Telecaster 5 Star Worst Setup I've Seen 

I don't think I've realized just how relaxing it watching someone fix a guitar.

Having a 5 Star Worst Setup keeps the guitar in mint condition. Nobody wants to play it!

You never cease to amaze us with your care and concern keep up the good work thanks man!

Hey Dave thank You for all the awesome videos and education. I really appreciate it.

Dave...I have to commend you on your new Intros! World Class! Love 'em! Cheers!

You and those eyeballs! Thanks for the content, Dave!

New tools, New Day, New Outlook, New Davey... ⚙️🛠️😉👍

Beautiful instrument. I read somewhere that the burst spray was originally used to hide crappy wood.

great video dave, you do stellar work. great teaching video for young luthiers like me im 65 lol. played in a band in the mid to late 70s. les paul player. you do great work and I trying to learn the craft as a retirement job from networking computers. keep on keeping on buddy

You make something as mundane as setting up a guitar interesting. lol I keep coming back to see the same thing over and over. You're good, man.

Well done for hitting 125k subscribers Dave.

ive only been playing for a 14 months and by watching you Dave im better at seting up than playing at this point i will tip scale in time and do both well thanks again Dave😎🎼🎼

Luv the intro! New pickup height tool. Was that acquired from Solo?

Love the new intro’s Dave. And is that a new tool to measure pickup height?

The owner spent weeks tweaking the set up getting it just right for his personal preferences. Selecting cheap strings, adjusting the bridge just right and having the pickups right up against the strings and here you go and ruin his work just to make a video.

Dave, I love your brevity; "Ah, that is absolutely wrong."

Intro music sounded like I was watching a Pirates Of The Caribbean movie...What Say You!... ARRR...

That's Tele-licious. My 4th grade teachers name was Gooch, my whole class was Gooched!

I love the fact Dave has gotten so good that he can eyeball stuff like the string radius to the neck radius. He has done this long enough now that he already has a good idea of where he is going with something even before measuring. You see that a lot when he is setting string or pickup height. He will mention at times "that gap looks like it's about xyz" and then when he does check it, its almost exactly what he predicted. That is the sign of a well experienced luthier. I stumbled onto Dave's video's by accident awhile back and I find myself being drawn back to them quite a bit. That being said, I decided to subscribe to his channel.

Great Video Presentation 👍

Man I gotta tell this story, kinda relates to terrible setups. This pawn shop about a mile from my house has had a Gibson Les Paul studio for a couple months, I’ve been thinking about buying it, but the bridge pickup is cranked up so high it’s almost touching the strings, and anywhere past the 14th fret, it does in fact touch them and isn’t playable. So, I walk in yesterday planning on buying it. Of course I wanna play it first, so I take my guitar pick and try to lower the pickup to where it should be. This older guy who works there yells across the shop “hey bud what are you doing to her”, so I try explain to him the problem as simple as I could make it out to be. I was calm the whole time never even raised my voice or nothing. He responds with “I don’t know nothin ‘bout that bud” then tells me the owner doesn’t want people “loosening screws on the guitars and taking them apart”, then proceeds to panic and yell for the owner, who’s just sitting in his chair ignoring him, over and over until I just gave up trying to reason with him. I sat the guitar back down and just left. It was clear the guy didn’t wanna listen to reason and the owner is a guy in his 30’s who just doesn’t give a fuck about his store at all because he has like 8 kids and can’t manage it well. The owner is actually a pretty cool guy, just has a lot on his plate. My fiancé was even trying to explain to him I’m a professional and I’m not taking it apart I’m just trying to make it work right. Now I’ve been going to this place for like 15 years and this asshole knows me, I buy stuff from him all the time. He’s seen me pick up the guitar numerous times and play it, and we even talked about taking $750 for it. Don’t know what his problem was but I probably won’t be going back.

A Tele is such a hard thing to screw up...

That Tele is gorgeous. *drool*

Beautiful guitar.

Did you get a new pick up height gauge from Solo?

I found a business card for a real estate agent named Jane Gooch on the bulletin board at the local bar.

You're gonna love my lefty necked tele

Dave is it possible to do a proper fret leveling with the neck in the back bowed position ? I saw this done elsewhere.

The guitar tech god thanks dave

lots of important info on here...12 thou for truss adjust...but the most important info comes at the end...be good to each other....

How did it sound? Nice work on the setup

Dave! What’s the new string height gauge?????

Have you guys seen the Fender Japan offset telecasters?! If you like a chunky neck, you gotta try one!

My son just graduated US Marine Corps Boot camp. There was a kid named Gooch. The drill instructors killed him!!!

The guitar těch good the best In the world thanks dave

With all the bad setups you, Dave , have seen!!!!! This has to be WICKED BAD!

That’s a beautiful guitar.

Tell us about the new pick up height tool!

One tool for one job..like it.

Didn't have to mess with the nut: only 4 stars!

Welcome to The Gooch

What is the tool used for the pickup height ?

New pickup height gauge?

That is a pretty guitar 🎸

don't break your arm there Dave .

New pickup height gauge??

Maybe the man making that neck was drunk that day it it got a one off neck radius called the J😂

That’s a pretty Tele.😊

The best there informace. The best there is And the best there ever Will Be Dave the guitar těch god

Hey Dave! What would you suggest as a pickup height on a Fender Strat? Thanks pal

Dave the 4/64 string height, is it from the fret to the bottom of the string or the top?

Maybe I misunderstood...but don't we want the saddle heights to result in the strings matching the fretboard radius? That is, they'd be arrayed in an "arc" that matches the fretboard radius when viewed in line with the guitar neck. If they were "flat" (in relation to the guitar's top) the strings would be closer to the fretboard on the D and G strings than on the two E strings.

Using a new gauge for pickups, eh?

You need to do a cooking tutorial. Beef would be a great way to get back into cooking vids

Is that true with the barrel style bridge on tele's or is not an issue??

I wish he would of told us what modal / year this tele is.

dave youre the man dude my local luthier says "theres nothin more I can do" I know better what I know about dave is he is like me in that you just need to follow common fucking senseit isnt nuclear physiscs lol, everything I know about setup daves videos taught me, thing is when you think about it makes sense and if you try it it makes an instrument be proper for the regular folk because music is joy aand everyone deserve it

Hello Dave, just a question. You check intonation with the guitar flat on the bench, I've read that you should check with the guitar in playing position. Is one way better, or does it not matter? Thanks, enjoying your content.

I wish I lived in Toronto I need your services badly watching the videos just don't cut it lol fuck paying my local guy for it how much for a steam set up guide 😂 😂 😂

Watching this while eating a sandwich.

Another trick is to just use a radius gauge just forward of the bridge to set the string height.

Whatever happened to Dick My Darrio's ? I miss those strings !

Re: Bass Side Pickup Height What is the relevance of setting the height in relation to fretting at the last fret? When does anyone ever fret way up there? I don't think I have ever touched the low E string above the 15th, let alone at the 22nd. fair enough for the high E, plenty of solos hit that last fret ( and bend up even ), but for the low E? Can anyone explain?

If that's the worst setup you've ever seen, you don't get out much.

First time I've ever seen a LIKE and DISLIKE button without numbers next to them. You Sir, get a LIKE.

I have a 99 American Standard Tele that’s looks just like that. I want to love it but I’m not bonding with it. I ready to trade for a 99 Strat.

Wow , someone sure didn't know what they were doing when they evidently tried to adjust that guitar lol ! That is the worst set up ever . We know fender sure as hell didn't send it out like that .

I don't think Fender sent it out like that, did they? I mean, almost everything in the world needs or could at least benefit from a setup when new, but Fenders usually come at least borderline playable/intonated. Every single aspect of that thing was not only wrong, but like completely ridiculous wrong! Did someone just attack it with zero knowledge whatsoever and then give up when it played and sounded like shit?

I disagree about pickup height, set them where it sounds the way you want it. I have an Epiphone with very hot pickups, I lowered them very low.

Why is it 4/64 th and not 1/16 th ??......just curious ..

Hey Dave, you're growing jowls just like me! I guess this happens when we get past 60, eh? And what is this new pickup height measuring thing-a-madooey?

I blame the fender corporation

Of course the guitar was clean. I wouldn't have played it like that either.

Wonder if he bought that guitar for a quarter or fixing it for a customer .

Well now I'm disappointed. When I saw 5 star worst set up I was hoping for some vintage Dave rants. Instead I got kinder genteler Dave.. :( :(

An o'boy Telecaster....

cool show from the beginning$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Cut those string ends or you won't be eyeballing anything!

Wow another fender🤮

Having a belly carve on a Telecaster is obscene.

dady narios? You don't like them?

and they are the five best I've seen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't set intonation without lowering the pickups first and you don't set it with the neck on a rest.

I’m sorry Dave but you don’t tune a guitar up like that! Especially Fenders! You’re making an obvious mistake that sticks out like a third ball on a greyhound!

strange, luthier notes that a customer guitar has a bad set-up. Perhaps that is the reason the owner dropped it in for a service.

DO YOU live STREAM $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$