Guitar Repair – When to DIY, And When to Take It to a Professional

It is an unfortunate fact that if you own a guitar then, at some point, something will go

wrong or at least require adjustment. This is compounded further the more guitars you

own. String changes notwithstanding, simple and regular maintenance can improve the

feel and sound of your guitar, but I want to focus more on other issues a guitar might

present. 

Rather than simply telling you how to fix any number of small issues or perform basic

maintenance, this blog post is going to help you decide whether or not you should try

and learn to fix an issue by yourself or take it to a professional – a good luthier is

someone you should keep close! 

I aim to present some logical arguments, but also give you some real experiences I

have had with fixing issues on my guitars over the years.

What Could Go Wrong?

If you have, through different measurements and deductions, decided that your truss

rod needs adjusting, it is not as scary as it might first seem. As long as you make small

adjustment, let the guitar rest and constantly check, not a lot can go wrong. However, if you don’t have the correct tools, you are at risk of the following issues:

• measuring incorrectly and making adjustments where they are not needed, 

• poorly fitting allen keys or adjustment tools can round off adjustment nuts,

• you can over-tighten and even break a truss rod (this is a very expensive repair!)

So, if you find yourself in this position, making sure you have the correct equipment and

knowledge is paramount. Various online guides, YouTube videos and other materials

can give you the know-how, and Amazon is your friend for speedy delivery of the

appropriate tools. Most truss rod issues can be fixed easily, and any mistakes you make

can be rectified with little to no problems.

Having a good soldering iron can help you make modifications, simple repairs and give 

the electronics of your guitar and general tidy up. If you are not skilled with using said

soldering iron, you could face these problems:

• Making soldering mistakes and using up too much of the excess wire,

• Not having a clean connection between components,

• Using too much solder causing possible ground issues,

• Overheating components and damaging them,

• Burning yourself (this one is definitely not recommended!).

When it comes to soldering myself, I am quite good at it. However, my wife is very good

at soldering, so I get her to make repairs under instruction. Patience is a virtue here,

and you must exercise both patience and speed when soldering. An important point to

consider is that, if you are rewiring the entire instrument, or adjusting and existing wiring

harness, things can soon get overwhelming. A good technician will have methods and

ways of keeping things in check.

From my own personal experience with soldering, let us explore some problems and a happy resolution. Earlier this year I was putting some new pickups in an old Jackson guitar, and despite the new pickups being compatible with coil splitting etc, I was more interested in a straight-ahead three-way switch option (bridge, middle and neck). Since this was quite easy to do in theory, my wife and I embarked on the journey which went great until the neck pickup had drastically less volume; the problem pickup had probably 20% of the level it should have had! After days of troubleshooting to the best of my abilities, and with help from technician friends in other countries, I finally gave up and took it to a store I knew I could trust (more on them later!). The lead technician of the store in question took one look at the guitar, tested something with a multimeter and masterfully soldered a component (watching a master of soldering is a sight to behold!) and within three minutes the problem was fixed – make of that what you will!

Should You Learn This Stuff?

Probably, yes. You can save time and money if you are able to easily diagnose issues and rectify problems by yourself. Even if you cannot necessarily fix a problem, it helps a technician immensely if you can tell them exactly what the problem is. 

In the real world, I think you should not worry yourself with learning how to refret a guitar if you do not own the equipment necessary, have only a small number of guitars in your possession or do not play enough to warrant a refret within 10 years. On the other hand, knowing how to correct clean components with contact cleaner can keep the controls on your guitar sounding clear and noise-free with little to no cost.

Other simple adjustments like the aforementioned truss rod, pickup height, action and intonation are definitely things that you should learn to do – if I can do it, then you can as well. As mentioned before, having the correct tools is a must though this does not need to be expensive (my measuring tools were very cheap from Amazon, though I would not trust the absolute cheapest AliExpress or Temu offerings!).

Final Thoughts

Regardless of how well you look after your guitars, there will still be a time where an

issue rears its head and there is nothing you can really do about it. Either through

multiple compounding issues, or a seemingly one-off random problem, it will happen.

Hopefully this blog post will help you decide how to tackle these issues. The best piece

of advice I was ever given was that “if you are not sure, don’t do it”. 

Some people I know, and this is shared across beginner students and veteran players

of many decades, still to this day take their guitars into a store for a string change – you

definitely should be doing this one yourself at a bare minimum. 

My recommendation for a brilliant team of technicians in Tokyo is based out of the ESP

Guitar Workshop in Ochanomizu – check them out here! I have used them many times,

and all my students or friends that I have sent there have nothing but glowing reviews to

share. 

If you have any issues with your guitar, or suspect there could be a problem or simply want a quick look over, ask your guitar teacher in your next lesson. All of the teachers at The American Guitar Academy are proficient in at least basic maintenance.