I keep forgetting to give SE a call … hopefully next week … but figured I would ask here: generally, how much does it cost and what is the timeframe for getting a proper setup done on your Stick? I’ve watched Greg’s videos and read through the articles but still don’t trust myself. My 20 year old Stick arrived in DBM, which I then switched to DMR with fresh strings, adjusted truss rod and bridge height and intonation, but it still doesn’t feel quite right.

Is it worth sending in? Should I expect *months* to get it back?
Are there any trusted individuals on the East Coast who do this, to maybe save a little on shipping costs?

Do most Stickists do these adjustments all on their own?

Thanks!

I’m in the same situation. I changed from heavy gauge strings to light gauge. I contacted SE for them to do all the set-up adjustments necessary for the gauge change. SE would not give me a cost estimate until they inspected my stick and assessed the amount of work. This sounded reasonable. SE told me there is a 2-year waiting list for repairs! I gave my name,to keep my place in the line. In the meantime I changed the string, adjusted the truss rod and bridge and nut heights to remove fret buzzing. I didn’t have to change intonation; it was close enough. I’m happy with work I did, but will keep my place in line for now just in case I discover that my setup makes the stick play less than optimal. I was inspired by my stick setup to tackle a problematic Ziggy tap guitar that I’ve taken to a luthier three times in the past 5 years to refret and straighten the neck. I adjusted the double truss rod a spent a lot of time adjusting the intonation. It worked!

If I were you, contact SE, because the wait time could be less. Get in line. In the meantime recheck the work you did (is neck straight, nut/bridge height,etc). Bring your stick to the next Stick workshop and have an instructor give you feedback on its setup. I wouldn’t take it to a guitar repair place. They don’t seem to know how to adjust sticks (or in my case a Ziggy).

Yikes! I’m aware that the backlog for new Sticks is in the 2+ year range, but I wasn’t expecting repairs and set ups to be up there as well. I’ll still be sure to call and inquire. Your suggestion to attend a workshop to get feedback on my current setup is a great idea. I know there are a few Stick players around me in Maryland - I may need just need to connect with them. Thanks a bunch for your suggestions!

At least I can guess that Stickists outside US have to do that on their own.
Sending Stick overseas is not an option.

I am scared of the day when I would have to try adjusting it myself, but I trust local luthiers even less than myself, considering that they had not ever seen Stick, flat neck and double truss.

P.S.

I've attached pages included with my Railboard which mentions some things about adjustments, maybe you can make use of that. Quality is awful, sorry in advance, but it was sent to me like that, like the photocopy of the fax of the stained photocopy again.

And also here are only two videos I've found on adjustments.

https://youtu.be/fx8LQS7Et1g
https://youtu.be/v1ZLQG4_A3c

At least that's all I've found to try setting my Stick up.

New builds & repairs or setup of older Sticks are all done by the same people & they can only do one thing at a time...

I've been doing my own set up work and modifications with electric bass guitars for many many years, and so far have been pretty satisfied meaning I never had to have someone else finsih what I started, but the only Stick instrument I ever really worked on was my Railboard 8, which was pretty much unplayable from the start as a brand new instrument due to the set up from SE.... no disrespect to SE, it was my fault for not realizing how massive the space would be between the two 4 string sets on the instrument, but today that instrument is perfect, no space after some bridge modifications, and it plays great.

I just checked out your Ziggy on Reverb, what a beautiful instrument !!

I'd set that baby up 5 string bass, 7 string melody, Classic tuning on the bass side, Crafty tuning on the melody.... !!

Wish I had the money laying around, that would have been an easy sale for you !!

That Ziggy has been a thorn in my side since I purchased it. I bought it used from Germany and it arrived in horrid condition. The frets were bending up, coming out, not straight board, etc. Just a poorly constructed instrument. I tried to return it to the seller, but he wouldn't take it back. Caveat emptor should have been my mindset. I spent too much $$ having a total refret job just to get the instrument in a playable condition, but the board keeps shifting. It's really hard to get to the truss rods (unlike sticks) but I was able with much difficulty to adjust the truss rods yesterday, and improved the straightness of the neck. Intonation was a bitch to adjust, but that too is now somewhat close. I have the instrument listed cheap. It really has a nice tone with those Duesenberg pickups, but I'm sick and tired of all these repairs, which is why I'm letting it go. I should have stuck with the stick brand to avoid all of this hassle.

Of course! I wasn’t sure if they process *all* orders in a linear fashion. Surely it’s more demanding to install frets on a new instrument than making a few adjustments on an otherwise finished instrument, for instance.

Very likely, but if you were someone who had paid your deposit a couple of years ago and was still waiting for your longed for new Stick, how would it feel to know that every time a repair job arrived hours or days got added to your wait in order to give someone else a quicker turn around?

Just a thought...

It’s a good point!