"Guitar Player Repair Guide" vs. "How to Make Your Electric..."

[Mystique7]

Hi guys,
Not sure if this is in the right section but I'm sure the mods will move it if needs be .

I'm looking into buying a book for basically setting up my guitar and I can't decide between the two in the title. I know they're by the same person but they both have 5 stars an amazon and seem slightly different in their makeup.

The Repair Guide seems like the ultimate book but I'm just worried it might go a little over my head or skip a few steps of a procedure as it seems to be aimed at people who aren't complete nubs like myself.

On the other hand, the "How to make your guitar... blah blah" seems a little more straightforward and aimed more at setting up the guitar (mainly what I want the book for, rather than repairing) explaining the steps a little more indepth.

Oh, and by the way, I'm basing all the above information from what I could gather looking at the sample pages on Amazon so I probably have it all wrong.

Basically, what I want to know is which one is best for a novice like myself for properly setting up a guitar. If the Repair Guide has everything the other book has (I noticed its above 3 times larger) than thats even better, but if the "How to.." book covers the setup steps in more detail then I guess that is the book for me.

Thanks in advance!
Arron.

[Chad]

For what you are wanting, I'd probably go with the "How to Make..." book. It is organized a lot better than the other book. However, the other book gets into stuff like electronics, refinishing, etc.....interesting stuff for people who are interested in all that is guitar.

But if you're serious about this, then buy both...they're not that expensive. Both are great books. Save for Dan's tips on how to setup a Jazzmaster in "How to"....that section is really lame.

[Racerx2k]

I have the Guitar Player Repair Guide, and it introduced me to doing my own mods and repairs. I fondly refer to it as "The Bible". That things has paid for itself, many times, over. While I don't have any experience on the other book, I highly reccomend THIS one.

[straycat]

I got that book because I got tired of paying people set mine up.Its a great book with lots of info a must for the do it yourselfers.

[Racerx2k]

Yeah, me too, and I really haven't paid anyone to set any of my guitars up, since I got this book. Actually SAVED me money.

[Bengal65]

Amazon usually offers both books at a discount when you order both at the same time. They will have them grouped as one item number.

[skorb]

Yeah, me too, and I really haven't paid anyone to set any of my guitars up, since I got this book. Actually SAVED me money.

I'm interested in doing the same thing with the home setups, but don't you need a strobe or some other intonation equipment?

[Bengal65]

I'm interested in doing the same thing with the home setups, but don't you need a strobe or some other intonation equipment?

You just need a good tuner, some small screw drivers and hex (allen) wrenches (tools depend on wether metric or english sizes) for the intonation.

[Mystique7]

Cool, thanks for the info guys.. and yeah, I'll buy both :p

At some point or other I'll need to refer to the repair section of the relevant book so it'll be worth getting I guess.


Cheers.