Fixing your own guitar

C

Chris Jahn

New member
anyone know a good book or resource that teaches you how to repair guitars, specifically the intonation (sp?), id really like to learn to take care of my own stuff, i know hoe to solder and can fix a short of cousre, but i want to know more about pick ups, pots, etc.. and like i said, mor than anything intonation (sp? once again)
 
For repair, Dan Erlewine's Book is good. For electronics, THIS ONE will show you how they are usually done, but I don't know of any that really explain how stuff works. But a good understanding of basic audio electronics will get you there.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
In addition to Light's advice, you might want to pick up a cheapo guitar to practice on rather than using your favorite guitar. Find a real "junker" (yard sale, pawn shop, kid down the street, wherever) and make it play and sound good and you will learn a lot about repairs in the process.
 
There isn't really a good book that covers the basics of what you need to know with regard to intonation. There is plenty of good discussions here though. You need to get a basic understanding of the way intonation works and the limitations of the instrument and the tuning we use. From there it's just mechanics and a bit of theory.

Use the search and terms like

intonation
temperament

You'll come up with this sort of thing. I'm always posting links to a couple of articles here and they are in this thread. Enjoy.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=253665&highlight=getting+the+whole+guitar+in+tune

Dans book is a good place to start for the rest.
 
ok,I have about 36 years playing.i will initially take a player guitar in for a set up and intonation.this includes neck relief,harmonics,and the slight buffing of the frets.dan earlewine,posts over at the lpf,if there is a particular question regarding a process.
 
In this XXI century the resource you need is called GOOGLE. It will take you to really good sites, where you'll find all you need.

don't buy a book, unless you plan to be a guitar tech, in which case maybe you should take classes instead.

action/intonation/truss rod adjustments on electric guitars are EASY once you understand the concepts. (I hope you meant electrics, right?)

passive circuitry is fairly easy too. especially with nice diagrams available online for mod-monkies like me, who can't read real electrical diagrams.

I mean, I still can't memorize Ohm's Law and still don't know why POT's have 3 lugs, but I've replaced pickups, installed phase-switches, coil-splits, shielding and such. It really doesn't take an electrician, much less an engineer.

Passive circuitry is NOT (strictly speaking) "electronics".
 
Gear_Junky said:
Passive circuitry is NOT (strictly speaking) "electronics".
Click to expand...


In what way? Of course it's electronics. Electrons are moving, and you're controlling them. Electronics.

Also, in what way are they passive? Sure, the stuff in the guitar is passive, but the guitar is only one part of the system - without an amp, it doesn't do anything - and there is nothing passive about an amp.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
can't remember now, but there's been an official definition - that a powered circuit is "electronics", like an active bass, where there's a battery inside.

electrons are moving in any electrical circuit, doesn't make that "electronic". you don't call an electrician to fix "electronics" in your house. :rolleyes:

I'm not looking for any trouble :p
 
There are plenty of good books...but don't sell the internet short. There are many good articles on line, some direct from the manufacturers and some from builder/luthers and some from regular people. Just do a search...and by all means...learn to do as much to your own guitar as possible. It is generally not hard, in fact..intonation is an easy one (unless your guitar has some shortcomings). Good luck.
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I agree about getting a beater guitar to learn how to do guitar work (maybe not for something as basic as intonation - but maybe for truss rod, fret work, etc.) I bought a Chavel Strat copy at a pawn shop for $80 and a Yamaha SHB (kinda an SG copy) at a rummage sale for $30. I used them to work on so if I did any serious damage I wouldn't be concerned.

I also agree that for basic things like intonation, truss rod adjustments, swapping out pick-ups etc. - the information needed in all over the internet. There are certainly many good books which cover intonation, etc - but as a general rule, these books also get into much more complex things like repairs, etc - so buying a book, you may be paying for more info than you may need.
 
Gear_Junky said:
Passive circuitry is NOT (strictly speaking) "electronics".
Click to expand...
sorry but it is

Passivity is a property of engineering systems, most commonly used in electronic engineering and control systems. A passive component, depending on field, may either refer to a component that consumes (but does not produce) energy, or to a component that is incapable of power gain. A component that is not passive is called an active component. An electronic circuit consisting entirely of passive components is called a passive circuit (and has the same properties as a passive component).
Click to expand...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_component
 
jtees4 said:
There are plenty of good books...but don't sell the internet short. There are many good articles on line, some direct from the manufacturers and some from builder/luthers and some from regular people. Just do a search...and by all means...learn to do as much to your own guitar as possible. It is generally not hard, in fact..intonation is an easy one (unless your guitar has some shortcomings). Good luck.
Click to expand...


The big problem with the internet is that unless you know what you are talking about, you have no idea if the people writing know any more than you do. With a book, you have an editorial process which will catch the worst of the idiots, and when you have two experienced builder/repair people (Muttley and I) recommending a book you can expect it to be pretty useful.

To paraphrase most lawyers, information which you get for free is usually worth exactly what you paid for it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
The big problem with the internet is that unless you know what you are talking about, you have no idea if the people writing know any more than you do. With a book, you have an editorial process which will catch the worst of the idiots, and when you have two experienced builder/repair people (Muttley and I) recommending a book you can expect it to be pretty useful.
Click to expand...

But of course this is the internet, and, heeding your warning, I have no idea if you and Muttley know more than I do... ;^)

<ducks and covers>
 
Corndog said:
I like MIMF.com. Tons of info on there.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a great resource and I've quoted it before. The only caveat is Debs rules (which I like) which can seem a bit severe but she is old school in a good way, they have relaxed some recently and the library alone is worth registering for.
 
Light said:
The big problem with the internet is that unless you know what you are talking about, you have no idea if the people writing know any more than you do. With a book, you have an editorial process which will catch the worst of the idiots, and when you have two experienced builder/repair people (Muttley and I) recommending a book you can expect it to be pretty useful.

To paraphrase most lawyers, information which you get for free is usually worth exactly what you paid for it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

Hey what the heck would we know??;)
 
ggunn said:
But of course this is the internet, and, heeding your warning, I have no idea if you and Muttley know more than I do... ;^)

<ducks and covers>
Click to expand...



Absolutely.


So read Dan's book. He's a widely acknowledged expert in the real world.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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