Setup Book Recomendations

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2
I've seen a few ppl on the board recommend books for setups in the past.  Would anyone mind repeating what some good setup books are and what they talk about?  I put together a Jazzmaster a few months ago, it has 3 p-90s and has the potential to be a pretty awesome guitar.  Unfortunately after I put it together it was in need of some setup beyond the normal maintenance that the casual player performs keeping his gear straight.  It needs the following things:  (feel free to impart your wisdom beyond what the books say here as well)

a)  Needs a fret filing.  I was willing to take a swing at the tape off and file down the neck sequentially approach.  You use a long file, and the number of passes that the upper register frets get accumulates in the process.  But before I took a swing at it, I started thinking that the changing contour of warmoth necks would cause problems with this approach.

b)  Needs a neck adjustment.  It seems like it has an unusual amount of bow even without any adjustment.

c)  The jazzmaster hardware rattles, even with the buzz stop.  Does not bother me pre-setup, and is a problem that I can fix on my own.  I have to say that I am not impressed with the Jazzmaster Bridge.  Seems like the bridge prevents a lot of the resonance that could be going on with this axe. 

Anyways, this is the shortlist of setup problems that I'm dealing with, please recommend some good setup books that will prevent an inexperienced first shot.  Also if anyone wants to give me some tips, that would be great!  Thanks for your input!


 
You need this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245025250&sr=8-3

Fret work is more advanced, if you're not even comfortable yet messing with your trussrod you really shouldn't mess with the frets. Nearly all of my builds have needed between a little and a lot of truss rod adjustment, as it should be. I don't think you'll really be able to say how much fretwork you need till your neck is straight and your nut is in good shape, anyhow.
 
tfarny said:
You need this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245025250&sr=8-3

Fret work is more advanced, if you're not even comfortable yet messing with your trussrod you really shouldn't mess with the frets. Nearly all of my builds have needed between a little and a lot of truss rod adjustment, as it should be. I don't think you'll really be able to say how much fretwork you need till your neck is straight and your nut is in good shape, anyhow.

+1 on this book.  It is a great book and has helped me out tremendously. 

It gives advise on three levels:
1) Basic - What every guitar owner must know
2) d.i.y. - Fix, finish, or modify any guitar
3) Deep - If you're ready to roll up your sleeves

Everyone should have this book.  It is a great reference!
Good luck...
:rock-on:
 
I agree with the recommendation of Dan Erlewine's book.  It will teach you everything you need to know to do a setup and will get you part of the way there in understanding fretwork (at least my 2nd edition one is a little lacking; the 3rd edition with DVD might have more detail). I would recommend that you:

1. Buy the Dan Erlewine book and study it.

2. Do any setup that can be done with a ruler, screwdrivers, and hex wrenches.

3. If you decide after that that you need some fretwork done, pay someone to do it... unless you fully intend to make a little investment in various files and leveling blocks and potentially ruin a few necks in the process of learning. Not saying that you're going to ruin your nice, new Warmoth neck if you're not super careful, but unless you have a bit of practice before, I'd pay someone else to do it (even if you intend to learn in the future).

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the help guys!  Hopefully this will be a great learning experience.  I might make some mistakes along the way, but I started the project to learn some schtuff.   

My Jazzmaster has a clear swamp ash finish (nitro) , 3 p-90's, block inlays with binding.  Its a really sweat looking guitar, and I think it will be good for jamming some rockabilly type stuff after it it gets set up.  I'll post some pics when I finally get this axe ripping. 
 
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