What is setup?
Yes, most Edwards are well setup from the factory. So far I tried five edwards from the shelf and they are all pleasing to me. This is what I check for when I want to buy an electric guitar.
1) Neck has to be dead straight like those of Taylors,Tom Anderson,Ibanez(MIJ).Slightly bow is acceptable provided the intonation is good.
2) Once the guitar is tuned using open strings I will check mostly on the high E, B,G and D string at the 12th,15th and 17th frets.If they are slightly out by a few sens is ok as long as the ears cannot tell that they are out of pitch.
3) This is the most critical. The G string as you guys know gives the more problems. Most guitars are out of pitch when pressing the G string at the 3rd and 5th fret. This is the reason why most guitarists sounded flat when playing Smoke on the water.
4) My final step is giving a full bend on the 1st,2nd and 3rd strings from the 12th fret to the 22nd or 24th frets. My expectation is that all the notes which I bend must ring. Some guitars are in tune but when doing this test you'll find they ring slightly and then go dead.
Once in awhile you may bump into a cheap guitar and yet passing all the above mentioned test. But,sometimes you may even bump into an expensive guitar and yet they disappoint you.
Therefore, we thank God that we have people like Malcom,Kelvin and Mike just to name a few to help us to solve all our problems. Most guitars are good when they left the factory buy due to climate change and humidity the wood
of the guitar start to react. I bought a Taylor Solid body from Sinamex and I can tell you that this guitar is perfect, every string and fret is perfect but you have to use guage 10s.