I have saved a fortune in "set up fees" by buying this book. If you have a strat or strat copy, follow the 10 step guide and you won't believe it is the same guitar. I haven't been brave enough to try some of the more advanced setting up guidance ref nuts and other specialist areas like some bridges and body repair work, but I have now learned a lot about neck adjustment. Plenty of cheap guitars on e-bay to risk damaging at first!! More to learn and try yet.

Serious musicians, whether pros or back-porch pickers, are like NASCAR drivers-they like to know how their machine works, fix her when she's broke, make performance improvements when possible, and generally keep her fine-tuned. At least I've always been this way. This book by guitar-repair guru Dan Erlewine is an outstanding tech reference, whether you need to do routine set-up stuff, change out pickups or other electronics, or do major fixes like acoustic bridge replacement-this book is a must-have for your home library. It has helped me save many times its price by enabling me to do most of my own service-repair work. Since I own one acoustic, 4 acoustic-electrics, a Les Paul, a banjo, a mandolin, and 2 amps, I expect it to continue saving me a bundle in the future. Erlewine's explanations & illustrations are easy to understand, and even fun to read. Buy this book, you won't be sorry.