holy **** you have no idea how helpful that is...

im kinda nervous about using steel wool to clean the neck though...

You don't have to do that bit, it does help but its not essential. If you do do it, mask off or otherwise cover the electronics on the body. Bits of steel wool in your pickups is very bad.

alright im a retard at this, when if i were to take out my pickups will the angle of my pickup when i put it back in change my tone?

Kinda, but the angle shouldn't change because they're on springs already....and plus for a basic setup you shouldn't need to do much more than setting the bridge height and action, give the fretboard a good ol clean to make sure everything is silky smooth, and if the frets are particularly worn down, they may need crowning by a guitar tech.

Other than that, make sure your board is oiled so the wood is nourished, and keep your strings new. The guy in the link uses Bore Oil, but I prefer to use Fret Doctor (Google it, this stuff is amazing. Its cheap, and you literally need one drop of it on each fret, work it in with a q tip and you're good)

Must agree here!

Fresh strings make a big difference - didn`t you notice any rusting? Loss of shine on them?

Just adding to the advice already posted, a good guitar shop will usually have a tech who will do all the bridge, intonation adjustments, lose the fret buzz etc etc. - Its not expensive.

Great if you can learn to do it all yourself, but i reckon its easier to watch and learn than fiddle alone....:yikes:
Thats a path i havent gone down yet, there are so many variables to consider, pickup height, bridge, nut, frets, tuning keys, blah, blah....

Good luck.

i still think it comes down to personal preference.

i've had the same strings on my bass for 5 years now and i have NO plans to change them unless they pop. i have no idea when the last time i changed the strings on my strat either. mind you i 'like' dark muddy tone.

but i will concede that new strings sound WAY brighter and clearer than old ones. if i were to change strings on my strat it would only be the top 3 unwound ones. i really like the sound of fresh high strings but i find new wound strings sound too bright and tinny for me.

as for the steel wool deal. use a fine grain and don't rub too hard, it's just to clean out the sweat and gunk from around the frets. you're not trying to clean off the rust from an engine block.

Bass strings last a helluva lot longer than guitar strings anyway...

And personally for me its less of a tone thing than a feel thing, to an extent. I love the tone AND feel of new strings, but i despise old strings gritty feel and how difficult they are to play.

I hate to say this but measure your guitar neck length, find the scales online. And see if yours was built off scale even slightly.
Also hows your hearing? maybe your adjusting it off key?
Also If you trust string tuners they are never perfect.
Learn to adjust your sound of the strings by ear.
Also if your frets are higher than normal around the 12th fret,cheaper guitars are built this way many times,companies figure your never going to play this high anyways.......but...if your frets are too high then your string can be off tune when you press down on the 12th fret. did you know that even on the best guitars, the harder you press down on a string on the fret the more you warp the sound?
try press your low bass E string at the 3rd fret as you would normally, then press it as hard down as you can, the sound will wrap some, this is most noticable on heavier strings, but it happens also on higher strings. If this is what is happening have some one at a shop file down the last fret or 2 . but don't do it yourself. I have been repairing my own guitars for years and building guitars. This is a common problem.

You have no idea what you're talking about. I pity anyone who takes anything to you to be set up.

I would say you're greatly missleading people here.
You want everyone to think you're a mr know it all.
If they want to fall for that so be it.
But if the frets on cheap guitars are offset, it will cause the guitar to play out of tonation plain and simple. Guitar necks get miscut even when top CNC digital equipment is used time, and companies try and pull a fast one by sneaking it by. They don't want to loose a sale and the cost of the guitar. It happens all the time.
It's real easy for frets to be too high, or miscut during production. I guess you understand very little about the building of modern guitars my friend.