Billy Penn's Guitar Set Up Guide

Billy Ph.D. Penn

Description

Have you ever wanted to set up and maintain the playability of your guitar by yourself? Did you ever wonder what a tech does when you take your guitar in for a "set up"?

Well now the answers to your questions and all the steps are laid out in my Guitar Set Up Guide. My guide contains all the information you need based on my 20+ years of experience as a guitar tech. It also answers many questions that you may have asked yourself about intonation, adjusting pickups, cleaning your frets and so forth. To help you better understand the set up process I have included many detailed photos as well as instructional videos showing you how the set up is done.

I wrote this Guitar Set Up Guide for guitar players who want to set up and maintain their own guitars and for the player who just want to know this information so they can relate to their techs. All the content is geared for the very beginner to the advanced player. I receive dozens of emails per week asking a wide variety of guitar related questions and now the answers are incorporated in one comprehensive guide. Questions such as:

"How far away should the pickups be from the strings"?
"Which way do I turn the truss rod adjustment to straighten my guitar's neck"?
"What is the easiest way to clean the frets on my guitar"?
"I've tried to intonate my guitar but it still doesn't play in tune. Why is this"?
"To increase sustain I should adjust my pickups as close as possible to the strings, right"?
"What do I do if the bridge on my guitar doesn't have a way to adjust the intonation"?
"Is there an easy way to remove all the strings on my archtop guitar with a floating bridge and quickly get it intonated"?
"I find it difficult to adjust the truss rod on my guitar because the adjustment is at the heel. Is there an easy way to do this"?

And many more...

Sujets

• Musical Instruments
• Guitar
• Music

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780615540627
• Langue: English

Extrait

Billy Penn's Set Up Guide:
Billy Penn Copyright © 2011 Penn-Hamilton Publishing, LLC
 
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Basics Removing strings Overall check Cleaning Re-string
Part 2: Truss Rod, Radius andAction Adjusting the truss rod Setting the radius Setting the action
Part 3: Intonation Setting the intonation
Part 4: Pickups Adjusting pickups
Tips and Details
Resources Glossary Product Listing
 
Introduction
Thank you very much fordownloading my “GuitarSet Up Guide”. I wrote thisguide for two reasons. First, to help players set up andmaintain their own guitars Second, to educateplayers about the set up process even if you do not want to attemptit yourself.
 
A bit about Billy Penn

I began my career as a guitar (and amplifier) tech out of necessity and pure love for the instrument.As far back as I can remember I was always interested in how things worked, came apart and went back together.I completely disassembled my first guitar when I was about 11 years old and put it back together.The music store owner said I did a pretty good job but the intonation was off by a mile.I had no idea what that was at the time and why it did not play in tune. I quickly learned what intonation was and afterit was intonated properly I purposely messed it up so I could put it back correctly.
Around the age of 19 I got a job at Kramer Guitars in the stock room which was right next to the repair department.I used to hang out and watch to see how some repairs were performed. As I got older I started playing in bands butmy full time day gig was as a Union Electrician. My band mates and their friends would give me their broken guitars andamps and I would fix them. I couldn't decide which I loved more, playing them or fixing them. So I decided that it would becool to be the best I could be at both.
I then worked in various music stores doing repair work. I actually created a repair tech job at Outlaw Guitars whichspecialized in vintage guitars and amps. I got an education of a lifetime there working on all the different prized gear you canthink of. I used to stay late and open every amp and guitar to see how they were built and how they all were different. Ireally got more interested in amps during this time and decided to start a boutique amp company. Big dreams at the time. Thereweren't many builders then nor the internet.
Around this time the playing bug started to gain strength and I found myself touring for part of the 90's and spending a littletime in Nashville. Being on the road and in the studio was another great education. This was the other side of the bench as I liketo call it. Needless to say I took care of everyone's gear but I didn't mind at all.
So after about 20+ years working on countless guitars and amps (some pedals too) and having my own Pennalizer brandof amps I decided to go online with my passion and started 300guitars.com. A place on the web where I could share my knowledgeand experience with all who wanted some info. I love my job and get excited every morning when I wake to get to work. Someprojects are tedious and require a lot of focus but it's really not so much like work to me plus I love dealing with musicians.I actually have my own band called the Inside Drivers and play gigs regularly and record. I like to keep that aspect of myself“plugged in” so I can constantly learn more music and come up with ideas to better help players with my services.
My Guitar Set Up Guide is my first published work and I am very excited to share it with you. The information is basedon my years of setting up guitars to play their best. A great playing guitar can make it easier for the player to createhis or her own music. This guide will help you understand what is involved in the set up process and give you the informationyou need to set up and maintain your own guitars. So without further ado lets get going!
For best results, please read the guide completely, look at all the helpfulphotos and watch the bonus videos before you attempt to set up yourguitar.  It’s the little details thatI’ve included to make sure you will be successful with yourown guitar.
I will be posting updates and extensions to this book on the book page at 300guitars.com, click here to visit.
 
There are 4 parts to this set upguide.
Part 1: Removing strings, overall check, cleaning thenre-string.
Part 2: Adjusting the truss rod, setting the radius and settingaction.
Part 3: Setting the intonation.
Part 4: Adjusting pickups.
Some of the information in the guidewill only apply to electric guitars and some only to acousticguitars. I will address the special needs of setting up electricguitars that have a locking bridge and nut system (Floyd Rose forexample) in a separate upcoming ebook. Make sure touse the information that pertains toyour individual instrument. I will makenotes along the way for each type ofguitar and also include some tips and tricks I have picked up overthe past 20+ yearsduring my journey as a guitar player andtech.
I cannot stress the importanceof a good set up enough. It makes nodifference if your guitar is very expensive or moderately priced. Your guitar playing potentialcan be limited by a guitar that is out of adjustment and not set upproperly. Imagine having your car for one, two, fiveor ten years and never changing the fluids, servicing the motor orbrakes but only changing tires. Your car would barely run, if atall!  Your guitar is like this, it needs more than new stringsand a tuning and it can feel and play at it’s best only ifyou take the time to give it the TLC any guitardeserves.
Takeyour time to read this book and apply what you learn, you and yourguitar will be thankful!
 
Part 1: The Basics
What we will cover: Removing the strings Overall guitar check Cleaning the guitar Re-String the guitar
What you will need:
To begin with you willneed to gather some tools and set up a space to work on yourguitar.
The Tools:
These are simple toolsyou will need at the readyduring your set up. Small Philips headscrewdriver. Large Philips headscrewdriver. Small flatheadscrewdriver. Large flatheadscrewdriver. Small 6” rule that hasboth the 1/32” and 1/64” increments. The appropriate truss rodadjustment tool for your guitar (Allen wrench, small socket wrench,etc.). Small adjustablewrench. Allen wrench set (imperialand/or metric). ½” nutdriver. Light battery drill or batterypowered screwdriver. (Not required) Small pair of wirecutters. 18” straight edge ifpossible. Feeler gauge set. Naptha. Electronics contactcleaner. Small piece of #600 gritsandpaper. Small piece of #0000 steelwool 1” low tack painters tape(the blue type). Boiled linseed oil. Guitar polish. Canned air duster. A few small cut up T-shirtpieces or similar material (at least 6” squares). Good quality electronic tuner. Ilike the ones made by Peterson.
Where to work Create a space that is aboutcounter height if possible where you can workcomfortably. Pad the surface with a smallpiece of carpet or large towel. You will also need something torest the guitars neck on like a rolled up towel, T-shirts or even aroll of paper towels will work. This will keep the guitarsheadstock off the of the work surface. This is very important whenadjusting the neck and setting intonation. (see pic below) Have enough room for your tunerand the necessary tools. You don’t need to haveevery tool laid out but at least have the tools you will need foreach section of the set up process. Adequate lighting is also veryimportant.
Guitar neck support:

Mybench:

Let’s go!
Now that the workspace has beencreated and you have your tools handy we can begin. The beginningof the first section is basic with some of it being routine. Laterin this section it becomes more involved and is much more detailed.For right handed guitars lay the guitar on your bench with the headstockto your left, opposite for left handedguitars.  Let’sbegin!
Remove the strings
First thing you want to do isremove the strings from your guitar. Before you do this if you areworking on an archtop guitar with floating bridge take some lowtack painters maskingtape (the blue type you find in ahardware store) and tape both feet of the bridge base down to thetop of the guitar.
TIP:  If you take each piece oftape and stick it to your clothing a few times it willdecrease the “tack” of the tape. I like to do this if Iam working on an older guitar to decrease the chance of the tapepulling off some of the finish when removing the tape.