Today I’ve got a big giant Dean Dime Razorback on the bench—bolt-on neck, I’m guessing around that 2007 era—and it’s in for the full “get it ready to be resold” treatment: new strings, a setup, and a cleanup. First thing I do is plug it in and make sure the electronics are alive. The speed knobs feel great, everything is making noise like it should, and that’s always a bonus before I start putting time into it. From there it’s the usual reality check: the strings were nasty—tons of dirt and grime—so they had to go. I check the neck with my notched straight edge and there was a lot of relief, so I tightened the truss rod (making sure I had the right wrench) until it started to feel snug and the neck looked right. Then I clean and condition the fingerboard with Music Nomad F-One oil to get all the old fingerprints, sweat, and “DNA” off, and I hit the frets quick with a fret guard and fine sandpaper to shine them up. For strings, I match what was on it: Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom (10–52), which is perfect for drop D and half-step-down kind of stuff. I also replaced the missing truss rod cover with a spare from my parts tray, because little details like that matter when you’re selling used guitars and trying to make them look as new as possible.