Guitar Setup Maintenance and Repair

I enjoy Levan's columns online and figured his repair book might provide some augmentative knowledge to the excellent volumes by Erlewine and Kamimoto. As a guide, calling it "definitive" is a stretch. The topics are not approached systematically, with the book jumping from how to string a guitar, to how to fret one, and back to considerations when buying one. The book is not visually attractive, with smallish B/W photos making up most of the illustrations, and diagrams from Seymour Duncan and others used to round it out.The book reflects poor decision-making about what not to include, as well. For example, there is a needless chart of the colors various manufacturers use for their pickups and many pages of Fender wiring diagrams which are easily found on the Internet. Detailed photoraphs of the actual wiring would be of far greater use to the novice. To wit, instructions on soldering are left until the very end of all preceding sections on electronics, including theory on the polarity of pickups.I can't recommend this book for either a beginner or an intermediate. It doesn't contain enough material to qualify as a reference or a sourcebook, and isn't developmental enough to coax the novice into this rewarding aspect of guitarism.

Yeah it's a good book...but just a couple of things...the main problem with the book is that there is no dedicated acoustic guitar section. The acoustic info and the electric info is all mixed up together. If we are seeking guidance on setup and maintenance then we need very carefully assembled and methodical instruction. We don't want half a paragraph on bone saddles immediately followed by a few lines about tremolos and then another couple of lines about how it's crucial to sand an acoustic bone saddle carefully. This book jumps around and doesn't provide a clear methodical focus. If I am reading about electric guitar I just want to read about electric. If I am reading about acoustics...I just want to read about acoustics.While there is lots of info in here it doesn't answer those grey area questions such as on an acoustic after you set the action and neck you get to the intonation...you find that you have to sand some of the saddle to lengthen or shorten the string...if you have to sand some of the saddle profile away this means that you are lowering the action a bit. What to do about that?If anyone knows a dedicated acoustic guitar setup book, by the way, let me know. Lots of books out there jump around all over the place like this book and or do not provide the highly detailed methodical approach you need in setting up acoustics. This book even says that a straight neck is what you want...when this is not true...some people play with a slight bow.

This is an excellent book for anybody who owns an electric or acoustic guitar and wants it to play it's best. Most guitars aren't properly setup when you buy them, and a proper setup makes a tremendous impact on the playability and sound of your instrument. Even if you prefer to pay somebody else to setup your guitars it's worthwhile to understand the mechanics behind the instrument so you can better evaluate the condition of your guitars or guitars that you are considering buying.This John Evans does an excellent job of presenting the material in a way that is easy to read and understand without sacrificing the level of detail necessary become proficient.

Bought this book hoping to see measurements for string heights etc.. when I received it I quickly skimmed every page for the info was after. To my dismay, there isn't one.What caught my eyes though, are the poorly printed BLACK and WHITE pictures.I am quickly returning this book!

It's all black and white and at a simply glance the image quality is very poor. The information is ok. There are better books out there.

Comprehensive and easy to understand. Great addition to any repair shop or diy shop. The wiring diagrams are great. Most of the information in the book could be found on the web, but this desktop is so much better than relying on information from unknown sources that may or may not be accurate.

i bought 3 guitar repair books after reading other reviews. this book is by far the most complete in straight forward words ''how to' and WHY. im very impressed with this book.it gave me better insight into the total guitar as well. buy it.you wont regret it,plus it gives websites to get other info and tools for the trade.

Good

If you have a problem with a guitar that you think should sound better, play better, buy the this book. If you want to set a guitar up, buy this book. I have purchased several guitar repair books over the years and this is the best I have found, bar none.I had a Strat I bought on sale that was damaged and at a good price. Got it home and it has sat in the case for years because I didn't like the tone. Another cheap guitar made in ASIA so I thought I got what I paid for. Wrong, I finally set the intonation, the neck, and the pickups, and this guitars sounds as good as any of the American Made models.A further note to those who buy the first guitar for themselves or more importantly for their children to start learning on, buy this book. The author goes into how all guitars should be setup to play better. The guitar I mention above was given to my Granddaughter who gave up shortly after starting out. The strings were away too large for the model, I should have known but didn't take guitar out much, I had no idea of what was wrong with it, but the strings were 3/8" high at bottom of the neck. Impossible to play, string to hard on the fingers, so it's no wonder she gave up. Had I read this book, I would have been more aware of what I should have corrected. Repairs are easy once you know how. Please purchase a guitar made by Fender (Squier), Ipiphone (Gibson), Ibanez, etc. Go to your music store and look at what they sell not what is in department stores or clearance centres. The guitars above are just a few of what you will find, but most of theirs can be fixed. For the most part you will find good prices but if you don't Ebay and Amazon sell same models but you will know what to look for. If I would have had this book, I could have setup the guitar in no time. What I had read prior to this book told how to do it in several pages. In this book, you will learn easily how to find a problem and how to correct in minutes and perhaps turn your guitar into a better playing sounding instrument.Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Good book and easy read. Quality of photos and pages didn't seem to good. Wish is was gloss colour. But informational and I felt comfortable enough to set up my first guitar.

最近は翻訳ソフトがあるので、英語表記の本でも苦にならないと思いました。正直、実際はちょっと違いましたが。でも、実際、実に為になっています。先日もこの本を参考にしてギターをチューンアップしました。役に立つ本です。