[zedman]

Originally Posted by dtaylorl

Cool. Good to hear a positive review. Was it at the Calgary store? There's a chance I might be out of town that day, but if not I might give it a shot.

Actually, I said it was free and worth every penny--that' sort of a sarcastic way of saying it wasn't worth much.

I was re-adjusting my guitar soon afterward.

I wasn't happy with it--but hey--you could get a good set up--or just some guy who ignored what you asked for who did it his own way. Which wasn't the first time that happened.

So just saying--it's a free set up--it may not be as good or thorough as one you pay for--or one you do yourself if you know how.

[crazymoose]

I would definitely learn to do setups for yourself. I got frustrated with Music Centre Canada overcharging me for setups that weren't even what I wanted. Then I figured out I could get exactly what I wanted and save myself like $50 by spending an hour tuning up every time I string change. One time I remember my low-E string was buzzing and I took it in and asked them to fix the action so that it would be just low enough that the string wouldn't buzz. I got it back and it was still buzzing, so I took it in again, then they raised the action ridiculously high so that it was pretty hard to play. It was at that point I learned to do it myself. They're nice guys at MCC, don't get me wrong, I just really have not been impressed with their set-ups. Long and McQuade... well I took my amp in to get it fixed once. I got so irritated talking to the guy who was going to take it that I just walked out. He refused to tell me anything about how much any of this repair would cost, whether they would even do it (though he assured me I would be charged for them checking it, but he refused to tell me how much), or when it would be done by (keep in mind I live near Airdrie). He kept refusing to answer any of the questions I actually cared about and treating me like a four year old who knew absolutely nothing about amps. Every time I asked a question he would kind of blow it off and spout off random irrelevant information about the amp. He was really quite rude about every question I asked. Not to mention after talking to him for like 15 minutes it really sounded like the reason he wouldn't tell me any prices is because he knew if I saw how much they were going to charge me I would walk right there.

I don't know, maybe I've been really unlucky cause I know some people have been happy with repair work they've had done at music stores, but I really haven't been.

[dtaylorl]

Originally Posted by crazymoose

I would definitely learn to do setups for yourself. I got frustrated with Music Centre Canada overcharging me for setups that weren't even what I wanted. Then I figured out I could get exactly what I wanted and save myself like $50 by spending an hour tuning up every time I string change. One time I remember my low-E string was buzzing and I took it in and asked them to fix the action so that it would be just low enough that the string wouldn't buzz. I got it back and it was still buzzing, so I took it in again, then they raised the action ridiculously high so that it was pretty hard to play. It was at that point I learned to do it myself. They're nice guys at MCC, don't get me wrong, I just really have not been impressed with their set-ups. Long and McQuade... well I took my amp in to get it fixed once. I got so irritated talking to the guy who was going to take it that I just walked out. He refused to tell me anything about how much any of this repair would cost, whether they would even do it (though he assured me I would be charged for them checking it, but he refused to tell me how much), or when it would be done by (keep in mind I live near Airdrie). He kept refusing to answer any of the questions I actually cared about and treating me like a four year old who knew absolutely nothing about amps. Every time I asked a question he would kind of blow it off and spout off random irrelevant information about the amp. He was really quite rude about every question I asked. Not to mention after talking to him for like 15 minutes it really sounded like the reason he wouldn't tell me any prices is because he knew if I saw how much they were going to charge me I would walk right there.

I don't know, maybe I've been really unlucky cause I know some people have been happy with repair work they've had done at music stores, but I really haven't been.

Yeah... so far I've done all my setups myself. There's a part of me that want to have one set up professionaly just so I have something to compare to. I have a friend who has been very happy with the work done by the repair guy at Guitar Works in Cross Iron Mills, but its like $60 or $80 (can't remember) for a setup. I just bought a guitar for that much (a good deal no doubt, but $80 will also go a long way towards a new pedal or low watt tube amp). I'd rather have some new gear and do the setup myself .

[zedman]

A friend of mine used to do the set ups for me, for free--he loved working on guitars.

But over time it became difficult to get time to get together so he could do one.

After the free set up I wasn't happy with I finally decided to do them myself.

I had learned over time, from my friend and from books, how to do some of it--so I bought Dan Erlewine's book-Guitar Player Repair Guide-3rd edition.

Check it out on his site.

There's other good stuff from him too.

If you do want to get it, check it out online--I found it new online for about half of what I would have paid in a store.

[asatattack]

If you are in Calgary you should check out Kickaxe Guitars.

[dtaylorl]

Never heard of it. Where is it? Would definitely be interested in checking it out at some point.

PS. This thread hasn't been posted in for over a year. Forum etiquette usually says that you shouldn't post in threads that have been dead for an extended period of time.