Customer Reviews

How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great (Softcover) (Guitar Player Book)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I cannot say enough good comments about this book without sounding like I'm being paid. The realiy is this book was my instant favorite. I read it once and could not put it down. I read it a second time with my highlighter in hand. Now, I have an official working copy. I bought this book in HI on my honeymoon without a guitar in sight. When I returned home, I tore into every one of my guitars (easiest first). Guess what? Now, they all play A++. I called a few friends and gave them some advice. I should have waited on the advice and bought them a copy of the book for Christmas. You will feel enlightened after reading this book.

This is a great book to learn how to properly setup your guitar. I've only been playing for a couple months, but after installing some strings that claimed to be 9s (but I don't think were) and having them yank my bridge about 3/4" out of the body of the guitar I figured I oughta learn how to properly deal with that (other than just switching strings...)

The book takes you through many common problems, fixes, and general setup/maintenance for Strats and Les Pauls (as well as their clones and various other rarer guitars).

Much of the book is a narative form, describing particular tough setups for various guitars. Some have complained about this, but I've found there's enough info in there to find what you want. Plus there are more step-by-step setup instructions towards the end.

The book got my bridge fixed up nicely, as well as my action set more properly, so the guitar's easier to play and sounds better as well.

Just when you thought there couldn't be a better guitar player's repair manuel than the 'Guitar Player Repair Guide', Dan Erlewine publishes 'How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great'. Dan has really outdone himself with this one. This book is filled with great info, such as setups, repairs and modifications. As if that's not enough, there's a set a handy dandy radius gauges cleverly attached to the back. I recommend this book for anyone from beginners setting up their first guitar - to seasoned pros. If you own a guitar, this one's a must have!

Also recommended: Guitar Player Repair Guide

This book walks you through all the steps necessary to set up your electric guitar to play the way you want it to. The included guages help make set up considerably easier. I used it to significantly improve the playability of a Stratocaster and a Gibson SG. Well worth the money.

Dan Erlewine's book is fantastic. The detailed factory spec setups and the setups of the pro's alone, is worth the price of admission. Dan shows how to inspect a guitar before you buy (where was this book 20 years ago, Dan??), and how to properly clean, set-up and maintain your guitar.

This is a book specifically for ELECTRIC guitars, the adjustments for various bridges, nuts, tremolo systems,and intonation are thoroughly explained with lots of photos. He also shows how to use or make simple, home-made or hardware store tools.

There is an excellent section on tuning and intonation every guitar player should know! The Buzz Feiten Tuning System is discussed and there are tons of tips and tricks to get your guitar in tune, and to help it stay in tune.

Dan's writing style is very easy to understand. And his use of graphics, both line art illustrations and photo documentation, help the reader get a clear, real-world sense of the subject matter.

This is truly the manual your guitar should have come with.
I consider this book, along with the Guitar Player Repair Guide, to be essential to any electric guitar owner, and absolutely required for anyone in the guitar repair business.

I've been a guitar player for nearly thirty years, and until today have never really understood setting up my own guitars. Thanks to this book, my guitars play better than they ever have before, and my days of having someone else set them up are over.
The book is well written, concise, and delivered in easy-to-understand terms. The pictures are a great help, and the book is all that the title implies.
If you're a guitar player at any level, I would strongly suggest this book.

I am just starting to play a guitar and purchased an electric generic brand on E Bay. When I tried to play it, it was very stiff and hard to tune. After breaking a couple of strings I invested in the above book and made a few adjustments. They really worked and it now takes a lot less effort to make music. If you want to make your guitar sound great buy the book *******

This book deserves a full on five stars despite any slight flaws it may have. I agree with another reviewer that the beginner who isn't used to the terms and common practices of the craft may have some difficult at first. The book isn't particularly well laid out in that sense.
However, all the information is there and very well explained. It provides guitar players with a better understanding of their instruments which leads to better evaluation of a potential purchase - including a priceless walk-thru a guitar evaluation. It also guides the guitarrist through the basic setup and maintenance that the instrument requires so often. All this is achieved with a minimum of tools (the pro jobs are left to pros) and there's plenty of suggestions for home made, "recycled" tools.

I like this book better than his earlier one and it's my main reference. His videos are also a good reference.

A thorough walthrough of just about all steps for setting up your fave axe to
play properly.
Inspecting your guitar before buying it second hand or new,
cleaning and repair, setting up stringheight intonation trussrods etc,
adjusting tailbridges saddles and vibratos.

Dan covers a range of different guitarmodels as a fulcrum
for bringing his point and knowledge home.
If you want to tinker experiment or
adjust your electric guitar to your own style and taste,
this book has a lot of useful information.

Personally I would love to see the pictures in the book with color
instead of just black and white, for clarity and contrast.
Some of the photos in this book look a bit washed out to me.

This would probably raise the price of this very useful book though.

I have used this book to set up my Lespaul and my Telecaster (with confidence). This is simply a must have if you play. Lots of fun side info to read as well.