Make your guitar
play better.
Tell Guitar Setup Guy what you’re working on, what it’s doing, and where the problem lives. The site keeps the guitar profile in your browser and builds the next sensible check around the actual symptom.
No account No AI API No generic advice dump
Start where the problem actually lives.
You can answer in plain English, or jump straight to a fret-zone map if the problem is obvious under your fingers.
A starting point based on your answers. Confirm it by measurement.
Why This Is The Starting Point
Quick relief checker
If you already measured the gap around fret 7–8, enter it in inches.
Build the procedure around this guitar.
This is the part that makes the site different. You are not following one universal checklist. The bench procedure changes based on the symptom and where it happens.
Tell me about the patient.
Save the basics once and future tools can use them. This stays in your browser. No account, no newsletter ambush.
Every adjustment has a job.
The trick is knowing which job you’re solving. A truss rod is not an action knob. Intonation is not the first thing you set. Nut work is not something to “try.”
Relief
Controls the neck’s longitudinal curve and string clearance through the middle of the neck.
Check relief →Action + Nut
Controls how high the strings sit, but nut height matters most near the first few frets.
Check action →Intonation
Fine-tunes effective string length after the rest of the setup is stable.
Check intonation →A tiny bench kit beats a giant toolbox.
For first-check guidance and basic setup measurements, a good tuner, a capo, feeler gauges and an action gauge or accurate ruler get you surprisingly far.
Establish pitch before measuring.
Check relief without guessing.
Read from the fret crown to the string.
Use the exact fitting key or driver. Stop if it resists.
Don’t lose track of what you changed.
Tune, observe, measure and record.
Follow the instrument maker's instructions for adjustments.
Stuck hardware, lifted frets, cracks or unusual force need a repair tech.
GREEN Normal measurement or reversible setup territory.
YELLOW Proceed only if you understand the adjustment and have a real measurement.
STOP Structural issue, stuck hardware, excessive force, stripped parts, lifted frets or bridge problems.
Search the bench library.
Type the symptom the way you would say it out loud.
Skip the 2,800-word throat clearing.
Each guide answers one thing a player might actually type into a search box, then sends you to the next useful check.
Complete setup guides
These hub pages explain the whole problem, then point you to the exact diagnostic branch.