
I'm in love with my 50s Strat.. And my luthier upgraded my Affinity Tele with vintage 70s russian electronics... It's straight up fabulous. Squier is the bomb.
Thank you for making this video , something I am definitely more confident in doing myself now
I noticed 2 things while still watching this great video. The truss rod slot is made of black plastic, the 2020 models are coming in walnut. and the bridge block is thick like the fender models.
Usually squire model have that thin tremolo block.
I got a Contemporary Active Starcaster a lil' while back. GraphTech nut, ToneNinja locking tuners, and I did a good setup on it. It plays like a dream and it screams! Squires are great guitars.
If you happen to get a good piece of wood for your neck that is. I did not win the lottery and got a POS for a neck. It warped badly. Not even a truss rod adjustment will help that neck. I have a noticeable upward bow from 3rd fret up to nut. Just a bad piece of wood.
@@suminshizzles6951 there is nothing wrong with my neck whatsoever.
Did you try calling Fender? Thier warranty team is excellent. Those Starcaster have not been out that long. They should cover it.
Great job! This is the best guitar “total setup” video I’ve seen. I also happen to own that exact same Squire guitar; which is how I found your video. The guitar does have a surprisingly high quality:cost ratio; but I did have to do some of the same adjustments to get it right.
Yeah I like the depth of his info. I have a 20 year old squier that was out of shape even back then and badly needs a setup. I already adjusted the truss rod, but now I know how to go back in and check my work. Then I can move on to doing the rest of these well recommended adjustments.
Pick ups on this guitar (I have the one he has in the vid) are fantastic . This guitar after a set up plays better than my 2017 (lower end) Fender.
I'm always amazed at how much better most "high end" Squiers play than (still more expensive) low end Fenders. Especially the fret ends are horribly sharp on mim Models
Excellent video. Everything was well explained and easy to follow. Best video I've seen on guitar setup. Great job!
Great tutorial. Lots of detailed info, thanks.
4:33 Righty tighty is correct but the motion you showed is lefty loosey. 🙂
It's righty tighty if you're looking down the neck from the headstock.
Oops, 7:36, you corrected yourself. 🙂
Great guide!!! I’ve got 3 Strats to set up, an HSS Squier, Fender Dave Harris, and a strat copy from Samick (1991).
I like this guy, down to earth.
As soon as you set the bridge, you need to re-intonate all strings and double-check the action. Also, if you have tremolo tuning issues, it is wise to remove the tree and let strings float without additional friction point.
What is the best setup chronological order for an Affinity Squier Strat?
Absolutely lovely guitar, I own this exact same model and color since about 1 1/2 years now and it's absoltely great for the price. I was just looking for a video about basic maintainance and setup stuff because I feel it could need some now and I found this ... awesome!
They do a pretty good job at the factory, I bought mine at a local guitar store and I asked them to check it and set it up for me. Well, the guy took about 2 minutes to check everything and said to me there's not much to set up there. I didn't belive it but it really was, ok he could have done some little tweaks but the basic setup was really good.
Good video; however you should check the nut distance from the strings early. As most playing is done on first five frets this is imperative. If the distance is to high at the nut, your playing will be adversely affected. In sum, nut space distance is key!
I have acoustic guitar setup down to a science. Now for the electronic guitar setup is another story.
Thanks for the video very informative 👍
Hi , why are you not using metric measures they are so easy and more accurate? Good video.
Tried to buy one of those classic vibes this past weekend, none anywhere around me. So went home with a fender player series
I'd say you did good :).
I had both at one point recently, the player series is the obvious winner
Thank you for the info. Ive been looking for an affordable strat to put the dg20 pickup setup in. This was exactly what i was looking for.
Great all-in-one video. I like to use bronze wool instead of steel wool since bronze is not magnetic and I don't have to worry about getting filings in my pickups
Thanks a lot for the detailed tutorial! But I had a second opinion with the floating bridge setup after I tried it following the instruction. The floating bridge allows the strings to vibrate more freely, especially the low E string. As a result there's a huge muffle bass booming and I lost the clearity and brightness in the tone. Pulling and locking the bridge to the body in one direction will also allow the string vibrations to transmit better to the body, guess it will increase the resonance of the whole guitar and add a bit fullness in the tone. Of course the bass booming effect depends on the stiffness of the bridge and the response curve of the pickup, but anyway, I tightened pulling to the bridge and landed it firmly on the body, the clear and sweet tone came back.
I've had your video saved since ordering mine (they are beautiful guitars...I have the same year, model, and finish) and it arrived with the same great playability out of the box and with the tremelo screwed down tight. The fretboard does need to be polished, and I also noted the same tuning problem as yours after floating the trem, especially in the low E and A string nut slots, so it appears to be a consistent factory QC issue. I was a little perplexed as to course of action until reviewing your vid, and had some of that same sandpaper handy and smoothed out the roughness of the slots, slapped some Nut Sauce in 'em, retuned and found the problem solved. Trem floats great, everything stays in tune, and it all made me like this guitar even more....now for some pickups. Thanks for posting this, Brian!
Would love to a video of upgrading a Squier, and not just installing a loaded pick guard, stuff like tuners, bridge, sustain block, etc.
also new neck and body...I always do that
This was a great video. For a beginning player this is very informative. Thank you.
One of the best videos I’ve seen in a long time! Awesome guys!! Hope to see more like this in the future 😎
Don't forget the NUT! On a Squire it will be as big of a payoff as your nice fret work. Generally shoot for .018 clearance on first fret and take the top of the nut down so you have about 1/2 the wound strings above the slots. On a Strat you don't cut the slots at an extreme angle like a bent headstock Gibson, the D and G are almost flat cuts about 5 degrees, just a little more angle on the other strings. Now it will play like a $500 guitar if you are shooting for a $2500 guitar you need a loaded pickguard with better pickups and electronics, an upgraded tremolo, some locking tuners, a new nut, and some string tree work. It still says Squire on the headstock but it will be a nice guitar if you lucked out and got a good neck and fret job to start with.
You may also want to lubricate your string tree that holds the e and b strings as it can also affect the tuning.
Super cheap (
@Mitchell yeah for sure. Generally the cheap ones will do the job. But if you do find yourself having issues, like the strings not going back to pitch when using the whammy bar, or string bending, or even just when tuning. It will usually be either a problem with the nut, sometimes the cheaper ones aren't cut so we'll and the string can get hung up on it, or, it's those string trees. And yes they are super easy to replace and if memory serves, pretty affordable. Either the graphite or the rounded ones you speak of are great and can often make a huge difference if you're having related issues.
Wow, thanks. So easy to watch, for a 45 minute vid it zipped by and with the necessary information. One gripe I have with budget guitar makers is they spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar. For minimal increase in cost the neglect of the fret finishing annoys me, especially for the novice player. A factory level pre-set up basic finishing and polishing of the frets would surely be a huge, minimal cost, improvement in the quality and playability of the product? Gripe over, thanks again, sir, marvellous video.
Excellent easy to understand video! Thank you!
Excellent video! You take your time and do a great job of teaching. Thank you so much for this.
If you float a strat vintage style bridge tune it by dive bombing the tremolo it fixes the stability issue because if you pull a note out hit the tremolo and it’s back in tune
Can you make a video of this I don't get it I am new to all of this
Glad this video came out, have been having problems with my player strat. Nothing wrong with the he guitar itself but haven't been 'vibing' with it so much compared to my tele
Been waiting for tone samples with stock PU after setup.
Thanks for this. I need a working guitar on the budget and love what you done here. I’ll get me one of those, add some gotos and play around with the setup. I love working 9m guitars and it’s great when they’re reasonably cheap (especially since I will scratch the thing). Aloha from Scotland.
I have 4 Squier strats, none cost more than $100. New pickups on a couple and saddles and tuners and a good setup and its 4 guitars for less than one Fender.
I suggest floating the bridge before you do anything else. Your action, intonation, and pickup height change when you float the bridge.
yess
Love the colour I could only find the sunburst here in the UK but for a money £340 , a really lovely guitar, I feel squire have really got it right with this model, I've bought much more expensive guitars, and had to do a lot of work on them ,where as, with the squire, just a few small changes
Thank you sir! Just what this noob needed : )
Interesting that they now come with full size zinc? block, oak bigsby type 5-way switch and a bone nut. Quality went up without too much $$$ increase. Stratosphere has a mim tremolo complete kit that includes a steel block for $27 for those who prefer steel block over zinc. I use those graphtech pre-cut nuts along with their string saver saddles (black ones) and they're both fantastic. The nut is a direct replacement no work needed except maybe sanding the bottom of the nut for proper string to 1st fret clearance. I don't even use glue to hold the nut in place, the string pressure does it, even when bending strings next to the nut.
Fantastic video. Thank you!
Well done and very interesting. Really appreciate this video. You are a great teacher. And I want to get one of these guitars.
Thanks for the video, well organized
I jumped into electric with this guitar (in natural finish) based in large part on your review and this really helpful setup video. Sweetwater delivered a perfect guitar well set up already, but this video really helped me check things and tweak the action with relative confidence. Thank you. I will say, my fret ends are perfect - really smooth - out of the box. I will polish the fret tops though after I've played it a bit.
Ok already...lol...I became convinced to purchase a black one early today...can't wait but should be here next Friday...I be gotta ibenez acoustic and a strat will expand my potential...wish me luck...
How many mental saws! I have a classic vibe 60s stratocaster olimpic white Ltd edition and it doesn't have any of the issues you are listing in the video. I made the bridge movable, raising about 3mm from the body and the tuning holds no more and no less than any American vintage reissue stratocaster. The mechanics are excellent and so are the bridge and pickups. In fact, I have heard / seen many comparative videos with American stratocasters which cost three or four times as much and the classic vibe sounded better, with no changes made.
This guitar would be amazing to own.
i just got a 2000 Squier China strat for $50 from Facebook. Still had the plastic on pick guard. I was about to have someone set it up since the strings are high but i might try it myself. The neck feels nice. I had a lighter Indo Squier strat but too it apart to sand the paint off but that was above my pay grade. I still got $75 for the parts tho on ebay.
The guitar buzzes after the setup like theres no tomorrow
All good advice. Im blown away with the Classic Vibes Ive played in Stores
Great video 👍
Regarding the trem bar causing the strings to go sharp, I recently read an article that said the winds on the tuning pegs, may be the culprit. When you dive bomb the trem bar, it loosens the string tension, which loosens the winds. Then when you release the bar, the strings try to come back to their original position, but friction between the winds can leave the string sharp.
The article said the best way to eliminate that issue is locking tuners, but do you really want to put $100 tuners on a $400 guitar?
As I mentioned in another comment here, I recently received the exact same Squire Strat as a Father’s Day present. Up until now, I have not used the whammy bar. I’m about to buff out the frets and replace the strings. I’ll definitely check the nut slot widths and add powdered graphite (which I typically do whenever I change strings). I may also try to get by with fewer winds (say only 2 on the wound strings and (3 on the thin strings) to see if it helps.
Off topic - Thankyou so much for mentioning England or Great Britain as being and imperial country which it is. We measure in feet and inches and have pints and buy gallons of fuel and our speedometers are in miles just like the USA. Unfortunately, as we are part of Europe, Britain joined the EEC back @ 1970 and the government has slowly started to adopt the metric system. This was to align with the continent but has predominantly been used to increase prices or to hide the increase. The main example being the change of gallons to litres. It annoys me that on television over here nearly everyone quotes distances in Kilometres instead of miles. We don't measure distances in kilometres in this country but miles. All our roads are measured in miles and our speedometers are in miles per hour.
Very well explained, nicely done!
Great video! The CV line really punches above it's weight & glad to see it get the validation/recognition it deserves after years of Squiers being thought of less than.
One thing I'd suggest whenever doing fret work: Unbolt the neck from the body. Why? The nickel shavings & wood particles can find their way into your pickups. Not super mandatory, but they are magnets after all :)
Keep up the good stuff!
No need to remove the neck, I just put a bit of masking tape over the pickups! Does the job fine
Great video, thanks very much.
Thanks for posting this Brian. I've seen a few other "setup" videos before, I like how you explain the why behind what you are doing as well. Do you normally sit with the axe in your lap like that, or do you have a bench where you do real work?
THE GUITAR IS AWESOME
Thanks for this I have an old Squier. Going get some tools and see what I can get out if it.
I like this video all though there are some things that don't add up to me like when you do adjustments on the floating bridge after the .012 measurement on the string and the 7th fret, I don't understand why that would not change the tolerance of the .012 setting some how? Secondly I'll will give you a a tid bit for lack of better words when you do any kind of filing you always file in one direction against the teeth of the file it serves two results better control over your work and secondly it causes the file's teeth to last longer. I must say for the price I bought my squires both for $240.00 I am very happy I found this video good work keep them coming
Great video thanks for making it.
I was shocked with the quality of this beast. It's a great bang around guitar.
I'm excited to do more tweaking on my squier, get that running smooth. Then take a look at my mexi strat and see if it's up to snuff too
Nice video! Will be looking forward to upcoming videos on this guitar and how good it will end up being. Btw. as far as I know the guitar comes from the factory with 9's and when you then put 10's on it the nut sluts often are too narrow especially with guitars with tremolo there will then be tuning issues.
I played one today (Guitar Center - McAllen, TX) with initial intention to buy (love the Lake Placid strat look). Now....I know it’s not fair to compare it to my Tom Anderson, but I compared it to a Guitar Mill Partscaster I assembled last summer (which is basically a money-dump)...and I just didn’t like it. In fact, it felt rather toy-ish...so while partscasters can be expensive and a pain in the arse (especially when you’re doing your own finish), I left with the impression that I’d rather go through that pain vs getting this guitar. Just my honest opinion.
Good job buddy
Great video! Your tuning issue happens when you put the thicker guage strings. Did you have any tuning issues when you had the stock 9's
I wish you lived close to me (Texas) so you can setup my guitars. LOL. Great vid. I know I'll benefit from this video.
Awesome video. Any chance you'd be doing this for a Squier Jazzmasters Classic 60's Vibe? :D
Great tutorial Sir 🤟🏻
thank you for the video. I have exactly same guitar
Cool video. Now if you add fret leveling (maybe pretty scary to do), you may never need a luthier to set your guitar up.
Useful video, thanks.