Product Details
The Fender Stratocaster Handbook: How To Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Strat

The Fender Stratocaster Handbook: How To Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Strat
By Paul Balmer

List Price: $24.95
Price: $16.47 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com

18 new or used available from $15.53

Average customer review:

Product Description

There are six million out there--from Eric Claptons million-dollar "Blackie" to your treasured hand-me-down--and still the world cant get enough of the Fender Stratocaster, the legendary electric guitar-of-choice for players and dreamers from pioneers like Buddy Holly to todays garage-band heroes. This is the worlds first hands-on, how-to manual for the Strat, taking the mystery out of maintaining and modifying what is really a relatively simple instrument (two boards, some wires, some pickups). It shows you how to make the most of your Stratocaster--and how to make it truly your own. With clear text and colorful illustrations, this guidebook takes readers through the basics of selecting and buying Strats; maintenance and repairs such as tuning, setting intonation, tremolo alignment, fret repairs, bridge and nut adjustments, electrics troubleshooting; spur-of-the-moment stageside fixes; and some basic performance enhancements like adding "hot rod" Fender and aftermarket pickups, locking-tremolo nuts, and more.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #34313 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-02-15
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 192 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review

Vintage Guitar, February 2007

“The book takes the mystery out of maintaining and codifying what is really a simple instrument, and shows the reader how to make it truly their own … one of the best at showing you how.”

Library Journal, Feb. 15, 2007

“A clearly written owner’s manual and tune-up/troubleshooting guide full of hot rodders’ tips and tricks … This first guitar maintenance and repair book to focus on a specific mode is sure to be in demand at public and specialty music libraries.”

 

About the Author
Paul Balmer is a veteran guitarist, author, and documentary film producer. He is the author of a biographical book and film on Stéphane Grappelli, among others. He lives in England.

Hank Marvin is the lead guitarist of The Shadows, one of the most influential rock bands before the The Beatles. His guitar playing was a great inspiration to others, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Mark Knopfler, Pete Townshend, and many more. Marvin was also one of the pioneer users and innovators of the Fender Stratocaster. In 1992, Fender honored him with the limited-edition Fender Squier Stratocaster Hank Marvin Signature Model.

Customer Reviews

Good book with cheap binding4
Beautifully illustrated,and jam packed with information on how to maintain,adjust and set up Strats for maximum playing comfort and best tone.There is a downright pretty Strat photo(often a detailed close up shot) on every page.
We learn,at last the really significant differences between American made Fender strats and their lower budget,Asian made cousins known as the Fender Squire strats,not to mention the mid priced made in Mexico models.
One big difference?A much thicker,heavier,more resonanat trem block is used on the USA guitars.
Unfortunately,corners were cut in the physical construction of this book.
Covers are soft and easily scratched and the quality of the binding leaves a lot to be desired.Handle it gently or eventually it will start to fall apart.
Overall,I am happy with this book.I learned a lot and I love the clear,sharp,brightly colored photos.
Malcolm Leonard

A must for Strat owners! 5
An excellent primer for background information and maintenance of the beloved Stratocaster. Many setup tips from experts as well. If you get only one Strat book, get this!

Made easy5
Bought a Squire strat. It had rough unfinished frets, loose whammy, misc rough spots and I had new pickups to put in. I bought this book and did all the work myself- the first guitar work I ever did. It was easy because he gave the specs in various places and explained how things worked. I smoothed the frets, evened the neck, tuned the bridge and put Seymour Duncans in from another strat I had, Adjusted and st the wang bar and now it smokes better than any other strat Ive had. Saved me an extra 250 - 700$ buying a Mex strat, or an american standard. If nothing else- this will teach a newbie like myself how to tear a strat apart and put it back together again making improvements along the way. A good investment.