THE GUITAR PLAYER REPAIR GUIDE, 3RD REVISED EDITION. Dan Erlewine. DVD
LIBRO CON DVD.
Moltissimi suggerimenti, consigli, segreti per la regolazione e la cura del vostro strumento, come i famosi tubicini di plastica che Stevie Ray Vaughan usava al ponte per proteggere dalla rottura le corde; tutti i trucchi e le misure della Lucille.
Series: Book
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Medium: Softcover with DVD
Author: Dan Erlewine
This expanded edition for beginners to experts is a step-by-step manual to maintaining and repairing electric and acoustic guitars and basses. Players learn how to set up a guitar and keep it in top form by mastering basic maintenance. Features an essential DVD that makes guitar maintenance easier than ever. New features include set-up specs of leading players; stronger coverage of guitar electronics, including pickups and wiring diagrams; and expanded coverage of acoustics. 322 pages
Book/DVD pack. Newly expanded edition of this indispensable step-by-step manual for maintaining and repairing electric and acoustic guitars and basses. Learn how to adjust your own truss rod, install tuners, close and glue cracks, replace a nut, make finish repairs, wind your own pickups, and much, much more. Content is now highlighted based on skill level: Basic, D.I.Y., and Deep. New features include stronger coverage of guitar electronics, including pickups and wiring diagrams and expanded coverage of acoustics. DVD features segments on: how to evaluate any guitar before buying, how to set your own intonation, how to install strings without damaging your guitar, more.
In my boundless optimism, I expected clues to sonic miracles. I was talking to Bob Ezrin, who produced Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, Kiss, Peter Gabriel and many others, and, in the process, conjured some of the hippest guitar sounds ever blasted across the airwaves. Surely, there must have been some voodoo in his microphone selection, his mic placement and his choice and manipulation of preamps, compressors and other arcane signal processors. But Ezrin made it clear that everything started with the guitar itself. "An excellent setup is at the center of every good, complex guitar recording," he said. "The pickups must be in good shape, the electronics must be as clean as possible, and the fretboard must be buzz-free." At a time when the quality of inexpensive, off-the-rack guitars can be downright awesome, we tend to forget how a beautifully set up instrument-more specifically, one tailored to a player's every ergonomic desire and technical idiosyncrasy-can enhance a guitarist's tone and performance. Perhaps we also forget that some guitars have souls that influence our playing in mysterious ways. (Just ask Clapton about Blackie, or B.B. King about Lucille, or Brian May about his Red Special.) The lesson here is just because you can easily replace an instrument that's broken, cranky or sickly, it doesn't mean that you should. In some cases, a few simple repairs can bring a guitar back to life-or even make it better than ever. And don't forget the whole concept of hot-rod ding. With a little guidance and tech savvy, you can swap pickups, futz with wiring and enlist some other tricks to make a cheap guitar rage like a cornered panther, or turbocharge a fine guitar until it's something truly magical. As Ezrin revealed, it all comes down to the guitar and what you do with it. And that's where Dan Erlewine becomes your guru, mentor, coach, visionary, taskmaster, guide and, most likely, savior. Dan knows more about guitars and guitarcraftthan pretty much anyone left standing on this planet, and decades of his wisdom, tips, and techniques are encapsulated in this musthave book-which should now and forever be your guitar-repair bible. Dan has been a vital and much-respected member of the Guitar Player family for many years, writing the seminal "Repairs & Modifications" column, as well as the "Repairs" column and the innovative "Mod Squad" feature (which profiled Dan's youthful shop crew pimping out various guitars) during my tenure as editor. Dan has also produced several how-to DVDs, and is currently developing a series of video repair guides for Guitar Player's Web television station, GPTV. To quote a cliche, "Dan is the Man." But that's the whole truth. And after this book inspires you to transform your guitars into the easiest-playing, best-sounding machines you've ever plugged into an amp, you'll probably build a little shrine to Dan Erlewine in your music room, rehearsal space or home studio. Yeah, you'll be that thrilled with your instruments, and the man deserves it. Now, read on and start making your guitars play better and sound great. Guitar Player
... serious problem. Most acoustic guitars with problems suffer from sharpness and need to be compensated by adding to the string length. Occasionally, though, flat- ness caused by over-compensation isfound on acoustics on which the bridge has been installed out of position. Don't expect the guitar you buy to have perfect intonation. Tweaking the intonation needs to be done to suit the the individual player's needs, governed by the factors mentioned here. When setting intonation, we try to get a stri ng to play the same note when fretted at the 12th fret aswhen played open, only an octave higher. In theory, the distance from the nut to the 12th fret isthe same asfrom the 12th fret to the saddle. The 12th fret octave is the halfway point of the scale (scale length equals the measurement from the nutto the 12th fret, times two). In practice however, the string length must be increased to compensate for the sharpness that results when the string is pressed down during playing. The mathematical distance of the scale is based on a straight line from the nut to the saddle's center, but when you press the string down it becomes stretched, and goes sharp. This isa basic explanation of the need for compensation. Add in the factors below, and you'll see why the seemingly simple job of setting the intonation can cause you to tearyour hair out before you finally take the guitarto a repair shop, so they can teartheir hair out! The closer the strings are to the fingerboard, the less compensation is needed, since the strings go sharp less when pressed. However, guitars with lighter strings generally need more compensation than heavier ones, since asstring tension decreases (going from heavier-gauge strings to lighter), the compensation need increases.Therefore, the lighter the strings and the lower the tension, the more need for compensation. So, perhaps one cancels out the other. Confusing, but you can prove it for yourselfby trying this test: Using an electronic tuner, check your guitar's intonation on the low Estring at concert pitch. Retune the string to D.lt will intonate sharper, which indicates the need for more compensation, or added string length. That's why the modern electric player, who uses .010 strings or lighter, often searches far and wide to find a repairman to set the intonation.
Wound strings need more compensation than plain ones. Because of their extra weight and slower, low-pitched vibrations, wound strings need more clearance from the fingerboard to avoid buzzing. The extra clearance isgained by raising the string height from the fingerboard for wound strings. This increase in heigh causes the strings to go sharp more than the unwounds when depressed. This is why bridge saddles slant toward the bassside on steel-string acoustics or electrics. I like the term "speaking length" of a string. Franz Jahnel's comprehensive Manual of Guitar Technology refers to the mathematical string length asthe "true" length (the measured distance from nut to bridge saddle), and the actual vibrating length asthe "playing” or speaking, length. A string, especially a wound one, doesn't actually start vibrating, or speaking, until it gets a certain distance from the nut orthe saddle. So, part of the string's length (in terms of sound) isalways lost-another reason for compensation. Notice that c1assicaI guita rs have sadd les with no slant. Why? The wound strings have a stranded core rather than a solid one, and sharp out at a rate similar to that of the solid nylon treble strings. Classical strings have a more even tension acrossthe fingerboard than steel strings. Therefore, they require close to the same amount of compensation per string, and in general are more uniformly spaced from the fingerboard in terms of height. You may find saddles that have been slightly filed off-center (compensated) under the Band G strings some classicals. Instruments with longer scales need less compensation than shorter-scaled ones, because the longer string must be tighterto reach the same pitch. Thus the longer string is lessapt to be sharp when fretted and needs lesscompensation (the higher the tension, the lessa string goes sharp).The two most common scales are long and short. Long scales are 25-112" or thereabouts (these include Strats, all their clones, and many Gibsons; Martin uses a 25.4" and guild a 25-518",but we lump them all together as long scale): short scales are 24-314" or thereabouts (Gibson Les Pauls, ES-335s,smaller Martins at 24.9",etc.).Classical guitars have long scales.There are many other scales, but only a few really common ones: a "medium" 25" scale is used ...
This Repair Guide is the leading step-by-step
maintenance manual for every guitar owner. New
in this edition: the content is highlighted for you based
on your skill level.
Basic: If you're not handy with tools, use the basic sections to keep your guitar out of the repair shop and playing its best.
d.i.y. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, th is book shows you how to do both simple and advanced repairs.
deep If you want to go further into guitar repair, the
deep sections are for you.
A few sample topics include:
Cleaning your guitar: what to use
How (and when) to adjust your own truss rod
Electric guitar adjustment, including Fender's own 10-step Strat setup"
Free DVD included. Dan shows you:
How to evaluate any guitar before buying
How to set your own intonation (It's simple!)
How to install strings without damaging your guitar
Computer files on the DVD:
Printable guitar assessment forms useful for repair work
1 Cleaning and care
basic basic
Supplies 1
Cleaning the finish
Cleaning the fingerboard
Avoiding cracks, dealing with humidity
2 Installing strings
basic
Installing strings on electrics
Installing strings on acoustics 1
Installing strings on c1a~sicals 1
3 Neck evaluation and truss rod adjustment
basic
Neck evalution
d.i.y.
Truss rod adjustment
Understanding relief
Pro-quality straightedges
Typical neck adjustment scenario
deep
Rescuing a broken truss rod
4 Setup and action
basic
What is a setup?
d.i.y.
The basics of setup
Setting up an electric guitar
Setting up a guitar with tremolo
Setting up an electric bass
Setting up a flattop acoustic
Setting up an archtop
Setting up a classical
deep
Low action and the blues
Setups for pro players: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck
John Mooney's slide
Albert Collins
BuddyGuy
B.B.King
5 Intonation and compensation
basic Understanding compensation
d.i.y. Setting intonation
Adjustable bridges (electrics)
Non-adjustable bridges (acoustics)
deep Buzz Feiten Tuning System
6 Tuning machines
Tuner basics
d.i.y. Installing tuners
Steinberger tuners
Tuner repairs, broken mounting screws
Damage from over-oiled tuners
deep
Rotted plastic knobs
Making new tuners look old
Reconstructing rotted knobs
7 Electric guitar bridges: non-tremolo
basic
The manyTune-O-Matics
TonePros and Pigtails
Steve Rowen on T-O-M hardware
d.i.y.
Slotting Gibson bridge saddles
Adjusting an ABR-1bridge radius
Bridge posts and tailpiece studs
De-rusting metal bridge saddles
8 Electric guitar bridges: tremolos
basic
Setting up your tremolo system
d.i.y.
Floyd Rose installation and setup
Kahler installation and setup
Fine-tuning a Strat tremolo
The Trem-Setter
Roller nuts
deep
String benders
9 Acoustic guitar bridges
basic
Fitting flattop bridge pins
Evaluating acoustic action
d.i.y.
Replacing a bridge saddle -
Archtop bridges
Fitting an archtop bridge
10 Acoustic body repairs
d.i.y.
Clamps and glues
Closing and gluing cracks
Gluing loose braces
deep
Reattaching loose bridges
Bridge pad problems
Neck resets
11 Necks
basic d.i.y.
Fender guitar neck shapes
Fender bass neck shapes
d.i.y.
Installing bolt-on necks
Fret buzz in the high registers
deep
Broken pegheads
12 Fretwork
basic
What to expect from afret job
d.i.y.
Loose frets
Fret files
Compound radius fingerboards
Fret dressing
Refretting:
Choosing yourfretwire
Hammer-in method
Compression fretting
Martin bar-style fretting
The glue-in method
Bound fingerboards
Vintage Fender fretting
Fret slots and tang size
deep
The neck jig
The Plek machine
13 Nut replacement
basic
About nut replacement
d.i.y.
steps for replacing a nut
Tools
Removing the old nut
Roughing in the blank
Cutting slots, finishing up
String spacing
14 Bindings and pickguards
d.i.y.
Loose bindings
Shrinking Strat pickguards
Regluing an acoustic pickguard
15 Guitar electronics
Tools and supplies for electronics
Soldering technique
Using a multi meter
Caps and pots
Switches
Shielding
Acoustic guitar amplification
Seml-hollowbody wiring
Pickup replacement
Pickup repair
Rewiring, modifications
Wiring diagrams
deep
Wind your own pickups
6 Finishing and finish repairs
d.i.y.
A basic finishing schedule
Spraying necks and bodies
Finish repairs
Supplies for finish repairs
Fixing chips
Fixing dents and scratches
Touching up color
deep
Faking an aged finish
17 Shipping a guitar or amp
How to pack a guitar
How to pack an amp
18 Tools
basic tool list
d.i.y. tool list
deep tool list
sharpening chisels and scrapers
19 Resources and schools
Training for a career in lutherie
Lists: schools, suppliers, organizations
Index