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Thread: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

  1. #1
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    I have many basic tools-a vice that can accommodate necks. Manual and electric drills. Soldering gear, etc.

    I hate starting on jobs just to find that I don't have some essential.

    My budget for this stuff is not high, and I have a range of jobs--pickups, fret jobs, setups. Simple stuff, really. I want to learn and eventually advance, but for now, I need only the minimum of what I need.

    So what would you recommend that I'll absolutely have to have?
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    I have many basic tools-a vice that can accommodate necks. Manual and electric drills. Soldering gear, etc.

    I hate starting on jobs just to find that I don't have some essential.

    My budget for this stuff is not high, and I have a range of jobs--pickups, fret jobs, setups. Simple stuff, really. I want to learn and eventually advance, but for now, I need only the minimum of what I need.

    So what would you recommend that I'll absolutely have to have?
    You can get by with basic handtools and a soldering iron. But for setups you’ll need either feeler gauges or a machinists ruler. And some Allen keys.

    more specialized tools for fret jobs.
    Last edited by dirtdog; 12-28-2020 at 07:34 AM.

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    what dirtdog said

    6" steel ruler

    feeler gauge - you can buy them at Pep Boys for like 6 dollars, just clean them up with rubbing alcohol. I undid the wingnut, took the whole thing out and cleaned each blade one by one, they put oil on them on purpose but we don't need that. It's a little tricky to put back together but sheesh, if you buy them as 'guitar tools' they'll cost like 25 freaking dollars. Ehhh, screw that

    radius gauges - buy the whole set once, never need to buy them again

    capo even if you don't use one for playing

    metric and imperial allen wrenches

    string height ruler, yes I know I said 6" steel ruler, too but these are worth it

    solder wick

    basic multimeter

    low tack masking tape, Stew Mac has this in spades, I got all 3 sizes and a triple roll dispenser. Might seem like sybaritic luxury but man do I like having it.

    fret work is a pretty big kettle of fish, but having said that, if you want to clean up fret ends, probably the most common area where guitars with unbound necks have issues, a small mill file is helpful. Stew Mac (and others) sell a file with smooth sides so you can round off fret ends without ripping up everything else. I use that a lot. A fret rocker is helpful for spot checking high/low frets, even if you need to take it to a luthier you can at least specify where the problem is.

    A set of Fret Erasers, might seem $$ but you won't regret it down the road.

    People might think tools are expensive, and if you have only one guitar, they can seem excessive. Once you start getting a handful of them and you get acclimated to doing your own work, they become worth it.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Thanks, Dan. I've got feeler gauges. Got a multimeter coming this week, and I have quite a few of the things you mention. I do need the rulers and fret tools. I really appreciate this information.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  5. #5
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post

    People might think tools are expensive, and if you have only one guitar, they can seem excessive. Once you start getting a handful of them and you get acclimated to doing your own work, they become worth it.
    Yep - applies to so many other things, too. Tools: buy once, cry once.

    I was only marginally "ept" (opposite of inept?) mechanically early in life, despite wanting to be a motocross racer and auto mechanic when I was young and dumb. My dad let me do tire rotations and oil changes...LOL....after he saw me destroy a relatively new three speed when I decided I needed to repaint the frame...."step away from the work bench, son".

    Anyhoo...

    Back in my early 20s when I started cycling competitively and had exactly zero extra cash - and after taking my bike to a shop for repairs and picking it up two weeks later to find they had done exactly nothing , I decided to get into bike repairs and starting building my tool chest. To this day some thirty years later, I do still all my own bicycle maintenance (I have multiple bicycles) and have evolved into motorcycle and small engine repairs, along with the usual home maintenance tools after doing a number of renovations on different properties over the years. My garage has no rooms for cars what with the tools, bicycles and motorcycles (guitars live elsewhere).

    All that to say, investing the time in learning how to do this stuff and investing in decent tools along the way will pay dividends. Being a stubborn and cheap SOB helps (as befits my Scottish heritage)!

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    That's an inspiring story, dirtdog. My dad and brothers were ept; I was the family nerd. Good with books and creativity (waste of time), but keep the saws and hammers away from him. They weren't half wrong, but as a result, I lack confidence when doing anything to do with building or mechanics. I was the designated tool gopher. So I want to start off simply and build skills and confidence at the same time. I am grateful to you guys for treating my questions with respect and for being so kind about sharing info with me. Thanks.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  7. #7
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    I was always veritably gifted with mechanical skills, due partly to the paucity of tools we had. I think most of the tools in the tiny tool box we had were inherited from his dad. My dad never bought a tool set in his life, I think his only tool purchase was a Craftsman drill, which I still have. Two prong metal casing is how old this drill is. I learned how to do rocket surgery with an open end wrench and a pair of needle nose pliers with a broken tip. I was the family fix-it and if I couldn't do it, then it was probably not ever going to get fixed.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  8. #8
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    That's an inspiring story, dirtdog. My dad and brothers were ept; I was the family nerd. Good with books and creativity (waste of time), but keep the saws and hammers away from him. They weren't half wrong, but as a result, I lack confidence when doing anything to do with building or mechanics. I was the designated tool gopher. So I want to start off simply and build skills and confidence at the same time. I am grateful to you guys for treating my questions with respect and for being so kind about sharing info with me. Thanks.
    Hey no problem Willie - the part that I left out is that broke a LOT of things when trying to fix them. An old shop teacher of mine used to tell us you don't "fix" things, you repair things. To fix something was to make it worse than when you got it. I fixed a LOT of things before I figured out how to repair things. ;-)

    My dad was pretty handy and was always working on something. I have vivid memories standing in front of the workbench trying to find a tool he asked me to fetch. While looking for the PhillipsRobertsonDrillHammer, I'd hear: "What's taking you?" and then I'd yell back: "I can't find it!".

    But take it slow, measure twice, cut once and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Maybe start on a beater guitar before tackling a prized possession!

  9. #9
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Thanks, man. I really laugh about this--my dad would send me for one tool at a time, and it was always somewhere completely different. He was a kind guy, but he'd get a little agitated. When I was a young man, I was gophering while he changed the oil in his Mercury. He sent me looking for an oil pan that was about 100 yards from where he'd said it was. I rushed and found it, and when I got back, he stuck his head out from under the car, not knowing I was close, and yelled, "Where's the damned oil pan." It was plastic and I aimed for his head, beaned him, and said, "'There's your damned oil pan." Well, we each said a few choice words, but when it came to where the oil pan was, we laughed hard at ourselves and at him getting the oil pan to the head. He was just and always ready to admit when he was wrong.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Look at some of those notched aluminum bars (or make one to fit different scale lengths).

    They tell you all sorts of things about a neck in 2 seconds.

    I always recommend a GOOD set of ground screwdrivers.

    Look at gunsmithing sites for them.

    I have a HUGE set of Grace drivers from my gunsmithing days.

    I am not sure why the guitar world is so stupid about this.

    The PROPER cut straight bladed driver will keep you from butchering the screw heads or the area around them.

    In the gun world that would be considered a sacrilege.

    I think that highly of my fiddles. But apparently (looking at most old guitars) few others do...

  11. #11
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Hey Dan.


    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    Hey Dan.


    oh, yeah. I'm putting about a dozen guitars in my car, it'll take me about 20 hours to get there. 18 driving and 2 for getting lost a couple of times
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  13. #13
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    oh, yeah. I'm putting about a dozen guitars in my car, it'll take me about 20 hours to get there. 18 driving and 2 for getting lost a couple of times
    No, schmart ash. I couldn't send this pic to you via pm, so I posted it here for you to see the mat I got. Schmartarsch really ought to be part of the Gerglish language.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Oh, snap. Made it as far as the MA/NY border before I saw your post. Turning around, even though there was a nasty accident on the other side of the highway that will surely test my bladder after those 3 cups of coffee.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  15. #15
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    Oh, snap. Made it as far as the MA/NY border before I saw your post. Turning around, even though there was a nasty accident on the other side of the highway that will surely test my bladder after those 3 cups of coffee.
    Well, hell. I already had a roast in the crockpot. I was going to ask if you prefer brown gravy or cranberry-raisin chutney. I also rented out an entire storage unit for the guitars and parts you'd have bought at Gruhn's in Nashville.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Tools Necessary for Guitar Work?

    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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