Blackwood Guitarworks

Everything you need to maintain, set up and protect your guitar for many years of playing enjoyment.

Author: Jonny Blackwood
Format: Book
Subject: Guitar Maintenance Text

Complete Guitar Care & Maintenance, The Ultimate Owners Guide is the essential care guide for guitar owners everywhere. Filled with over 220 pages of step-by-step instruction, 300 images and diagrams, and a plethora of exclusively derived specifications and manufacturers recommendations. You will have everything you need to take care of any guitar, no matter what experience level.

Get the low-down on instrument cleaning and preservation. Improve the performance and sound of your guitar with simple adjustments. Take your setup skills to the next level with precision neck adjustments, string height adjustments (bridge saddle and nut), pickup height adjustments, intonation, and more. Do minor repairs, fix electronics, and other common issues with total confidence. Learn about guitar care, such as humidity and storage. Use the included cut-out tool templates to broaden your guitar setup prowess.

This is a complete reference manual, perfect for players, collectors and budding professionals alike. Written to be simple, accessible, streamlined, and easy to follow. Pertains to electric, acoustic, classical, and bass guitars.

Included in the book:

• How to maintain your guitar for peak performance & longevity
• How to clean, polish and store the guitar for long-term protection
• How to restring the guitar properly
• How to set up electric, acoustic & bass guitars
• 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
• How to solder and repair electronics
• How to replace jacks, switches, and pickups
• 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
• An extensive troubleshooting section
• A library of common wiring diagrams
• A handy measurement conversion chart
• And much more!

Contents:

• Introduction
• How To Use This Book
• Parts Of The Guitar
• GENERAL GUITAR MAINTENANCE
  • CHANGING THE STRINGS
    • Removing The Old Strings
    • Removing Strings On A Tremolo Bridge
    • Removing Strings On A Floyd Rose-Style Bridge
    • Removing Strings On An Archtop Floating Bridge
    • Removing Strings On An Acoustic Guitar Bridge
  • HOW TO INSTALL NEW STRINGS
    • Fender-Style Guitars
    • Gibson-Style Guitars
    • Standard Tuners
    • Slot-Head Tuners
    • Locking Tuners
    • Floyd Rose-Style Bridges
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Nylon String Guitars
    • Tuning Tips
    • Guitar String Gauges
    • Tunings - Standard And Alternate
  • CLEANING
    • Cleaning The Body
    • Cleaning The Fretboard
    • Cleaning The Neck
    • Cleaning The Strings
    • Cleaning The Hardware
    • Repairing Scratches
  • GENERAL HARDWARE ADJUSTMENTS
    • How To Fix Loose Strap Buttons
    • How To Remove The Control Knobs
    • How To Clean Dirty Potentiometers & Controls
    • How To Check Battery Voltage
• SETUPS & ADJUSTMENTS
  • ADJUST THE NECK RELIEF (BOW)
    • How To Measure Neck Relief
    • How To Adjust The Truss Rod
    • How To Remove The Neck For Truss Rod Access
    • How To Adjust The Neck Alignment
  • ADJUST THE STRING HEIGHT AT THE BRIDGE
    • About Fretboard Radius
    • Gibson-Style Hard-Tail Bridges (Tune-O-Matic)
    • Fender-Style Hard-Tail Bridges
    • How To Adjust Individual Saddle Height
    • How To Use Under-String Radius Gauges
    • Vintage-Style Tremolo Bridges
    • Modern Tremolo Bridges
    • How To Adjust Tremolo Bridge Angle
    • Floyd Rose Bridges
    • Acoustic Guitars
  • ADJUST THE STRING HEIGHT AT THE NUT
    • How To File Nut Slots
    • Nut Removal & Replacement
  • ADJUST THE PICKUP HEIGHT
  • ADJUST THE INTONATION
• WIRING & ELECTRONICS
  • How To Solder
  • Repairing Guitar Electronics
  • Wiring Tips
• GUITAR CARE
  • Humidity & Environment
  • Humidity Symptoms Chart
  • Instrument Storage
  • Shipping Guitars
• BUYERS GUIDE
• TROUBLESHOOTING
  • String Buzz, Rattle, & Noise
  • Tuning Issues
  • Bridge & Saddle Problems
  • Truss Rod Issues
  • Electronics Issues
  • Other Problems
• TOOL TEMPLATES
• SETUP SPEC SHEETS
• MANUFACTURER PICKUP HEIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS
• MEASUREMENT CONVERSION CHART
• WIRING DIAGRAMS
• FURTHER RESOURCES

"Jonny's guitar wizardry has been my guiding North Star through my past 10 years of guitar teching. He taught me the fundamentals so clearly and concisely that I was able to confidently take on expert work knowing that I had the perfect back bone of knowledge to grow from. Simple, impeccable and deep, Jon is a true guitar guru and a brilliant artist in it all!" - Daryl Chonka, Guitar Tech for Randy Bachman (The Guess Who & BTO), Recording Engineer, Recording & Performing Artist