Guitars Enter

Finding it hard to barre the first fret while playing the F chord?Or do you find it hard to bend strings? I shouldn't even mention the bend- vibrato then! Do you secretly feel that your friend's lesser priced guitar resonates and plays more 'buttery' than yours?(Don't you worry, I have encountered Gibson LesPauls costing about 180000 INR that were notoriously hard to play.You could use it to shoot an arrow!) Having tuning problems? Does the whammy go out of tune after a dive-bomb? Do you feel that your guitar has an unfriendly neighborhood towards the higher frets which attack your fingers? Other mysterious phenomena manifesting while playing? Let us admit it. A guitar is only as good as it plays. Perhaps, all your guitar needs is a setup.

To my knowledge and experience, most of the guitars(say about 80/100...all rough figures) that I have seen in our shops in India have a notoriously high action right out of the box. 10/100 will have the nut set up from the factory, but will come out of the box with a bowed neck. Better off, but still hard to play! The remaining 10 will be those 'mysterious','elusive' guitars heard in folklore as those guitars which respond to touch. In truth,those 10 will be guitars that have been properly setup from the factory,which means that the ingredients of the guitar have the best possible shot/chance there is for it to put out its most capable tone. A guitar's tonal response, tuning stability and many more aspects greatly rest on the action at the nut.It means everything to the guitar. Can you pull off on your first fret without much sweat? High action can also mean that the strings exert forces on the guitar at an angle which does not really favor playing by human hands.It can determine the basic EQ of the guitar as well. There is no exaggerating the importance of the nut. Ideally, when set-up well for low action, strings feel like rubber bands to the touch! Also the height at the saddle and the neck relief matter greatly for a LOT of aspects. In short, guitars don't usually reach the customer in the best finger friendly possible way, owing to factory cost cutting methods, weather changes etc. It is like a ready-made shirt that needs a bit of fine tailoring before being worn. Only few companies out there go the extra mile and come out with playable guitars out of the box(Some Ibanez guitars,Cort guitars and Godin guitars and of course every company has that odd, hard to come by, good piece). Also, I would like to mention that most of the low-end guitar necks have a twist towards the treble side upon tension and can be noticed by the eye. This seriously limits the setup possibilities as the setup can go only as far as the guitar allows. If your guitar costs under 25000 INR it usually wouldn't even have a well-cut nut. So look out for those if you are about to buy one! Of course companies like Fender and Ibanez and Gibson and many more have prefixed values published for the string height at different frets and neck relief which according to them is a good starting point. It is to be deviated from as per need, as in the end, it all boils down to a players precise needs and playing style. It is a good idea to carefully watch one's favorite guitar player's guitar next time.If you are lucky you might find a relevant close up in most videos.You'll get what I mean ;)

Guitars are precision instruments. Subtle changes in string height might miss the eye, but the finger will know.getting a guitar setup might make you employ a new set of muscles for guitar playing. The kind that makes you 'drum' with your fingertips. The 'flutter' muscles. Might change the way you play! Let us not go into that much, here, now.
Turn that truss rod and you might just wake up that guitar!

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"....Played it till my finger bled...In the summer of 69..." - Heard those lines? Means that the chap who sang it never set up his guitar or was not aware of such a thing. Or if it was set up, it was poor technique then.
If it hurts, it is the guitar or you. Hence, it is only logical to have a critical look at your guitar first.

Helps to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaS9uoU6yX0