guitar set up book?

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Nicole_Rose

Nicole_Rose

Great White North Girl
i went in to the store where i bought my goddess a year and a half ago, and asked them who did their set ups and repairs. we have an acoustic that needs some love and now that i know my guitar really well, i wanted a pro to set it up. (i had set it up myself roughly but i wanted better.)

the salesman pointed me to a snot nosed scruffy bearded kid maybe 24 years old and said him. so i asked him are you a luthier? he said no. (i know i don't need a luthier to set up my guitar, but i had to start somewhere with the questions.)

i then asked how'd you learn? the kid said trial and error. well, i just can't trust my guitars to that kind of learning when the guy is way too young to have learned anything that way yet. so i said, "i'll take my guitars somewhere else then." probably pissed him off but i have been in a pissy mood all day lol.

but from what i've read in this forum most stores are going to be like that. there's probably nowhere in my town i can take them that will get them knowledgeable and skilled attention. so it looks like i'm going to have to learn to set up my guitar properly myself. (i'll worry about the acoustic later.)

does anyone know of any good books on setting up guitars? especially les pauls?

i did do a search and came up with links to websites and books, but they were either discontinued or page not found or confusing.
 
Nicole_Rose said:
i went in to the store where i bought my goddess a year and a half ago, and asked them who did their set ups and repairs. we have an acoustic that needs some love and now that i know my guitar really well, i wanted a pro to set it up. (i had set it up myself roughly but i wanted better.)

the salesman pointed me to a snot nosed scruffy bearded kid maybe 24 years old and said him. so i asked him are you a luthier? he said no. (i know i don't need a luthier to set up my guitar, but i had to start somewhere with the questions.)

i then asked how'd you learn? the kid said trial and error. well, i just can't trust my guitars to that kind of learning when the guy is way too young to have learned anything that way yet. so i said, "i'll take my guitars somewhere else then." probably pissed him off but i have been in a pissy mood all day lol.

but from what i've read in this forum most stores are going to be like that. there's probably nowhere in my town i can take them that will get them knowledgeable and skilled attention. so it looks like i'm going to have to learn to set up my guitar properly myself. (i'll worry about the acoustic later.)

does anyone know of any good books on setting up guitars? especially les pauls?

i did do a search and came up with links to websites and books, but they were either discontinued or page not found or confusing.
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What would you have said if it were an older guy who said "Um, I just read this book about how to do it..."?
 
tc4b said:
What would you have said if it were an older guy who said "Um, I just read this book about how to do it..."?
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i would trust the secondhand knowledge that he got in a book easier than i would trust someone's trial and error. at least there's a decent chance that the guy who wrote the book knew what he was talking about and the set up guy would have the knowledge of an expert behind him.
 
PhiloBeddoe said:
I have his book titled something like How to make your Electric Guitar sound Great (or something like that). He certainly comes across as an expert although it's a very dry read.

You might rent his videos:

http://smartflix.com/store/video/246/Maintenance-Setup-for-Electric-Guitars-and-Basses
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i'm fine with the dry read. i like reading, though not usually something technical like that. the videos are a good suggestion too though i'd prefer the book i think. :)
 
with my baby? nothing it's just that it's slowly gone out of the last adjustment i made to it and i'm hoping to give it a much better set up than last time. and it buzzes on one fret when i try to lower the strings any lower than they are now so i need to know how to recognize what the problem is and fix it.
 
I actually have a few guitar books I picked up at a Waldens. They were like $5.00 and are very nice. They are in my studio and I for the life cant remember the names. Im planning on going out there tomorrow. I'll get the names. Do they have Waldens Books where you are at ? I do all my own setups (intonation,truss adjustments, etc..) and they helped. I have learned many times if you want it done right, do it yourself.
 
I did find one at home. Its called "Electric Guitar Handbook" by Alan Ratcliffe. Its not as in depth as the other (which includes acoustic), but is still a nice little book.
 
BushmasterM4 said:
I actually have a few guitar books I picked up at a Waldens. They were like $5.00 and are very nice. They are in my studio and I for the life cant remember the names. Im planning on going out there tomorrow. I'll get the names. Do they have Waldens Books where you are at ? I do all my own setups (intonation,truss adjustments, etc..) and they helped. I have learned many times if you want it done right, do it yourself.
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well i don't know about the any complicated repairs, but i think i can learn to do set ups properly and not have to worry about who works on my guitar and how much they know.

and we don't have Waldens in Canada. not in Ontario or Quebec anyway.
i think i may just order a book or two from that guy i posted the link to.
 
BushmasterM4 said:
I did find one at home. Its called "Electric Guitar Handbook" by Alan Ratcliffe. Its not as in depth as the other (which includes acoustic), but is still a nice little book.
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i should definitely know about acoustics too as we have two in the house and one is in need of some love.
 
How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great is a pretty good book for general setup.

The best way to learn though, is through trial and error. Stop thinking or talking about it and just get in there and DO IT. It's the only way things will ever get done. You can't really fuck up too much on a guitar unless your a certified retard.
 
Sloan said:
How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great is a pretty good book for general setup.

The best way to learn though, is through trial and error. Stop thinking or talking about it and just get in there and DO IT. It's the only way things will ever get done. You can't really fuck up too much on a guitar unless your a certified retard.
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well you've heard the expression foolproof right? well i am no ordinary fool :o
 
Nicole, Dan's books are pretty good and worth reading.

The best advice I can give if you can't find someone you trust to do your guitar work is get hold of some junkers to practice on. Any specific questions on how to do any specific jobs just ask I'd be happy to help.

There are some glaring false statements made in the links above, especially the Guild link. Setting up a guitar correctly is about understanding what you, or in my case the customer wants and getting the best from the instrument. To do it properly you'll need some specific tools, but most can be done with tools you have to hand.

I wouldn't advise jumping straight in on your LP if your talking about fret dressing or adjusting the nut. Those are perhaps the trickiest parts of a good setup so make your mistakes on and old junker. As you learn your confidence will grow and so will your understanding of how a good setup can be done.

Get a few old guitars some tools and ask as many questions as you like. There are plenty of good threads where the likes of myself and Light as well as others have passed on ways of doing most of what you will need to learn.
 
muttley600 said:
Nicole, Dan's books are pretty good and worth reading.

The best advice I can give if you can't find someone you trust to do your guitar work is get hold of some junkers to practice on. Any specific questions on how to do any specific jobs just ask I'd be happy to help.

There are some glaring false statements made in the links above, especially the Guild link. Setting up a guitar correctly is about understanding what you, or in my case the customer wants and getting the best from the instrument. To do it properly you'll need some specific tools, but most can be done with tools you have to hand.

I wouldn't advise jumping straight in on your LP if your talking about fret dressing or adjusting the nut. Those are perhaps the trickiest parts of a good setup so make your mistakes on and old junker. As you learn your confidence will grow and so will your understanding of how a good setup can be done.

Get a few old guitars some tools and ask as many questions as you like. There are plenty of good threads where the likes of myself and Light as well as others have passed on ways of doing most of what you will need to learn.
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thanks Muttley :) i've done truss rod adjustments before on several guitars, and changed the string height and stuff. but on your advice i'll practice fret dressing and nut adjustments on junkers before getting into my lp :) (need to find a junker or two first though) i'll certainly get that book and dvd set too. :)
 
arcaxis said:
Dang, and these looked like some of the better links that I ran across compared to some. I did scan through the Guild setup and nothing really stood out as too far off, but then again my acoustic hasn't needed much for adjustment either. I would hope the Gibson one was close, since it came from Gibson.
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The general advice is OK with a few exceptions. For example the amount of neck relief a guitar needs can't really be measured. It varies from guitar to guitar and the string gauge and the player. You need as much relief as required depending on how hard you play what string gauge and where the rod works on the neck. Yes each neck will bow differently under the string tension.

What I really don't like about it is statements like this

Remember: more tension in the wood = more volume and sustain.
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Thats complete rubbish.

If you want online good accurate stuff. Frank Fords site is always a good place to start. His stuff is 99% well explained and relevant.
 
Nicole_Rose said:
am i too old and narrow minded? should i have let the kid set up my guitar?

oh and anyone know of this guy?
http://www.danerlewine.com/

would he be a good guy to read?
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Dan's stuff is excellent. It doesn't have all that much to do with professional work, but just because he tends to recommend techniques which, while successful, are very time consuming (i.e., not profitable). Once you develop the right set of skills, you can do the same work much better much faster with simpler tools. If you are an amateur, Dan's is the way to go. If you want an idea of how professionals do it, check out Frank Ford's Website, Frets.com. Dan's instructions tend to rely more on jigs and special tools, as well as more time; where as Frank's tend more towards developing a high level of skill and speed. They both end up at the same basic place (they are, in fact, good friends who have a great deal of respect for one another - it was in fact Dan who convinced Frank to start teaching as much as he does these days), Frank just does it faster. Mind you, Dan can do it the same way as Frank, (he's a very skilled repair person), but that's not what he teaches. But they both have 40+ years of experience at this point, which makes an awful big difference.


Light

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