Any good guitar setup guides on web/youtube?

[gmaz]

I built a Strat copy from a kit but it does not play well. Are there any good guides on youtube or elsewhere on the web to help a novice setup the guitar to be the best a cheap kit can be?

I know I can google for guides but knowing what is useful and what isn't, is the key

[singlecoil]

There aren't yet (as far as I know) but there will be. I intend to shoot a number of videos in the shop dealing with this subject, as soon as I can find a competent camera operator.

In the meantime, "doesn't play well" I'm going to take that the action is either too high or too low (probably the first of those).

With a kit guitar I wouldnt be surprised if the nut slots are too high, leaving the strings difficult to fret at that end. If you want to tackle them yourself then a razor saw (from a model shop) would be a good start, but you need some way of preventing the slots ending up too low.

A set of feeler gauges is ideal, set them up so they are 10 thou higher than the frets (go higher to start with if you are not sure), hold the gauges against the nut on the fingerboard side and cut the slots down to that height and make sure the strings are sitting in the bottom of the slots. You will need to move the blade from side to side to make the slots wide enough.

Alternatively if you are anywhere near Milton Keynes I can do all that stuff and the the rest of it for you, standard fee is £30 plus strings