How to Setup Your Guitar Like a Pro: An Easy Guide for Beginners

“Everything you need to start confidently working on your own guitars is right here.”

Recently updated to include over 260 photos covering all the aspects of a pro-level guitar setup, such as cleaning & maintenance, neck adjustments, string height adjustments (bridge saddle and nut), pickup height adjustments, intonation, and more. Learn how to dial in the perfect setup, step-by-step, on any guitar- with precision and measurability! Use the included cut-out tool templates to broaden your skills. Makes an excellent starter book or reference for budding professionals.

***Now updated and expanded with additional content including a section on restringing, neck shimming, scale length determination and new images! ***

Included in the book:

An 8-step method for electric, acoustic & bass guitar setups
How to adjust neck relief (bow) for optimum playability
How to adjust string height for your playing style and guitar type
How to file nut slots, adjust pickup height and set the intonation accurately
How to adjust Fender-style tremolo's, Gibson hard-tails, Floyd Rose and other floating bridge types
How to adjust the saddle on your acoustic steel string or nylon string guitar
Manufacturer's setup specs from Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Jackson, Gretsch and others
Exclusive setup specifications from the author's best playing guitars & basses
Cut-out templates for radius gauges, under-string radius gauges & an action ruler
A handy measurement conversion chart & more!
From your friends at learn-guitarsetups.com and the Guitar Setup Pro App.

What to expect:

If you play electric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, or even play bass guitar, you can learn guitar set up and maintenance for yourself with this top-selling guitar repair book. After years of successful workshops and group guitar setup classes, led by the Canadian guitar tech & educator Jonny Blackwood, this guitar setup guide has been tweaked and refined to simplistic perfection, in keeping true to the testament that less sometimes is more. After all, there are some excellent in-depth guitar repair luthier books on the market, but that’s not what you’re after when you just want to lower the string height, adjust the truss rod, and/or set the intonation. This book is written for beginners as an introduction to guitar setup and maintenance, for those who cannot attend our guitar setup classes in person, and for those who want to understand their instrument inside and out. You will learn the methods of true pro guitar setups and the specifications used on numerous styles of guitars. The highlights in this book are simplicity, clear instruction, lots of photographs and lots of examples/ specifications to try on different kinds of guitars. Use this book to gain an edge and develop your skills with a great foundation.

Use it for:

General guitar maintenance
Electric guitar setups
Acoustic guitar setups
Classical guitar setups
Bass guitar setups
These are some examples of the guitar setup tools you will require to do the procedures outlined in the book:

guitar capo
guitar tuner
guitar setup gauge
guitar setup ruler
guitar setup straight edge (optional)
guitar setup tool kit (optional)
guitar setup mat (optional)
under-string radius gauges (optional)