I’ve decided that after 40 years maybe I should learn how to do at least a basic setup on my guitars. I’m sure some of you do setup stuff regularly and have recommendations for what tools we need. If you check Stewart-McDonald what they sell cost a fortune. Music Nomad seems to be expensive too. If you go on Amazon and search for setup tools they come back with tons of kits, but who knows what tools you need? Don’t want to buy a kit only to find out I needed something else. I don’t mind paying extra for a good quality toolkit, but sure don’t want to buy something only a Pro needs and unless I decide to become a professional setup person I have tools I’ll never use. Just looking for guidance with what tools are a minimum to have and maybe recommendations on instructional videos.
On Amazon they have a basic setup kit you can purchase for about $20. The only other thing I would add to the kit is a feeler gauge set. I had a feeler gauge set left over from classic car maintenance I did. My outlook on tools if you don’t use them often then I go for the cheaper price ones, and if you know you are going to be using them a lot then I go for the best you can afford. I tried to link the Amazon kit but it kept coming up with an error about displaying so just do a search and you should some nicely priced kits.
Here is one of the many threads on the forum about setup tools and techniques.
There are a lot more on how to do setups and the tools needed. Click the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page and do a search. You’ll find plenty of suggestions, insights and info.
Thanks. I did do a search on it and the info was kind of hit & miss re: what info I could find.
There some here who recommend using basic tools to do setups. Others, myself included, use MusicNomad kits.
Even though MN kits are relatively pricey, they are a buy once/cry once purchase that supplies you with everything you need (and nothing you don’t) to do setups quickly, accurately and well. Plus, their documentation includes clear step-by-step instructions that even newbies can follow and use to good effect.
I was looking at their tools and the comments on their stuff was that it was actually very poor quality stuff! It doesn’t look like junk in the photos, but I’d rather spend more to get good quality tools. Do you feel they are good quality? This is one of the reasons I was looking for tool recommendations so that I could pick out individual tools and get quality stuff.
Just to be clear: All you really need are the allen wrenches that came with your bass, a phillips screwdriver, and a tuner. A ruler with the gradations starting at the edge is helpful but not required.
You absolutely do not need feeler gauges, files, capos, or special tools to do a basic setup. They can be nice aids but are not required.
I like the MusicNomad stuff but it’s not cheap. It’s not expensive due to quality either, I would say it is average quality; I bought what I have because it was convenient more than anything else.
StewMac is higher quality, but in general, for all of this, you’re not assembling a Space Shuttle. You don’t need to spend a lot on tools.
The only thing I find lacking in my MusicNomad wrench set is that there is no magnet in the bit socket of the handle, to keep bits from falling out.
But it’s easily remedied by gluing a 2mm magnet inside the bit socket.
These aren’t industrial-strength tools, but, honestly, they don’t need to be. I use mine as I need to, which has been pretty infrequently.
My basses are very stable, so once I set them up they don’t require a lot of maintenance. I just do minor truss rod tweaks as weather conditions change.
Interesting. Mine has a magnet.
Yeah, I checked Amazon and that was part of the problem, there’s just so many kits with different amounts of tools, and some with less tools cost more. Again, don’t want junk but don’t want to spend a ton on something I may never use. I’ll keep researching and see what I come up with. Thanks for the info.
That’s the basic info I was looking for. I used to race dirt bikes, so I have a lot of good quality tools so just trying to figure out what speciality tools I will need. Just so many specialty tools shown that I don’t know if I will ever use.
Well, crap. I guess I unlucked out, or the magnet wasn’t glued well enough. Gotta check my bits for a hitchhiker. 
If you have enough tools to work on dirt bikes you are totally set already. Some Fender-style instruments benefit from a long Allen Wrench for the truss rod, but even that is not required.
If we are talking priority, the order I would buy things in is:
Required:
- Tuner
- Allen wrenches fitting truss rod and bridge saddles
- Phillips Screwdriver fitting pickup height screws and intonation screws on the back of the bridge
Optional but nice (in order):
- Capo (you hold down the first fret a lot)
- Ruler with fine gradations going right to the edge. Actually this MusicNomad tool is a good buy, as someday you might need a fret rocker.
- Sandpaper and small round diamond files if you ever need to adjust nut height.
The very very optional:
- Nail buffers to polish frets (if you care. Yes, ladies’ high grit nail care buffers work great for this.)
- Fret end dressing files, if you get fret sprout.
- Fret rocker and crowning file, if you ever need to do fret work.
Things I have never used:
- Feeler gauges
- premium nut files (perhaps the least necessary of all, small diamond files work fine)
The two best videos for simple, basic setups:
Since you worked on dirt bikes you probably have most of the tools you need. I would get an inexpensive capo and a ruler with fine gradations. What I use to polish the frets is Miracle all purpose polishing Cloth. I used to work on cars and I purchased just the capo and ruler since I had everything else in multiples.
Yeah thats a good plan.
Thanks, some very good info. Should help a lot. Some of those special purpose tools are the ones I was curious about and curious if I needed them in the “had to have” kit
I’ve definitely used everything I listed down to the crowning files. But the further down the list you go, the more you get in to “buy it when you need it” territory.
Youtube. Look up John Carruthers and his series of set up videos from "Elixir Strings. " Best I’ve seen.
Cool, I’ll definitely check them out.
My go to video @HIPCHIP that i recommend re setups is the one below. It covers everything you need to know in a simple format.
I knew SFA when I started 3 years ago but now after getting stuck in, It’s pretty straightforward.
Re tools. As a carpenter I always want to play the long game i.e I want to buy a tool that will outlast me. I have tools from Stew Mac and Music Nomad that will be working long after I’m dead. Buy once, cry once.
