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

~ Erlewine Dan (Author), (Author) "Put your guitar (or the one you're thinking about buying) through these paces, making a list of possible trouble spots..." (more)
Key Phrases: bridge saddle radius, fretboard radius, fretboard edge, Les Paul, Floyd Rose, American Standard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What tomorrow’s great guitarists should know today about doing their own setup and maintenance." -- Tom Wheeler, consulting editor, Guitar Player

"What tomorrowÂ’s great guitarists should know today about doing their own setup and maintenance." --Tom Wheeler, consulting editor, Guitar Player

Product Description

From shopping for a first electric guitar to setting customized action, this do-it-yourself playerÕs primer for owning and maintaining an electric guitar explains the ins and outs of: choosing the right guitar; cleaning, tools and basic maintenance; personalizing and improving on a "factory setup"; trouble-shooting; basic guitar electronics; setups of the pros; and much more. Written by Dan Erlewine, author of the bestselling Guitar Player Repair Guide and the popular "Repairs" column in Guitar Player magazine, this book also includes a plastic sheet with specialized guitar tools you can snap-out!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879306017
• ISBN-13: 978-0879306014
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #51 in	Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > Strings
  #84 in	Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > Guitar

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's ok, but more of a story than a how-to, May 6, 2003

By A Customer

This book is about adjusting your electric guitar to play well - and is divided into 8 steps, starting at the head, and ending with the bridge.

Let me say what I liked and disliked about this book...

***What I liked about the book:

It's a good reference to have if you just bought your first electric guitar and want to become more acquainted with its components. He goes over how to adjust the neck (truss rod adjustment and bolt-on neck adjustment), adjusting the bridge, filing down the nut, and so on. Keep in mind that he doesn't cover aftermarket modifications to make your guitar sound or play better - this book is all about making an adjustment here and there (ie, tightening, loosening, filing, lubricating, cleaning etc.) to optimize the guitar's playability and sound.

***What I disliked about the book:

He has a storytelling approach to writing his books... Basically the book is a story about how he set up a few of his and other people's guitars, as opposed to having a list of things to do and describing each one separately. Some people may like this approach, but I personally found it to be rather cumbersome, because my eyes would glaze over while waiting for him to get through so many unnecessary/run-on details. Run-ons are not cool. Wow, are we having great weather today or what!

Finally, to point out a possible book error - when he talks about how he installed a Bigsby Vibrato on a Les Paul...he complains about the Vibrato not fitting right, but it's probably not fitting right because the model he is using is not meant to be put on a Les Paul :p... He is using the one made for SGs, not the one made for Les Pauls, for which they have a different model.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book, but..., July 28, 2004

By	Q. D McCollum (Santa Barbara, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great book for all the reasons outlined by the other reviewers. The reason (one of the major ones) why I wanted to get this book was because part of the setup I was doing involved changing the pickups on a strat-style guitar with no pick guard. Since I was pretty inexperienced (I have been playing for 7-8 months now), I wanted to get some outside help. Unfortunately, this book doesn't deal at all with changing out pickups.

In the two months since I bought the book, I was able to change out the pickups myself, and I realize through other research what thorny area that it is (wiring diagrams, wires, etc). Still, it would have been nice if he had outlined ways to open up and be able to change out pickups for different solid body and hollowbody guitars. Also, unless I am remembering incorrectly, the book doesn't deal with removing/crowning frets, which is something I would like to learn to do.

In total, I'm very satisfied with the book and the things it covers, however, I felt I should warn potential buyers. Part of making my guitar play great involved changing out the pickups - it may for you too.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, January 15, 2004

By	A. Sanks (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.