How do you acquaint yourself with a new guitar?

Play it, change the strings to my preferred ones, do the setup, play it some more, dial in the pickup heights (and pole pieces where applicable), hang it up and play a few others, come back to it again and play it open it up and look at the wiring, do the setup again now that it's had some time to settle on a bit, play it, fine tune pickup heights/poles some more, and play it....

Just got through all of this with the CS Strat I got recently. Pickups were way too close to the strings, so it had some "Stratitis" going on. Strings were 10-46, and are 9-46 now. Quarter turn tighter on the truss rod, tweaked the saddle positions to get it more in tune. Really sparkles now....
 
One should always begin with a formal introduction to the existing guitars. Explain to them that they’re not being replaced. And that each are very unique in their own special way. Let them know that we’re all one big happy team. This helps to keep the jealousy thing to a bare minimum. Then whip out your cord and stick it right in the jack. This shows who’s makes the rules and who's in control.
 
DiedTrying said:
How do you acquaint yourself with your new guitar.
Click to expand...

Apparently by changing most or all of the electronics.

Les Paul: pickups (then pickups again), caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control...also tried other pots, went back to stock...also changed the tuners, would probably go back to stock except I can't find them.

594: pickups, pots (it's an s2, so required enlarging the holes), ditch the coil splits, caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control.

Strat: bridge pickup, switch, pots (it's MIJ, so required enlarging the holes), cap, jack, tighten the claw and add springs so the bridge won't move because they don't make enough hardtails.

But, realistically, by the time I've bought a guitar, I'm kind of attached to it already. Otherwise I don't buy it.

Yes....it's weird to get attached to a guitar and then start changing things. But...apparently, that's what I do.
 
marsonic said:
Apparently by changing most or all of the electronics.

Les Paul: pickups (then pickups again), caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control...also tried other pots, went back to stock...also changed the tuners, would probably go back to stock except I can't find them.

594: pickups, pots (it's an s2, so required enlarging the holes), ditch the coil splits, caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control.

Strat: bridge pickup, switch, pots (it's MIJ, so required enlarging the holes), cap, jack, tighten the claw and add springs so the bridge won't move because they don't make enough hardtails.

But, realistically, by the time I've bought a guitar, I'm kind of attached to it already. Otherwise I don't buy it.

Yes....it's weird to get attached to a guitar and then start changing things. But...apparently, that's what I do.
Click to expand...
Trying, somewhat, to resist this, for once...
 
Dave Merrill said:
Trying, somewhat, to resist this, for once...
Click to expand...

I mean...I bought the PRS not being totally satisfied with the pickups and knowing that I didn't plan on using the coil splits. For some reason, I've always tinkered with strats...to the point that I think the giant pickguard was a design mistake (I'm very close to cutting it into 2 sections). I've done just about everything you can think of to them and eventually come to the conclusion that I prefer almost-stock and bigger caps than modern (using .047s...sooo much better; kinda want to try a .1 now). I am really enjoying the SD Red Devil that I've got in the bridge. I just put it in yesterday, but it's the first time I've thought of a strat bridge pickup as usable let alone good....I actually prefer it this way to the one I had 3 Red Devils in.

The LP mods were mostly for vibe. The only one that really changes it is the taper resistor on the bridge tone control...I never turned it up that far, and the resistor gives me more of the knobs to work with. The caps are vintage repros because they look cool and I know they're there. The pickups....I'm not even convinced that they sound all that different from stock, but they're SD Custom Shop Skinnerburst pickups, which were copied from the ones JB used on my favorite recording of his...and that's about all the vibe I can afford when we're talking about the world of vintage les pauls.

A Heritage H-150 is pretty high on my list of "maybe" guitars...and it'd get 60s wiring on day one (they come with 50s, which I don't like).
 
Give it a good look over.
Check how the nut is cut and neck relief.
Use a fret rocker to identify any potential high frets.
Check the neck for straightness with my StewMac gauge.
Remove the strings.
Remove the pick guard / pickups.
Inspect all electronics.
Take pictures along the way. (it's hard for me to remember what I have with multiple guitars)
Give it a good cleaning / polish even if new.
Clean & Oil fretboard.
New strings and complete set up.
Make sure every screw it tight.
Make a note of what value the pots and caps are.
Install oversized strap buttons. (40 years of strap locks is over for me)
PLAY IT!!!
 
DiedTrying said:
How do you acquaint yourself with your new guitar.

Thanks
Click to expand...
1. Before I have that new quitar i check guitars specs and read user reviews and also try to find examples how it sounds.
2. Before I buy that guitar I test it with my own hands etc.
3. After I bought guitar then I play it and explore it more using different music styles etc.
4. Using different strings / string gauges and different tunes and change pickups heights, maybe string heights etc.
5. And playing more and more with guitar.
6. Also using that guitar with different ways like using pics / different pics (material / thickness / shape and using fingers
and playing all kind different stuff and styles.
7. And of course make setting the way you like most (like height of strings, neck relief, pickup height etc.).
8. Also checking saddle and nuts etc. how they work etc.

Good guitar tempts and hooks you to take him/her to your hand and play more and more (then you know you made correct
decision to buy it :)
 
I look for dead spots
marsonic said:
Apparently by changing most or all of the electronics.

Les Paul: pickups (then pickups again), caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control...also tried other pots, went back to stock...also changed the tuners, would probably go back to stock except I can't find them.

594: pickups, pots (it's an s2, so required enlarging the holes), ditch the coil splits, caps, taper resistor on bridge tone control.

Strat: bridge pickup, switch, pots (it's MIJ, so required enlarging the holes), cap, jack, tighten the claw and add springs so the bridge won't move because they don't make enough hardtails.

But, realistically, by the time I've bought a guitar, I'm kind of attached to it already. Otherwise I don't buy it.

Yes....it's weird to get attached to a guitar and then start changing things. But...apparently, that's what I do.
Click to expand...

fix it until it's broke, ;)
 
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