Alfred's Teach Yourself Guitar Repair & Maintenance: Guitar Book

This book cuts through the mystique of guitar setup and repair by offering genuinely actionable instruction from someone who has actually done the work at the highest level. Students gain the confidence to handle their own maintenance rather than waiting for service appointments, and directors appreciate having a resource they can point students toward when gear issues arise during the season.

This is the practical manual you wish existed when you first started playing. Clear photographs and specific measurements replace vague terminology, turning what feels like specialized knowledge into a straightforward maintenance routine you can actually execute.

Guitar students who want to take ownership of their instrument's condition and avoid unnecessary repair costs. Band and orchestra directors benefit from having a reference guide available when students report tuning, playability, or electronic issues that don't require a professional luthier.

• Follow the action specifications exactly as outlined for your guitar type (electric, acoustic, or bass). Small deviations compound into playability problems that discourage practice.
• When adjusting the truss rod, make quarter-turn increments and allow the neck to settle between adjustments. Rushing this step leads to irreversible damage.
• Photograph your guitar's setup before making changes. Visual documentation helps you return to proven settings if an adjustment doesn't work as expected.
• Keep your soldering iron temperature consistent when working with electronics. Cold joints fail quickly and create intermittent problems that are maddening to diagnose later.

Assign relevant chapters to students as part of instrument care expectations, especially before concerts or during periods of heavy rehearsal. Directors can reference specific sections when addressing common setup problems that affect ensemble intonation or individual playability.

• Diagnosing and correcting intonation problems through bridge and nut adjustments
• Setting action height to balance playability with tonality
• Proper string installation and removal across different bridge systems
• Truss rod adjustment and neck evaluation
• Floyd Rose tremolo setup and maintenance
• Basic electronics troubleshooting and solder joint evaluation
• Reading and applying exact specifications for different guitar types