Fender Stratocaster Manual: How to buy, maintain and set up the world's most popular electric guitar

This book is more than just a manual to maintain your Stratocaster. I read this for entertaiment on the commute to work.It covers the following and more:1. Buying a Stratocaster.2. Knowing a vintage and American Standard Stratocaster.3. Setup and tuning a Stratocaster. (Covers bridge, tuners, tremolo, neck and more)4. Repairs, maintenance and adjustments. (Covers Tools required, 3-month checks, Earthing, Paint repairs, Pickup replacement & Wiring, Nut Adjustment, Micro Tilt adjustment, Truss Rod adjustment and more)5. Case studies on vintage and modern Stratocasters with differences between them and how to setup.6. Well known Stratocaster players and their own guitar setups.I purchased this book becasue I made a purchase of an American Stratocaster Deluxe and didn't want to tinker with it without making sure I knew what I would be doing. The setup my guitar came with is perfect for my style of playing so I am looking to just maintain this. The book explains things in detail and there are plenty of pictures to asssit you should you need to make changes such as higher or lower gauge strings.I really wanted to know how to adjust the Truss Rod, use the Micro Tilt and know a bit more on the locking tuners and bridge setup. The book covers all these things.This book doesn't cover the new features on the 2016 Elite range of Stratocasters but a you will still find a lot of the information relevant, you'll learn alot and I really like the case studies.If you have never setup a guitar yourself I would not recommend you try anything on an expensive one, I got a cheap Squire to practise on, so be careful.

I wish I'd had this book or one like it when I bought my first Strat back in 2008. I was for a long time fearful of doing anything to it other than cleaning it, changing the strings and tuning it. Now, however, I'm quite adept at basic maintenance tasks. Thanks to this excellent volume I know I am not going to wreck my £1000 guitar and I am confident that I'll always get it back together the way it's meant to be and sounding as good as new or possibly better.When you get to know Strats - I mean more than one Strat - you come to appreciate that there have been literally hundreds of little variations to the basic theme over the years. For instance, we have two - one made in the USA in 2006 and one made in Mexico in 2015 - and at a glance they look the same - however, once you dig down and examine all the components closely you realise that there are dozens of little differences - some very minor matters of detail and others that are more substantial. The beauty of this manual is that all the bases are covered - Mr Balmer has chosen a range of Strats to examine which expose all the variations the reader is likely to encounter in any particular guitar - even if it is not one which features in his case studies section. Thanks to this book what was formerly bewildering is now seen as a logical progression.So it's 'well done' to Mr Balmer for an excellently useful volume and thanks for all the help it has provided - that's certainly got to be worth five stars.

This is a great book, well illustrated, and well Haynes have a long history on this type of book, so it follows the tried and tested methodology. My fender is new so i have purchased it for later use, but at the end of the book there is a great section on Fender guitarists, which i found facinating. In conclusion just a refrence document to your beloved instrument it is well worth the purchase.

Details on the history of the Strat, its models and details of how to maintain and set up your strat.Case studies on various strats including Eric Clapton's custom as well the various models and key players and their guitars.Highly recommended for anyone who owns a Stratocaster and wants to get the best from it. 5*

If you own a Strat you need a book that tells you why it is a Strat, this does just that ! A well put together manual full of info - even if you are not a 'tech', to have the understanding about your strat - how it works - why it does what it does - etc. this is the manual for all owners and lovers of this iconic guitar........

Great book if you have a workshop and specialised tools, but if you are an ordinary guitar player, leave this stuff to the pros.

This Hayes style manual gives me enough confidence to be able to fiddle around with my guitar without totally destroying it. It's a lot more trustworthy than googling the answer!

if you have a start you must get this, has some very useful info on setups etc and basic maintenance, pleasingly presented and if you can get it around half price a definite bargain