If you're a painter, you know how to keep your brushes soft and your paints clean. If you're an auto mechanic, you know how to keep your wrenches working and your screwdrivers sharp. But if you're a guitar player, chances are you don't know how to keep your instrument in tip-top shape. You probably don't know how to set the intonation or make the action low and fast; you don't know how to keep your guitar from buzzing, and you may not even know the correct way to change your strings.
Erlewine's book will change all of that. Accompanied by a DVD,
his book sets you on the road of guitar maintenance, and it tells you the tools you'll need to accomplish what's listed here. For example, here is what you'll need to properly set up your instrument:
- Side cutters
- String winder
- Screwdrivers
- Small adjustable wrench
- Tweezers
- Allen wrenches
- Sockets
- Razor saw
- Electronic tuner
- Lighter fluid
- Lubricant
- Clean rags
- Guitar polish
- Fine-toothed metal file
- Homemade nut files (templates included)
- Homemade feeler gauges (templates included)
- Low-tack drafting tape
- Long straightedge
- Set of radius gauges.
Nobody ever said this would be easy. An electric guitar is a complex instrument that combines electronics with acoustic qualities. The tools required for replacing/repairing pickups, working on bridges and tailpieces, and even setting up your tremolo are different.
It's a trial-and-error process, but at least you have all the information and guides you need here. Or you can write a hit song and hire someone else to do all this for you. That's what roadies are for. But in the meantime, learning some of the basic stuff the author talks about here can only help you down the road.