Guitar Setup

By Tim Vincent

Guitar Setup describes in detail how you can make adjustments to your instrument so that it both plays well and sounds good. Guitar Setup shows you how to do your own guitar maintenance so that it is always working at its best.

Most people just put up with the way their guitar is set up when they first get it, either because they can't afford a professional setup or just don't know how to do it themselves.

You don't need any specialised tools because it can all be done using normal screwdrivers, wire snips and the allen keys that came with your guitar. You don't even need an electronic tuner, although it can make the tasks easier.

You will learn how to put the strings onto your guitar so that tuning remains rock steady. You will find out how to identify and correct problems with your guitar that can cause it to go out of tune while you are playing. The book details how to get the action setup so that the guitar is easy to play. Intonation is dealt with so that you can make adjustments to your guitar so that it will sound spot on no matter where you play it on the fret board. Truss rod adjustment is also covered in the book. This isn't as difficult to do as other people make out and the book gives to full instructions on this important topic.

Part of having a great instrument to play is keeping everything nice and clean especially all the mechanical parts of the guitar and the strings. Details are given on how best to care for your instrument. If you play guitar then you owe it to yourself to get this book and start looking after it so that it will serve you well for years to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Vincent
• Release date: Jun 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301344109

Tim Vincent

Tim Vincent has been a teacher in schools and a lecturer in a college. He still does some teaching, but now prefers to write books. His main passion is writing and illustrating picture books for children. Over the years he has also been interested in music and in particular playing different musical instruments. His passion is playing guitar, both electric and acoustic versions. As a result of his musical hobbies he has also written book on the care and setting up of guitars and bass guitars.

Book preview

Guitar Setup

By Tim Vincent

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Tim Vincent

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer and Terms of Use: The Author and Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this book, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of science and medicine. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Author and Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are unintentional. In practical advice books, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of any results obtained. Readers are cautioned to rely on their own judgment and seek professional medical advice about their individual circumstances and to act accordingly.

Table of Contents

Introduction

How to Tune a Guitar

Getting the Best Electronic Tuner

Using Your Ears

Tuning Technique

Tune Your Guitar to Itself

Keeping a Guitar in Tune

Putting the Strings on

Guitar Hardware and Tuning Difficulties

Setting the Action

Action setting on Acoustic Guitars

Setting the Intonation

Truss Rod Problems

Setting the Truss Rod

Setting the Height of the Pickups

Tone, Volume and Noisy Sockets

Keeping Strings Clean

Looking After Your Guitar

Conclusion

About the Author

Introduction

Buying a guitar is the easiest thing in the world to do these days. You can buy them from specialist shops, over the internet, catalogues shops, junk stores, second hand stores, classified ads and even some supermarkets. However, once you have bought your instrument you are often left on your own to figure out how it all works. Specialist music shops will often include a set up after a few months but I guess a lot of people don’t even bother with this. All people want to do is get on and play, and why not! After all this is the reason the instrument was bought in the first place.

Most instruments that are bought new have been set up at the factory, where they were made, to a standard formula and a lot of sellers don’t even bother to change this before selling them. This factory setup is quite rough and often involves short cuts such as simply winding the strings onto the machine heads without securing them in any way.

You may notice that your guitar goes out of tune after playing for a while and if you still have the factory setup this could be the reason why. Once you start to change strings for different ones your guitar may react to the changes. Thicker strings will tend to put more strain on the neck and cause it to have a greater curve. A lot of people

Reviews for Guitar Setup

[Larry Pooley · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The content may be fine but gave after one page as there's no spacing between the words. Just gave me a headache.

[Pedro Teixeira · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is very basic, not that much useful info. Anyone playing for a year could write these "tips"