A MUST WATCH! Learn to Set-up your Guitar with John Suhr's Pro Set-up Tips! 

Told me more in 10 minutes than I learned in 10 years from guitar techs

Great video!!!! You guys rule. I completely agree with y’all, a low nut is KEY to a good-feeling guitar!

He really is a technical genius. He's so completely tuned into the details of amps, electronics and guitars and the symbiosis between everything. Listening to this along with the much longer discussions he's had on this channel, it becomes very apparent. I don't own a Suhr guitar but I wish I did! Just this 10 minute clip contained several tips I'm now definitely going to use that I wasn't even aware of before. Kudos, and thanks!

i really appreciate john suhr sharing his set up knowledge.

Wow John Suhr’s wife plays guitar! My wife has earplugs

“You could have almost nothing as long as you have something.” - John Suhr

To set the intonation, I tune the open string, then adjust the saddle to where the 9th and 21st frets are as close to a perfect octave as I can get them (retuning the open string every time I adjust the saddle position). Works wonderfully well. I got the tip from Chip Todd, the guy who designed the Peavey T-60. Try it - you'll be glad you did.

Just think how many more guitars these stores would sell IF the guitars were dialed in...cuz you pick them off the shelf and they are so outta whack they feel like crap...I believe if a store would invest in a basic set-up more guitars would fly off the shelves!!!!

Wow, I feel like an idiot. I always thought my Suhr Modern Satin sounded a little "harsh and anemic" compared to my other guitar, but it turns out the problem was my pickup height. So I tried the pickup height adjustment recommended here... It's like it's a new instrument. I had to back the neck pickup down as low as it would go, and the bridge high string is just shy of buzzing out on aggressive pitch (floyd rose) pulls, backed off the low strings on the bridge pickup and it's exquisite. It screams and sings with a perfect amount of just natural compression. What a neat guitar

This guy is a genius! I just got a Suhr Modern. Dude ruined every other guitar I own.

And this my friends is why John is at the top of his game right now. He knows his stuff and he doesn’t mind sharing how his guitars are top shelf! You can definitely feel the difference in a Suhr setup.. I’ve owned many Suhr’s, currently own 3 and all of them are absolutely fine Instruments, the best I’ve owned. Thanks for the setup tips!

Pickup adjustment portion was so brilliant and rarely discussed! Also the unique intonation measurement approach removing nut from calibration. The rest is standard.

All one learns over decades about neck pickup and nut adjustments delivered in 10 minutes by one of the best guitar makers on the planet. Genius.

I like as little relief as possible. Shim the neck pocket and use the bridge to set the action. Downside is I live in the northeast, so a couple of my Ibbys need truss rod adj when summer goes to winter and vv. Actually, the only guitar that is consistent all year is the Les Paul. Also, it's good to see Jimmy Johnson branching out from football. Great amps.

I can honestly say that the only 2 guitars that I own that I have never adjusted in any way shape or form are my Suhrs. Impeccable craftsmanship, perfect setup from the factory on both. I own several Gibsons, all of which had to be adjusted or modified to get right. Don't get me wrong, I love my Gibson's, but I have to admit that I am so impressed with what John's company builds.

I like the idea of a zero fret. My Vigier Excalibur has a zero fret and is the fastest buzz free guitar I've ever played, and the neck is very stable no matter the weather. The bridge tremolo has bearings at the fulcrums and stays in tune forever, even when I get crazy with it. I also have a Suhr Classic S, it's just not quite the guitar the Vigier is. The Suhr is easier to string up though, because the Vigier is a Floyd Rose style locking bridge and nut.

Too funny. When I first got my bSuhr, I thought it had no frets lol. I was like " what the heck is this".....\

00:45 brass nut 1:25 neck adjustment 3:55 is the nut cut right or is it high/low? 5:36 tuning stability 6:15 action/string height 7:21 pickup height 8:49 intonation

I've always set up six string, traditional scale length, traditional tunings, with between . 010" and . 012" of relief. Anything less and you don't even need any back bow, you will likely get fret buzz all over the neck, especially if you play with any intensity, if you hit the strings hard at all, or if you tend to bend notes, particularly on fret boards with a smaller radius.

If all the frets should be level, why should the nut slots be higher. A zero fret is always level with the rest of the frets. The first fret is always level with the rest of the frets. So forth and so on. So, set the nut slots level with the rest of the frets and adjust the string height at the bridge/saddles to preferred height. Easy.

John Suhr is without a doubt the most genuine, honest, and kindest guitar builder. He helps over at TGP all the time. I own a Classic T. Yes, they are expensive. But, there is no guitar that comes close to it, at least none I have seen. You couple that with what you see here and you get a sense why Suhr buyers are loyal. Thanks guys for sharing this.

I just bought a used Suhr alt T 2018 saddles were all the way bottomed out! Twang for days must have been a country picker! I can’t believe the guys at guitar center handed it to me like that and they said it was set up perfect! I Raised the saddles changed the 9s to 10s now I have buzz at the 12th fret unless I play soft! The nut is too low I think. I will try to Oder a new nut from Suhr! Lots of sustain while bending in the higher register though just have to play soft!

I would have been happy with $100. I paid $175 for a Strat "setup" from a shop I thought was reputable and ended up with trash. This is great information. Thank you.

John lays out the fundamentals very concisely. I reckon that he has been schooling people for decades.

I've been using the string as a straight edge for over 30 years. It works very well for adjusting the truss rod.

Learned that straight edge finger technique from my mentor back in 99 when I was working as a tech... and yep its all about the nut. Good stuff guys! Thanks.

I own a Suhr guitar Strat 60’s style from the mid 2000’s and it is remarkably built and smooth all over, not one single blemish, bump, ding, or misalignment or finish flaw anywhere and it plays like butter with a very smooth satin finished neck that fits your hand perfect and allows your hand to slide up and down the neck without any sticky feeling, the frets are 6105’s stainless and they are finished perfectly. The quality is top notch especially when I compare it to the Custom Shop Fenders and Custom Shop Gibsons I own. If you are looking to own a great quality guitar, check out John Suhr’s line, for the price you get a better finished product than Fender or Gibson Custom Shop offers. A friend of mine owns a David Friedman guitar and Dirty Shirley amp and he says the same thing about the quality of the Friedman guitars that they are built of higher quality.

Brass nut brings back to the 70’s

Fantastic info on order and priorities. It took me a while to realise that your nut is the most important part of the guitar. If the one you have is cut bad, knock it out and spent $10 on a new one and take your time cutting it. Great tips on getting your neck relief too. I think I’ve heard most of these tips from different people, but not all from one guy in one easy to digest session. Thank you John

So kind of you guys to do this feel like I should have to pay $100 just to have the privilege of seeing how a master luthier sets up a guitar. Its the equivalent of Luckather or Landau breaking down how to improv a solo in s studio session or something lol!

Babicz FCH Bridges make setups so easy.

I paid a guitar shop to do a set up and it came back worse then when I sent it. I’ve done them my self since then.

John Suhr has always been a master guitar tech, luthier, etc. John put together a few guitars for me in the early 80's and he was a complete gentleman and an artist at what he does. So happy to see him well and still doing his guitar magic.

Thank you so much for this video. I have a serious intonation problem on my BC rich Warlock Revenge guitar. I can intonate the high E and B strings but I'm just not able to intonate the lower strings, Low e, A, D are way way off. All are very sharp. If I tune the strings upto to standard E tuning pitch using a polytune tuner and then fret the 12th fret, all the strings are super sharp. My saddle screw are turned ALL THE WAY towards the stop tail piece and I don't have anymore room left to turn the saddle screws. The strings are way too sharp. If anyone can help me, please let me know what to do...

I remember getting my suhr classic S. I bought it used and when I pulled it out of the case I thought I had messed up big time and missed the fact that it was fretless. I even went back to the sale website to check, it was a good few minutes before I realised it was the fret protector 🤦🏻‍♂️

A genuine dude. I’ve asked him many questions thru social media and he’s always quick to respond and provide much needed info! I’m a fan.

When I finally got my nut height to the correct height, my Blonde Tele Prtscaster went from a $100 el' cheapo to a $1000 Player, WOWZA! That first fret-12th-fret thingy is the key. Thank you!!!

I use the string as a straight edge . But I just capo the first fret

So M.Landau is the alien..Jimmy played guitar without proper setup...R.Blackmore for shur did't played Fender Custom shop etc...

If you try to work yourself on a guitar, get a 100 Dollar one. Get a few tools and the see tutorials from Stew Mac (20x) and make it the best playing guitar you own. Please (!) do this before you work on an expensive guitar. I have seen so many ruined guitars from People with no experience or talent for fine works and not so good guitar repair persons...

I guess it was implied, but you MUST set neck relief prior to cutting string slot depths in the nut.

I see people getting out feeler gauges and I laugh like hell. Just use the string as a straight edge. Unless ths customer has a preference, I set the necks damn near straight. I like the nut at low as I can, but nuts wear out, so brass makes a lot of sense. I sell my customers a brass nut, and they never need to mess with it again

Wow, best setup advice I've ever heard... and such common sense too

Cool! I've got a couple guitars that just won't intonate, and I just learned why and how to fix them. Subbed.

Please have John back on again soon!

I’ll always be terrified of adjusting the truss rod though! Especially because I have to remove the neck!

I would love to know what benefits or disadvantages a " Zero" fret contributes to feel and stability. Some if the best playing Guitars I had used a "Zero" fret( eg Gretsch)?

Interesting 🤔 ... I've been a tele player since early 70 s... I never used any measurement tools ... I always keep a saddle screw/s allen key, #1 Phillips for intonation / pickup height , and truss rod key on my amp where i make adjustments on the fly between songs if needed... I've close bands mates make funny comments, but I've made an extremely nice financial retirement in playing the best one can 😊😊

he said "press at the first fret and look at the 12th fret to see if it moves, if it moves the fret's a little high", but if you press at the first fret you remove the nut from the equation!, even experts aren't experts sometimes, alas

Some good tips here from a total pro!

Excellent tips, thanks for posting! This confirmed quite a lot of things I already suspected (like a low nut!).

I caught this video at the perfect time. Great info, all was obviously true to me. It is indeed a much watch.

Just talked me into a brass nut on the build I’m getting close to finishing. Actually I’m thinking a self lubricating bronze.

That's exactly how I do it when I'm checking the neck between setups.

Watched the whole show but this segment is awesome !.......clicking thumbs down while getting great knowledge from a Master builder is beyond me !............Thanks everyone !........Lou

Someone wanna buy me a custom suhr? No? Okay I'll just keep dreaming

Suhr makes incredible guitars.. but I find that some/almost all of them look SO nice that they look like they have a vaneer on top of them. I'm sure most of you know what I mean. They have that almost waxy, too good to be true top.

John Suhr saves you a couple hundred bucks a year on setups so that you can save up for a very expensive (and quite excellent) Suhr guitar. 😊

With the nut high…. You run into sharping problems in first chord positions….. low nut…. No rut!!!

Man I wish that I could afford one of your guitars.they look very nice

Awesome setup tips and thanks for sharing. Do all Suhr's come setup as John describes? I'm gunning for a Suhr Classic S HSS but not many guitar shops stock them here in Australia.

I never thought about intonating with the fretted notes. I could see how it averages out the error of the open string nut height and gives you a better over all tuning.

I have a suhr v70 in neck and sounds very muddy/low conpared to other 2 pickups . I guess I just don’t use it at all and that’s it

Having a Suhr is my dream.But they are ✖✒sive.But I will get it one day.

Fantastic tips. I need a new nut for my Maton. Brass it should be. Boom

SUBSCRIBE DONE Sir, I hope I have one of your guitar.

Brilliant! The intonation trick alone is golden! Thanks

I saved the original full-length version of this show with a title of something like "Suhr guitar setup tips." I'm glad to see this edit-down version! Thanks Mark and Dave!

My First experience with a Suhr, i went in looking to get another high end brand....i had never heard of Suhr but a drop top caught my eye.....one strum.....that's all it took, it was magic.

Thank you for sharing this! Definitely learned some new tricks.

Looks like i'll be doing his way of intonating now. That was great info.

I owned expensive guitars and even built guitars, last year I bought my first suhr, this guy is at another level, now that I hear how he views the setup process I think I'm only starting to understand why he accomplishes this level and why I get perfect setups on his instruments. was not able to build this good and except my music man jpxi bfr, I never played a guitar that accurate. hats off to you mr. suhr and hats off to you for bringing him in :)

Take my money---VERY much appreciated.

That's the method I use, but I put a capo on the first fret and use a business card as a feeler gauge! 🤣

I would kill to protect my Suhr Pro. Best bolt-on I've ever owned. My '90 PRS EG-3 is close, but there's gotta be some kind of fairy dust John uses that no other builder has access to.

what a great idea! thx for uploading this - incredibly valuable advice for any guitarist!

LOL! awesome to see John is cheap at heart! i had been doing that string as a straight edge thing to adjust my necks for years! I gave in a while back and bought a slotted straight edge for $25 that works great as well it is metal and is said to be very accurate but the hands work just as good. i set my necks with a slight relief to clean the notes up. when i set it perfectly straight it plinks too much for my tastes.

Great video! I was thinking this should be put up as a separate video and I'm glad you agreed and put in the effort to make sure it was.

Very interesting video!

Sir, that was a 10 min. worth of 10x $100 G.set up tip.👍🥇

Future guest idea: Gordie Johnson from Big Sugar and has produced Gov't Mule and other bands. Has a great gear collection and unique perspective on amplifiers and distortion

This is the content that I’m here for.

Thank you John Suhr for your decades of innovation & contributions to guitar & amp building.

This was a very useful informative video, thank you!

Awesome Video! I learned from these setup tips. I LOVE my PT SUHR and also love my Friedman Vintage T. I will say to Dave that he needs to find someone new or hire more help because Jon at Boutique Amps Distro ( the guy who handles all the emails/work for Friedman) is a complete douchebag and because of him, I will no longer buy a Friedman ever again. Dave makes the best guitars and amps, Half of what i own is made by Dave and I wont deny that but Jon has did me wrong on a few occasions and for that reason, I am taking my business elsewhere. Dave, I hope in the future you find someone else to represent for Friedman.

It could take a Decade to learn what he is sharing.............

really good advice, thanks for sharing

So much knowledge here people. Learn. 😊😊

That was great!

Awesome! Thank you. I do more or less the same things and I can attest it works really well!

This is going to be awesome.

interesting advice on the pickup heights and trying out the 3rd and 15th fret for intonating

Absolutely brilliant.

After 25 years I may try to do my own intonation now!

Apparently 16 flute players watched the segment on accident and thumbs downed.

Such a legend!!! Thanks a million for sharing!!

You should do a separate video of Dave's "amp buzz" tips. (I saw John's guitar setup vid. Pure gold.)

Best 10 minutes i’ve spent in decades.

didn't see a brass nut offered as an option...

This is great, guys. Nice to get the perspective of a master. Cheers.