What's the deal with shops not having guitars already set-up?

That's the way it is in Japan. Every guitar, new or used, seems to be well set up with clean strings, and if you ask to try something the salesperson will take it off the wall, tune it up, give it a quick polish before handing it to you.

 

I've had similar experience when I was hunting for a G&L ASAT Deluxe Semi Hollow. I found one locally but it had one string that was bottoming out and buzzing real bad at the bridge. Pointed it out to the sales person, he takes the guitar from me, takes a strum, notices the same thing, "yep that doesn't sound right" and hands it back.

Might want to do something about that if you ever plan on selling it...

 

That's a management problem, not a low paid employee problem. They won't last long if they keep that crap up. That's like the only real value that they can add to the situation. Might as well buy online.

 

This is why return policies are cool

 

Many times, even when i had no intent to buy, I have almost bought "just OK" guitars simply because they were setup well and, thus, felt great as soon as i picked them up. if I were running a shop, I would want to maximize the appeal of every guitar by giving it at least a quick reasonable action set up. I admit that I'm a sucker for how a guitar feels as soon as I pick it up. I know I can make adjustments if it doesn't feel good, but looking back at the ones I have bought, they usually were already set up.

 

^ Right.

I've bought a couple of guitars with the hope that the fretwork was good enough to withstand the proper setup that I'd have to do when I get home.

If I had a shop, the nut slots would be filed right, truss rods would be adjusted, and low action would be present on all guitars that have the fret work that warrants it. Want a guitar with high action? The ones that ship with subpar fretwork will have high action.

 

I have Sam Ash and GC. More often than not, the setups are terrible. But to be fair to them, high end gear doesn't move (because they don't have much of it). What's the point of setting up cheap Epis and Squiers for tire kicking teenagers? The few nice pieces they have are high on the wall behind the counter. These are usually in better shape because the usual suspects don't bang on them.

 

It's throughout the industry. Any of you have kids with rental violins? The action on those is routinely 2x the height it should be. And they wonder why kids quit. I know that factor is not the end all be all, but how long can we expect beginners to struggle with what amounts to unplayable instruments.

 

At a local shop, one of the staff needed a humbucker guitar for a dinner play gig that would last for a couple of months. He picked off the wall an ugly weird model SG. Anyway in about 10 minutes, he had set it up and it played and felt amazing. he was going to put it back for sale after the gig. I have to say I thought about buying it. It was cheap, played great and actually sounded good.I would never have thought about buying that guitar if it didn't play so well. It's a no brainer: stores should set up guitars to improve their chances of selling. Put lipstick on the pig or on the beautiful princess, will help.

 

A well done setup is not generic? I mean sure, we all have preferences, but there are some standard measurements to go by. Most techs will not ask for specific details when you go for a setup unless they just know you. They are going to do a standard "by the book" setup. I've picked up $2000 plus guitars in GC that were missing a freakin' string for God's sake.

That is why I have stopped going to stores like GC. My local shop checks the setup on every single guitar before it goes on the wall. No they won't spend as much time on a Squier as they would a Historic Gibson, but every guitar in that shop is very much playable.

One person mentioned doing a setup on a guitar before trying it. I'll bet the store managers just love that.