A discussion with Darren Web and Keith Greeninger, guitar set up

it’s great seeing Darren in action at his bench, and hearing from the horse’s mouth! Anytime we can get a view into the factory and over the shoulder of a specialist is a terrific treat.

as to setup, though, nothing new to me. boiled down: check/adjust relief first; action at the 12th, second (ie, saddle, if necessary). interesting that Darren is using the relief tool that Stewmac originally sold years ago for that measurement and now sells primarily for top measurement: that tool measures relief on the FRETBOARD (not on the fret) about halfway between the 12 fret and the nut. the “upgraded,” relief-specific tool that Stewmac has been offering for the last number or years measures relief on the 7th FRET where, as i understand Richard’s explanation in his PLEK video, the maximum excursion of the plucked string’s complex vibration usually occurs. of course, assuming a PLEK-ed board, it makes little difference in my experience. That SCGC Plek video is dynamite… i hope it didn’t go away with the web redesign.