need help getting into working on my own guitars...

[kracdown]

Today I realized that the only thing I can't do with guitars is do real maintenance: setups, change pickups, etc. After over 8 years of playing, I decided I should give it a shot. I know about what parts work better than others, things like that, but just always have other people intall them for me. I know i could learn a ton through the internet, friends, and trial and error.

The only issue is that the cheapest guitar i own is my Gibson SG standard that I don't want to mess with, which I have put a ton of money into having work done on it.

So now I am thinking about buying a cheap guitar, to lean how to do work on. The only issue is, I want the guitar to sound good when I am done with it, so I don't want to buy a $90.00 Telecaster copy.

I do figure a Telecaster would be a good guitar to start learning with. I've already got a '52 Hot Rod that I have three sets of great pickups for and three pickgaurds so I already have those parts. I've also got all the stock electronics from my SG sitting around too... So I think buying a partscaster or mexican tele would be a good start. I don't want to dump to much money into it. Anyone have any input?

Thanks

[GAD]

Find this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...WWQ7Z4TCVV5YW6



First guitar I worked on was my $1000 one and only. After that, it was an R9. Unless you're filing, sanding, or cutting, or you're really careless with a soldering iron it's hard to really mess up a guitar. Start with things like string height, intonation and such before you go anywhere near files or sandpaper.

As an exception, try polishing frets with 0000 steel wool. Nothing makes you feel like a master craftsman faster than freshly polished frets!

[kracdown]

we'll I also want experience changing pickups, bridges, things like that, and my other guitars are all good with that at the time being. I want something I can mess around with. My SG needs no work, neither do the rest of my guitars. I can try simple setups on them, but I want to be able to change out parts easily.

[Joe Naylor]

Originally Posted by kracdown

So now I am thinking about buying a cheap guitar, to lean how to do work on. The only issue is, I want the guitar to sound good when I am done with it, so I don't want to buy a $90.00 Telecaster copy.

Why not? That's how you learn. Hell, I'd also grab a $90 strat while your at it, and maybe a $20 body, a $30 neck, and a bunch of $10 pickups. Music stores that carry used gear usually have that kind of stuff, or ebay, or guitar shows too. And once you get good, you find that making a $90 strat sound great isn't that hard to do.

[Ros]

A good way to learn is to just build your own parts caster vs. starting with something and replacing stuff. Buy a body and neck and then pick the parts you'd want on it and learn by putting it together. I've learned a lot building a few (tele and two strats) and you don't have any junk throwaway parts left over.

-R.

[EvanPC]

Dan Erlewine's book/s.

Can be had through StewMac.com (or Amazon) I think. About $40, maybe?

Worth every penny.

Cheaper here...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0879309210/...l_50xdluk9s4_b

[KazJY]

Good luck with this! Always rewarding to work on your own axes.

If you can find a class to take, that's great too.

I took a class at Specimen Products in Chicago - beginning set up, etc. with Ian Schneller - I still bring my guitars to him for re-frets, and when something really seems off, but maintaining them in the meantime is much easier now.

[Sam Sherry]

As many have noted setups and pickup-changes are easy and fun. Don't sweat it. You are just as handy and as smart as some of the people who have successfully fixed your guitars. You'll feel good about it too.

Doing the work yourself is the most reliable way to make deals and find steals buying used.

Here's a stupid example. Yesterday I got tired of listening to the neck pickup on my Epi Sorrento reissue rattle. In fact, I suspect that the guitar's last owner sold it because he hated that noise and he doesn't do his own work. I cut a shim from a 1/16" corrugated box -- problem solved. At a luthier, the fair price would have been a $40 hour on diagnosis and correction, an $11 Lindy Fralin special vintage cardboard shim, plus a week waiting to get the guitar back.

[DrumBob]

Fact: On setting bridge saddle intonation, it's flat/forward, sharp/backward. My luthier teaches me stuff like this every time I see him, which could result in a severe case of "shooting oneself in foot-itis." I prefer to let him do it. He also told me I could clean up rosewood fretboards with 1000 grade sandpaper and not take any wood off. I have successfully changed pickups over the years. That's easy. My soldering is sloppy but it works.

I have too many guitars to maintain, so I really have to learn to do some of this stuff myself.

[LarryN]

guitarfetish.com sells usable but inexpensive guitars, bodies, necks, pickups, etc. They usually need some setup, so that might be ideal.

[CyberFerret]

When I did my first fret levelling & dressing, I did it on a cheapo $100 guitar just to see what NOT to do and to get practice on the best way of doing it.

Then I moved straight onto my $1500+ guitars.

As others have said - Dan Erlewines books are the bomb. Get all of them - worth every penny. Then invest in some tools from Stew Mac. I've probably spent about $200 on tools, but used them several times to set up about 8 or 9 guitars now. Some MORE than once!

I would never have considered myself a craftsman with wood and tools, but I think I did an okay job. Not absolutely professional, but serviceable.

Best of all, it FEELS good to know that you can work on basic setup on your own guitar!

[supa-fuzz]

Trial and error/reverse engineering...you learn alot about a guitar by taking one apart.

[kracdown]

I'm thinking building a Partscaster would teach me a lot. I really jut want to know how to do quick easy things, just so i can set up my guitars before shows easily, still get a real professional to do it every once in a while. I'm looking in the emporium for a Tele i could change some things around with!

[John Coloccia]

You can go to any pawn shop and buy some cheap piece of crap. As long as it has a bolt on neck (so you can tweak neck angle if you need to), nothing is broken, the truss rod works and the frets are high enough to level and crown if necessary, you can make just about anything play and sound very nice with a little work. There are a LOT of guitars kicking around that meet this criteria.

Nothing feels better than bringing a piece of junk back from the dead.

[Singin' Dave]

+1 on Dan's books. Nice resource and good clear language that's easy to understand. A class come sometimes be an even better investment long term.

I like your idea of getting a used MIM Tele. Tele's are a great place to start - very simple and hard to break. You can usually find a used Tele for $250 or so and the MIM's often have bucker routes at neck for some fun options. It'd be worth the extra $100 or so to me vs. a cheap knock off to have those quality parts on hand with the potential to end up with a really nice instrument once my learning and work was done.

A couple suggestions:

Try a 4 way switch/wiring set up. Having that series setting is a really nice option on teles.

GFS sells reasonable parts and is a good resource. But I do recommend getting a better soldering iron than they offer.

I'm a fan of the Wilkinson 3 barrel compensated brass bridge on teles. Cheap and a nice upgrade for low $$.

Check out Bourns pots. A bit more $$ but amazing tone and feel and won't ever wear out. Well maybe never....

Have fun!