Guitar Setup Course (In-Person)

Instrument Setup Class (in-shop)

Next Date: Saturday October 18th 2025

12-4pm 

Classes are small and limited to give each participant as much attention and chances for questions from the instructor as possible.

Keeping your instrument maintained and in tip-top playability is crucial to its reliability and comfort. If the setup is right, it will play better and sound better! A good setup addressing the different parts of your guitar can often make the difference between loving and being frustrated with your instrument.

What we will go over:

• The different parts of stringed instruments and how they affect playability and the feel of them
• How to assess problems with your setup 
• Setup procedures like:
  • How to adjust your action
  • How to set your intonation 
  • Demystifying the scary Truss Rod! How and when you should adjust it
  • How your playing style, string gauges, and tuning affects your setup 
  • How to set the height of your pickups and a a short discussion about pickup construction
• How to properly clean and care for your instrument

You will also receive a booklet with the information we cover, as well as some handy diagrams and specs.

Luthier Matt Laing has over 15 years experience working on all different types of guitars, basses, and more. In this class we want to teach you how to keep your guitar tuned-up and how to assess instruments and address any issues using just your fingers and mostly everyday tools. You can do a lot of work on your guitar without needing a whole suite of luthier's, tools and those are the skills we want to pass along.

You can also add an optional package of a Set-Up kit that includes a few specialty tools like an action gauge ruler, radius gauges, and fret slot protectors. We make these all in-house. Also included is a 50ml bottle of our own fretboard oil you can use to keep your neck oiled and beautiful.

If you have your own tools you can also bring them! The following things will be really helpful as well and recommend bringing them if you have them:

• Clip-On Tuner
• Capo
• Screwdriver and/or Allen key for your particular bridge 

We stock D'Addario tuners and Capos in the shop, so you can also purchase these when you come if you don't already have them.

We will go over baseline specs for different guitar styles and brands. You can bring any type of guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin etc. Our discussion will be more involved with the parts of guitars and basses, but can be applied to many different stringed instruments. As long as you have interest in learning about the rest, feel free to bring in something else! 

Cancellation Policy:

Note, there are NO REFUNDS if you are unable to attend your class day after purchase. You can transfer your slot to someone else. Please give at least 24 hours notice and include the person's name and email address in an email to widdershins.guitars@gmail.com .