Product Description
Whether you simply want to maintain your guitar or hot-rod it into a radical new incarnation, this book is the ideal guide. By the columnist of Guitar Player's popular Repairs & Modifications column, this comprehensive book is a must for any guitarist who needs information on beginning repairs through advance enhancements.
Customer Reviews:
Well, of course it isn't a "Chilton's"..........2007-09-21
I'm not going to waste your time by parroting the features so many other reviewers have covered, but I will waste your time by rebutting some of the naysayers. Anyone who spends a few minutes really looking at the sheer number of styles, parts and options the world of electric guitars has to offer will realize no single binding could possibly walk the reader step-by-step through all possible operations with all possible combinations. Guitar features can be nearly as expressive and unregulated as the music of the guitars themselves. With that said, if you want to learn to think about working on guitars, this is the book for you. Using this book as a reference and using your brain as a tool, you will find in the author and yourself an excellent team for bringing an old junker to life or maintaining your pride and joy.
Could have been better.......2007-07-22
This could have been a much better book if the author had designed it more like a Chilton's manual. It lacks a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough. Still, this book has its strengths, and I would recomend it to a new guitarist, or a guitar player that might not be so handy, but wants to a have a sweeping general knowledge of guitar maintenance.
I wouldn't use this book as a guide on how to paint a guitar, but it is useful in showing how guitars are painted, d'you know what I mean?
Don't waste your money.......2007-06-12
I've been playing guitar for quite a while and finally got the notion to learn how to set up and upgrade my guitars. The author skims over a lot of information. I agree with most of the other 3 stars or less reviews in that this is no way a step-by-step guide to doing anything. I surfed the net quite extensively and found instructions for exactly what I want to do.
too much detail in some areas and not enough in others.......2007-05-25
When setting up my guitar, I found myself looking for more information and pictures that this book does not have. However, it is very detailed and provides many great insights, such as, creating some of your own guitar tech tools and the tricks of professionals. Instead of simply having a section about adjusting the action on an acoustic guitar, I had to jump around throughout the book, and was still left with many unanswered questions. However, the sections on setting up an electric were much more detailed, all in one place, and easier to follow.
If you own or play guitar, you must own this book!!.......2007-05-09
This is a MUST OWN book for anyone who plays guitar, even casually. Step-by-step instruction how to do the simplest repairs like changing strings, to more difficult and technical like how to install new pickups and wiring...and everything in between.
Just the chapter on how to set-up your guitar makes the book worth buying!
You will NOT be disappointed!
Product Description
From shopping for a first electric guitar to setting customized action, this do-it-yourself player's 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!
Customer Reviews:
Essential for every guitar player.......2007-04-28
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.
Review - How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great.......2007-04-14
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.
home studio.......2007-03-20
This book was really helpful is setting up my Les Paul Standard. A good book to have on hand when making repairs.
One of the best I have read.......2007-02-28
It has everything for the guitar player that wishes to set his guitar himself.
Must have!
Excelent book for all guitar players.......2006-07-04
This book complement the other book from Dan Erlewine that I purchased. The explanations are very consistents and elucidative, helping the player to extract the maximum sound output and playability from the guitar.
Book Description
Q.: What on earth would make someone want to build an electric guitar from scratch? Can't you just buy one cheaper? A.: Well sure, but with this definitive book on the subject as your guide, you can create your own axe masterpiece, with the precise finish, the exact pickups, and the custom hardware you've always wanted. Plus, you'll have the indescribable satisfaction of knowing you created something cool out of nothing. And that sure beats buying off the rack! Organized logically from start to finish, this helpful guide will assist you every step of the way; from the design and planning stage to the final setup, each step in the process is written about in abundant detail, with hundreds of photographs, and special full-color sections on wood selection and finishing. Also includes a glossary of terms, an index of materials suppliers, and much more!
Customer Reviews:
A good book but expensive........2003-05-10
This book is a glossy well illustrated guide to building an electric guitar.
It has lots of wonderful tips and great pictures of guitar making.The book has terrific information on tone woods,Pickups,and guitar wiring.
The one critism I have of this book is that it reads in parts like a commercial for STEWMAC I agree that they are great suppliers of guitar parts and and and all the tools anyone would ever need to build a guitar.Does the author really have to appear wearing one of their branded aprons.
Do your self a favour buy the Melvyn Hiscock book it is a little more comprehensive and is written with a bit of humour and style.
Book Description
From this book, you can learn more than you could ever have hoped to know about the design concepts and the practical details of the hardware used/made by guitar manufacturers all over the world.
Customer Reviews:
I would look elsewhere.......2007-09-25
This has some good GENERAL, but dated, information. I have been unable to find a good electronics book for guitars. If i had been able to read it first i probably would not have bought it. I think my next stop is a basic electricity book.
Good book for guitarists wanting to understand theory and wiring.......2007-07-09
This is a comprehensive book with descriptions of the principals of electronic pickups, pots and capacitors, as well as specifics such as wiring diagrams for specific models. This is not a glitzy looking book, but rather, some diagrams appear to be hand-drawn. But the technical information is all there, few detals omitted.
Guitar pickups will not be a mistery anymore........2006-09-04
There's nothing better if you are interested in pickup making or customizing. The language is simple and comprehensible also if you are not a technicist. Very good also the other sections of the book.
great book.......2005-09-30
this is a great book,it was very helpfull.
watch that is a little old(1983),but it's ok,I repeat,very helpfull
Hot Dot heaven: or, Wired.......2004-12-15
I've had this book almost as long as I've been playing guitar, so my copy is battered, tatteredm, and dogeared (no pun intended, for those who know about pickups). I have really mixed feelings about this old standby. Guitar technology really doesn't change much over the decades so lots of the more theory-oriented info in here is still as valid as ever.
Points in favor of Brosnac's book:
1) Good primer on basic pickup theory, electronics, and the like. Lots of info on different types of pickups and guitar circuits from different manufacturers. However, see below under Problems...
2) Nice repository of schematics for old, now rare guitars...not just the usual str@ts (sic) and less pauls (sic) that everyone seems to have settled on. If you somehow have an old Gibson SG-1 or a Les Paul Recording model, you'll be able to decipher the mess of wiring inside with this tome. It would, however, have been infinitely better if all the schematics had been redrawn uniformly, and the manufacturer's pamphlets kept separate or omitted entirely. Also more schematics for other guitar brands (ie Guild, Rickenbacker, Harmony, etc.)would have made this a complete resource.
3) It taught me most everything I knew about guitar electronics at an early age.
The problems are:
UBER-PROBLEM) Badly, badly outdated! Before anything else, we need to drag Donald Brosnac back out from wherever he's been hiding these last twenty years and put him in front of a PC with Office XP booted up, patiently explaining to him that not only does Barcus-Berry no longer make pickups (they're known as BBE nowadays, if I'm not mistaken, and make rackmount sound gear), but no one uses typewriters anymore either, so write, edit, and rewrite, Don.
1) The really meaty, interesting universal stuff, like guitar electronics repair procedures & techniques, basic circuits, etc., are given short shrift. In other words, this book really needs to be EXPANDED and everything gone into in depth.
2) Instead, ol' Donald devotes an inordinate amount of space to now-obsolete gadgets and devices by now-defunct companies--Fre-Ax? FRAP? Shergold?--a lot of it seems to be lifted straight out of manufacturers' brochures and comes off as almost blatant product placement; what's more, he seems to be biased towards two or three particular manufacturers and keeps going back to them (ie he expends a lot of valuable space on the Barcus-Berry Hot Dot piezo pickup which I don't think has been made for a couple of decades). More non-product-specific info would have been nice.
3) The book is just plain poorly written and edited. Donald mentions having written technical sheets at Schecter Guitars, and it sure shows here. When writing for a mass audience, it often comes across as flat, overly formal (I always hate when an author refers to himself as "the author"...why not just type "I"?), not terribly humorous, sometimes confusing, and occasionally repetitive (he actually repeats, in paraphrase, an entire paragraph at one point). He also tends to wander off the subject, not finish what he started to say, and make grand summaries that leave you wondering exactly how the summary summarizes what you just read (example: the "In summary:" at the end of the paragraph "For Lefties and Hendrix Fans"...like, huh?) Finally, although you get to see the bearded, smiling author in the back with all the guitars he's built, you never get the sense that he's a *musician* or that he really cares much about the music, or about guitars as anything more than things to tinker with and add currently-hip electronic doodads to. He writes some interesting stuff, but I can't relate to him as a musician; he reads more like a professional electronics nerd who has meaningful relationships with guitars. (Donald Wozniak?) Read the classic Craig Anderton books to see how musical electronics books can and should be written.
4) Visuals! Presentation! Color photos, or at least carefully taken, well-lit black & whites instead of badly scanned, dark images from brochures. Redraw illustrations. Hire a professional graphic designer (like me, for example!) to do the layout. Oh yes...all these visuals should depict *currently* available gear.
In summary: the Barcus-Berry Hot Dot was once one of the quietest, most trouble free piezo pickups available at one time, although Hendrix never used one because he was already dead, they are no longer manufactured but reading Mr Brosnac's book the author wagers the reader would never know it. (Full intstallation instructions are included in the Schematics section.)
Book Description
Launched by the fledgling Fender company in 1950, the Telecaster has become the longest-lived solidbody electric guitar, played by everyone from Muddy Waters to Chrissie Hynde. All who play know that the key to the Telecaster's importance and versatility is its sheer simplicity. Packed with high-quality photographs of the great Telecasters, collectable catalogs, period press ads, and memorabilia, this tribute tells the story of the Telecaster and the Fender Company through exclusive interviews with Fender figures who were there when this musical star was born.
Customer Reviews:
SIx Decades of Fender Telecaster.......2007-08-12
Fantastic book for Fender Telecaster users. This book takes you from the beginning to the present History of Leo Fender and his line of Guitars.
Highly recommended.
Better Fender References are Available.......2007-07-11
I bought this book first, before coming across Richard Smith's more definitive history of the Fender Story in "Fender The Sound Heard Round the World".
This Six Decades of Telecaster is mostly a picture book and light on the Tele story. It does contain a decent Reference Section, which gives a year by year breakdown of the unique features of the Telecaster.
If you want the Fender Story, get the Richard Smith book. Additionally, I purchased the Fender: The Inside Story book, but it is not an "impartial" telling of the story.
very helpful with great photos.......2007-01-12
I like Tony Bacon's guitar books. Plenty of colour photos. History, images. Highly recommended to Tele enthusiasts!
Excellent history of the Tele.......2007-01-09
I can't say enough about this book. I am a musician and collector. This is a difinitive work on the history of Fender and the Tele.
Best book for detailed info on the Fender Telecaster.......2006-10-16
I read this book with great enthusiasm! It covers The Tele from the very begining up to 2005. With way more information/detail, celebrity players, vintage advertisement (as well as newer instruments) and beautiful photos than any other books printed almost two decades ago!
This is a modern and thorough update to all Tele information. From the Telecaster's inception to the players that made it sing, it's all here in a very high quality format.
If you love the Fender Telecaster and want the details covering six decades of droolworthy photos, specs and interveiws you will love this book!
Book Description
A complete step-by-step guide to building an electric guitar—from the initial design to assembly and writing—with clear instructions, full-size plans, and more than 400 color photos.
Customer Reviews:
no book to review.......2007-04-13
Iwould like to review this book but I still have not received It!!!!!!!!
Please advise me as to where it is and when I should receive it.
Tjhe last time I ordered books they were sent within a week, this order is nearly a month old now.
Regards David Stubbs
How to destroy a very good book........2007-03-09
Top rated helping constuction manual and guide, very good colour photos,nice presentation overall and just about 1/6th of a page about guitar finishing (painting e.t.c.).
Why, why, why?
Electric guitar construction.......2007-02-13
I purchased three recommended books on electric solid body guitar construction. Hiscock's book is more complete and informative but this one came in 2nd. If I wanted to build the guitar described in this book, it gets the job done. It's less complete if you have another design concept in mind.
Build Your Own Electric Guitar: Complete Instructions & Full Size Plans.......2006-11-10
This is the best electric guitar builder's guide that I have ever seen, especially for new builders like me. Very good colour photos.
Tried, tested and authoritative.......2006-09-24
If you dream of building your own guitar someday, Martin Oakham's BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC GUITAR: COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS AND FULL-SIZE PLANS is for you, covering everything from hardware, tools and wood selection to techniques for all phases. Oakham has spent over twenty years hand-making guitars for customers around the world, so his instructions are tried, tested and authoritative, covering all the procedures and possible problems along the way.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
Why does an electric archtop sound so different from a solidbody guitar when they have the same strings and pickups? Why does Eric Clapton use a vibrato Stratocaster with the vibrato arm removed and the mechanism blocked off with a piece of wood? Why does a strings-though-body guitar sound brighter than an instrument with the strings anchored at the bridge? The sound of an electric guitar is the sum of many parts. Every component, from the wood in the neck to the metal in the tuners and everything in between - including the amount of air in the body - affects the overall tone of an instrument. In this book, Dave Hunter looks at the development of the electric guitar since the earliest instruments in the late 1930s, and how, since then, guitar makers and players have sought to define and refine all the elements that create a guitar's tone. This book includes: analysis of the different components that make up a guitar and how each affects the sound of an instrument * chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the main body types, their characteristics, and their strengths and weaknesses * in-depth specifications of over 70 guitars * interviews with significant people in the guitar-making world * accompanying CD with examples of many of the guitar sounds described in the book. By looking at all the variables involved, this book will set you, the player, on the road to achieving that sound you've always wanted.
Customer Reviews:
A good overwiew on different styles and makes of the electric guitar.......2006-06-30
There's hardly anything new in Dave Hunter's book, still it's a pretty good overview and compilation of info that you otherwise would have to seek in several different publications. He describes the characteristics of different styles of electric guitars and goes into detail how these affect their tone and playability. Tone woods, construction, type of finish, pickups and electronics and other factors are mentioned, some in great detail and why and how they work together. After an initial chapter on the main ingredients that go into designing and building an electric, the other chapters are dedicated to different model families (bolt-on solid body, set neck solid body etc.), how they have been developed by their designers and respective companies and what is responsible for their unique sounds. Some details that can be crucial to a guitar's tone are missing here, like the effect that different pots, caps or hardware parts can have and I'd wish they would have been covered more extensively. I have also detected a couple of factual errors that should be corrected in a future issue. The neck of a Gibson ES 335 joins the body at the 19th fret, not the 20th, a Les Paul is made with a tenon neck joint, not with a dovetail, like in acoustic guitar construction and that a 1953 Gibson ES 175 is supposed to have a 3-piece maple neck is very very questionable among experts.
Other than that, if you don't have many books on the history and construction of electric guitars or never can have enough of them (like me), this is a good read and reference.
Book Description
“Besides quality of production (it’s printed entirely on heavy paper stock and features full-color photos throughout), [the book] excels in the simplicity of its presentation: the instructions are logical and well detailed, and they promote use of common tools and easily acquired materials. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal.
Customer Reviews:
Nice pictures - but not enough to build.......2003-12-31
I just purchased this book based on reviews read on Amazon. I would not at all reccomend this book. The book does have a nice layout and a lot of great pictures..... but thats it - a pretty book it is but the drawings and technical illistrations you need to build it are not included.... IMPORTANT things like neck thickness, neck thickness at the neck joint, any many other important things are not covered at all. A dimentioned neck end, and neck pocket detail are not even included. A body layout is shown and again not dimentioned. The only dimentions that are given are for a template to route the pickup and bridge holes... The most important topics are barely covered like setting the neck and bolting it on, alignment etc.....
Nice - but I would not tell anyone to buy this book,
Great Book!.......2002-03-06
This book is the best of its type. I have seen two guitars built from the instructions in this book and they were beautiful, sounded great, and felt wonderful to play. This book has easy to follow directions, great photos and directions, and has an interesting history of guitars at the beginning. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to build their own guitar.
Meets its mark........2002-03-03
This book is intended as a starting point for the first-time guitar builder and it does its job well. Step by step processes to construct both a six string electric guitar and a four string bass guitar. Topics covered include wood selection, tools, electronic components and construction. There is even a small part on playing. While there is certainly many more avenues to take in the guitar building arena, this book will get you started by taking you through the entire process for two solid quality pieces. From there...you can certainly choose further research alternatives.
Good, but limited in scope.......2001-11-20
Good outline on building a fairly simple Fender styled guitars. No real discussion of calculating fret distances, neck angles, choosing pick-up position and the like.
Book Description
Almost every guitarist knows the guitar companies Fender and GandL. Both these companies grew from the successful friendship and business partnership of George Fullerton and Leo Fender. George tells, in his own words, the amazing story of his celebrated collaboration with Leo that, for over 50 years, produced some of the world's most popular and treasured guitars and amplifiers, including the Telecaster, P-Bass and the Stratocaster. This complete history of the Fender organization and the GandL Guitar company, reveals through rare pictures and first-hand accounts, an insider's view of this amazing success story and the friendship that survived for a lifetime. Includes a 16-page color section featuring George's rare guitars and prototypes. George Fullerton lives in Fullerton, California.
Customer Reviews:
Great Information.......2007-05-14
I love G&L guitars! This book gives great insight into the path from the founding of Fender to G&L.
Book Description
Now in its second edition, The Fender Book has become the definitive story of the worldÕs best-known solidbody electric guitars. From the Fender Electric Instrument Co.Õs earliest period to its most recent products, this bookÕs striking color photography showcases historyÕs finest Fenders plus the most unusual. Personal insights gathered form new interviews with Fender employees past and present bring to life the personality and genius of Leo Fender and his inventive company. Useful as well as entertaining, The Fender Book also provides a meticulous reference section of model specifications for identifying and dating Fenders made in the U.S., Japan, and elsewhere from 1950 to the present. 120 pages, 7 1/2 inch. x 9 3/4 inch., Hardcover.
Customer Reviews:
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Fender Guitars.......2002-08-11
Richly illustrated pages strewn between the tale of Leo Fender's company. At least it was his company in the beginning until it was purchased by Columbia Broadcasting System in 1965. Then in 1985, CBS offered the management of Fender to buy out the company for an amount that was just over liquidation. If that had not happened, there would have been a much shorter version of this book because Fender would have been disolved.
Fender went on to recapture its earlier successes by reissuing copies of its classic statocasters and the rest is history as they say. It was amusing to read about how Fender had to go searching for vintage Fender guitars around the country so they could purchase them and take them back to the factory to copy them. They had to buy their own manufactured guitars at steep vintage market prices so they could mass produce the copies.
The whole story is facinating and makes for interesting reading about a remarkable company that stayed in business dispite some of the mistakes of its owners and operators over the years.
This is a must read for any Fender owner or would be purchaser.
A FUN BOOK - maybe no more, but certainly no less.......2000-03-08
Even though I've only owned a couple of Fender guitars, I couldn't resist this book when I saw it at my local bookstore (I own the orginal 96 page edition). Although it may not have the most minute detail (even though I was able to find within in its pages the answers to some questions posed by a somewhat more critical customer reviewer), there is a great deal to recommend this book.
The first thing you will notice is the remarkable photography. It is absolutely top-notch, and is in keeping with other books of this "series", such as "The Ultimate Guitar Book". The detail is remarkable. Some of the photographed instruments may be fairly common, but there are also plenty of historically significant and/or rare intstruments included as well. Even commercially unsuccessful instruments are here in all their dubious glory (when was the last time anyone's seen a Montego II or Swinger?). The photographs are arranged well, and are mixed with a great selection of past advertisements and company photos. The text is well written and easy to follow. If anything, it gives a Fender a little TOO much credit for some offbeat ideas (some found the colorful Wildwood finish more ugly than "striking"). While the text may not always provide the obsessive detail that some may desire, there IS a fine reference section that includes a great deal of model-by-model information on such things as pickguard changes and neck-bolt configuration.
A look at the bibliography does two things. It shows that the author did his homework and sought out as many experts as possible and a fantastic array of intruments to photograph. It also gives the reader a list of printed resources for additional research.
I'm not sure if ANY book will please everybody. If, however, you're any kind of a fan of Fender guitars (or even just a fan of electric guitars in general), this book should please you (and as they say on TV, it makes a perfect gift!).
A Great Look Into the Empire Started By Leo Fender.......1999-12-22
Much of the material is basic and some facts should be well known to serious enthusiasts of Fender guitars. Still, this is a basic reference on the Fender empire. This revised edition has some great added photos. This book would be especially appropriate for the young serious student of the guitar or to accompany the purchase of a Strat or Tele, by a parent. I have purchased a second copy of this as a gift. You might also want to review The Stratocaster
Good book but some key details missed........1999-01-18
This is a great book for developing your foundation of Fender guitars, but it fails to review some key details. I realize that the lack of accurate records from Fender is a part of the problem. I have a '67-'69 Fender Telecaster, and I was hoping to narrow the date range to two years. That didn't happen. Also, I was hoping to the book doesn't cover in detail the various font styles used to spell "Fender" on the headstocks. Lastly, I have tortoise shell pick-guard, and the book failed to even mention that this was an option in the late 60's. After reading the book, I'm still confused about when they actually switched to three bolt necks. In this case pictures don't say a thousand words. You're paying for 96 pages of general information. 50% of the book is pictures, which is cool, but it lacks the explanation of those pictures! GIVE ME DETAILS!
If you can only afford one Fender reference, buy this........1998-06-15
The pictures are great and the information is accurate; the format, with two pages of text alternating with two pages of pictures is helpful when searching in chronological order. Another fine Bacon and Day book.
Books:
- Hands-On Guide to Flash Video: Web Video and Flash Media Server (Hands-On Guide Series) (Hands-On Guide Series - Focal Press)
- Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City (River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize)
- In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
- Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening
- Introducing Character Animation with Blender
- Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- The Witches' Companion
- The Brush-Off: A Hair-raising Mystery
- The Black Raven
- The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two
- The Secret
- The Music of European Nationalism
- Ready-to-Use Old-Fashioned Music Illustrations
- North Carolina Nature Writing: Four Centuries of Personal Narratives and Descriptions
- Directory of Chinese Government and Organizations