How to Setup an Electric Guitar

Years ago I was looking for someone to show me how to do a guitar setup. My music teacher got me in touch with a guitar tech who told me that if I paid for a setup he'd walk me trough the process and let me take notes, that nobody should have to pay for a setup more than once. He ended up making the notes for me, and sure enough I've never paid for another setup! I get tired of taking picture after picture of these instructions so I'm posting them here for posterity. They've been cleaned up a bit.

These are the original written instructions.

You will need:

• a set of allen wrenches that measure in metric and imperial. Eklind makes quality allen wrenches. 
• a 6 inch empire depth gauge.

Setup Steps:

1. Adjust the neck as straight as possible with the truss rod using the strings as a guideline. (You can check the neck by holding the guitar like a rifle with the body away from you and looking down the neck towards the body of the guitar (using the strings as a guideline)). I go by "tighten for bow, loosen for hump". I don't like thinking visually in terms of clockwise and counter clockwise because I've confused myself before by turning the wrong way when the nut is at the bottom of the neck rather than at the head stock.

2. Adjust the action of the strings at the saddles measure 2/32nds at the 15th fret while fretting the first fret. (Just put a capo on the first fret.)

3. Adjust intonation by checking the notes of each string:

    - If they are flat, move the saddles forward.

    - If they are sharp, move the saddles back (away from the neck).
 

    Once the notes on the 12th fret match the open notes of the strings - you're good to go!

4. Adjust pickups by fretting the last fret and raising or lowering the pickups to 2 1/2 and adjusting by increments of 32nds.