Reddit mentions of The Guitar Player Repair Guide

The Guitar Player: Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine is a fantastic resource.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Player-Repair-Dan-Erlewine/dp/0879309210

I learned by myself largely by by experimentation. It does help if you have a cheap "clunker" to play around with.

Initially I was scared of truss rod adjustment but once I understood how they work it is relatively simple.

Apart from overtightening the truss rod, there's not much you can do that cannot be undone. Have at it!

Link to amazon http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

Great great book.. Way more in-depth than I will ever need but it has tons of diy level stuff that really is simple and moneysaving.

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483563747&sr=8-1&keywords=guitar+player+repair+guide

Buy this book. It will give you pretty much everything you need in terms of knowledge to maintain and repair your own guitars. For less than the cost of one setup at a luthier, you can get the knowledge to do it yourself, and even make some money off your friends.

You'll have to buy a new switch, open the back of your guitar, remove the old one and mount and solder the new one in.

Any good guitar store will have the switch in stock, and it will be cheap. Just tell them what model your guitar is.

The rest is easy or hard depending on your soldering skills. You could just take careful notes of where each wire is connected on the old switch, and then resolder the new switch in the same way, but i might be good to get some schematics for your guitar.

If your interested in being able to service your guitar, The Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine might be a good purchase.

$150 is insanely high for a setup , as much as people love to hate the place take it to either guitarcenter or samash for a setup it shouldnt cost more then $60 with new strings included and it shouldnt take more then 30 minutes for the tech to do the work and if you can watch the tech when he is working if its ok with them and ask questions . Make sure its setup the way you like and so its comfortable for you to play . But any acoustic and even electric guitars will need a setup after sitting for a while acoustics more then electrics .

Or depending how handy you are check out this book http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410144697&sr=8-2&keywords=guitar+setup+guide and do it yourself with the steps in the book / dvd

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0879309210/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505220704&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dan+erlewine&dpPl=1&dpID=51lWgXPDTzL&ref=plSrch

This is the book you want.

Dan Erlewine's book covers this repair, if i recall correctly.

Also, enquire at /r/luthier. This I a fairly common repair and you might find a thread over there that addresses it.

One of the biggest downsides is your intonation will change especially on a guitar with a trem system. so essentially your guitar will no long play in tune all along the fretboard. your action may also become lower causing fret buzz or possibly notes fretting out on bends.

it's worth it to learn how to take care of your guitar yourself. its going to be your best friend for the rest of your life, take some time and effort and learn the in's and outs of guitar maintenance.

here is a good book to learn from
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0879309210

There are a couple of great books by Dan Erlewine, "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" and "How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great".

I've had this book for years and use it all the time.

I'm very interested in this one as recommended by grampageoff up there.

Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine

Have a look at Dan Erlewine's book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

It's the bible. Your library will probably have a copy and it will explain everything in far better detail than anyone else can explain.

It's not dust. It's the string vibrating against one or more of the frets. Tuning won't help. You need a pro set-up. They will adjust the bridge height, check the nut height, and adjust the curvature of the neck. It's all stuff you could do yourself but you need to read-up first. I use this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454246945&sr=8-1&keywords=guitar+repair

When I was first starting out, way back in the last century, there were few places to go to learn this type of thing. And those that had the knowledge were usually less then excited at the thought of sharing their knowledge with you, so that you could become their competition.

But times have changed, and we have this Internet thing, and everybody is sharing everything. Maybe it isn't the Info Age, as much as it is the Era of Sharing, and sharing means a lot of crappy stuff gets thrown in the mix.

So choose your trusted sources carefully, and see who their trusted sources are.

For a good primer in guitar electronics, I recommend reading this book. It's dated, but it's basic info is good, and it's free to read in your browser (takes some time to load):

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2154081/Craig-Anderton-Guitar-Electronics-for-Musicians

I'm anticipating another book on guitar electronics from a source who's previous work I like:

https://hazeguitars.com/completeguitarwiring

This is a good video to understand shock hazards associated with play the electric guitar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS_5K5YEYv8&feature=youtu.be

When it comes to other aspects of guitar adjustment, Dan Erlewine has been the go-to source for decades. His books on guitar repair and maintenance are the gold standard. This first book I've linked is more for the guitar repair professional, and might be a bit much. But the second book I've linked should be must-reading for anyone curious about adjusting their guitar to play it's best:

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989

Although I haven't actually read any of the books by John Carruthers, I studied under him and on the basis of that experience I would recommend anything he's involved in:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/books-sheet-music-media/alfred-teach-yourself-guitar-repair-and-maintenance-book?src=3soswxxa

There are a bunch of John Carruther's videos on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9C05D39374BFA9B1

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB7631EF18F62E16D

I like this book because it's illustrated so well:

https://www.amazon.com/Players-Guide-Guitar-Maintenance/dp/0879305495

Dan Erlewine is a consultant at the guitar tools and supplies seller Stewart-MacDonald. They are a good resource for not just tools and supplies, but they have educational videos, some of which you can get via email, and some of which can be seen on YouTube:

https://www.stewmac.com/

Many of the boutique pickup makers have blogs on their sites, where they talk about pickup design and characteristics.

Just learning good practices on installing strings on various types of guitars is an important starting place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfK8lQZaq_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW0d9bBzUao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvTFtHLOQvk

And if you can master the secrets of floating tremolo set-up, you can impress your friends and strike fear into the heart of your enemies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcGmMJnX0M&feature=youtu.be&t=213

There are so many more good sources, but that should give you a start.

Check this out. Dan Erlewine is the the author of the guitar maintenance bible/koran/talmud; this should put you on the right path.

Yes to all of that.

You will want this Dan Erlewine book.

And this Dan Erlewine book.

You can make DIY fret files using a feeler gauges, like this.

A strobe tuner for best results.

A nice steel ruler.

Assorted screw drivers and mini-screw drivers.

Powdered graphite or "nut sauce" lubricant.

Clear nail polish and super glue.

Appropriately sized deep sockets and a "thumb wheel" socket driver.

Fret refinishing is the only place, IMO, that requires actual dedicated tools, but there are guys who DIY that as well.

I got the StewMac 3-in-1 fret file for crowning.

I still haven't decided if I will DIY or purchase something like the Nut Seating Files for when I make bone nuts for everything.

I use a set of diamond sharpening plates from HF to touch up flatten and a HF 19" Flooring Level (sorry no HF link, they don't seem to carry it any longer)and some strips of 220 sandpaper sticky glued to that straight edge to do fret leveling.

Get this book. I have no connection to the author, but it is a life saver and teaches you a lot about adjusting truss rods and will help you put a proper upbow back on your tele.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/

Go to your local library or bookstore and read the section pertaining to this process in Erlewine's The Guitar Player Repair Guide. If you realize you're in over your head, shop around for a better estimate or fork out the $225. You could buy a somewhat playable new or used guitar for that amount though.

Youtube has a ton of stuff. If you want THE book here it is. It's written by Dan Erlwine of Stewmac. He repairs really nice guitars for a living. I would suggest both Youtube and that book. No such thing as too much knowledge.

1. Allen wrench set, various screwdrivers, various pliers, guitar polish, and a clean cloth will get most things done.
   
   
2. Plug it in and try all the knobs and switches, the switch is going to do it's thing or it won't. Your pots or "knobs" will either work or not, and they might make a bunch of noise and need to be replaced or sprayed with contact cleaner.
   
3. There isn't a really short answer to this, heaver or lighter strings may or may not require a truss rod adjustment and/or intonation adjustments to still play fine. If you want your action and intonation perfect then adjustments will have to be made.
   
4. Replace it.
   
5. Put something between the trem block and the body like this guy does you can use just about anything but a block of wood is quite common.
   
6. Replace it.
   
   
   If you're serious about wanting to learn how to do basic guitar setup and repair, this book is worth every penny. It's easy to understand and has tons of valuable lessons from a real expert.

When discussing measurements of the nut slots, it's actually describing the distance between the top of the first fret and the bottom of the string. Some guidelines will have you capo the 3rd fret when taking this measurement.

Action at the 17th fret is used to set your saddle/bridge height. Some guidelines will have you capo the 1st fret when taking this measurement. As for the measurements you've noted, it's all relative. 4/64ths" at the 17th fret is a good starting point.

If you want to learn more about guitar setups and factory specs, I would suggest you get a copy of The Guitar Player Repair Guide.

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480433072&sr=1-1&keywords=the+guitar+player+repair+guide

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458913311&sr=8-1&keywords=guitar+repair


This is your golden ticket

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=05681GR11BHMHJ43HE2G

Happy to help.

A set of allen keys, a ruler, and a screw driver will take care of most basic setup issues. Go slow and don't over think it. Searching google and youtube can get confusing and overwhelming. I keep a copy of Dan Erlewine's book, The Guitar Player Repair Guide as a reference. https://smile.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210 Once you learn the how-to stuff then it is a matter of determining and setting everything to your personal preferences.

Good luck. I hope you get everything sorted out.

I own about 20 guitars. I've learned to do most of the basic stuff. I don't file nuts, and I don't dress frets, but I've successfully adjusted neck position, truss rods, pickups, replace or adjust bridges, saddles, intonation, etc. I'll even do minor soldering, although I'm skittish about soldering on the pots since I don't think I have the right tools to do that without damaging them.

I'll second the recommendation for Dan Erlewine's book -- his stuff is fantastic.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-Book/dp/0879309210/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

How often? Well, usually if you get the thing adjusted right, and it is not put in storage for a long time or subjected to major temp/humidity changes, it shouldn't need too much tweaking. You ought to be able to change strings (to the same brand and gauge) without having to change much, if anything. In general if everything else is right, and the only thing that has changed is the humidity, a minor tweak of the truss rod alone might do it. If you're going to change string gauges, like going from 10s to 11s, you'll have to re-intonate it and perhaps have issues with everything to correct for.

I feel comfortable adjusting intonation, action and pickup height. But, I won't do truss rod adjustments, nut or fret filing. However, I recently ordered Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide, so I'm hoping to go even further. I want to completely setup my own guitars from now on; I wasn't completely happy with the last pro-setup I had done.

I read (here) that BB King puts the whole string on -- ie, puts the very first bit of string and just wraps the whole peg with it. I find that to be really annoying and sort of nuts.

I pass the string and leave a bit of slack and then tie the string (bending it around the peg and then under itself) so that I have to give like two or three full turns of the peg to get to pitch.

consider changing your gauge, or better using a mixed gauge (lots of places will sell individual strings) esp if you're going to keep it in the new tuning and note you're also goign to have to re-setup the intonation. If you change the gauge, you're also probably going to want a new nut cut (or your current one recut).

I wouldn't be too worried about the nut. Chances are that they didn't need to do any change to the nut when going from factory 9s to 10s. I've put 10s on all my Fenders and haven't had any issues with the nut action. Even if it was filed slightly, the chances are that it isn't going to really cause any issues going back to 9s, but you won't know for sure until you get it strung up and see what the nut action is like. As for the rest of it, basic setup on a strat is pretty straight forward. You may need to adjust the truss rod slightly in order to get the proper relief, but it isn't difficult. Just do it slow and make small adjustments at a time. The most tedious part is really adjusting intonation and/or if you want the trem to be floated. It isn't difficult, it just takes patience as you have to keep re-tuning after every adjustment.

As for taking all the strings off, you shouldn't have any problem with this. I've never had any issue with taking all the strings off when I restring, because I usually do a fret board clean (and oil if it is rosewood or ebony) and a quick fret polish. The only real worry is the need to reset the trem if you want it floated, which in this case you would have to do anyways since you are changing gauges. It really isn't difficult to do a setup. Just read up/watch some how-to videos and take your time. Also, if you plan on doing your own maintenance I highly recommend checking out this book. It is definitely a great reference/guide for most repair/maintenance work.

You have to figure out if the B's nut slot is too deep, there's a formula for the hgight of each string at 1st fret, which is something like the space between fret and string is 1/2 string diameter. That's the guitar formula I can't google for the bass formula, but I'm sure it's in Erlewine's book, which is worth at least 5x the price. If the nut's ok, you can raise the bridge saddle, and while you're at it you might as well intonate all the strings

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/

I'm going to guess any answer will be controversial, but you could try Dan Erlewine's book. Erlewine is affiliated with Stewart-MacDonald.

I've built my own partscaster (relatively) from scratch, and I've only brought my guitar for a setup once. Setups are easy and fun: you get to know your instrument much more... personally. You know the G-spots knowhatimsaying. I learned how to finish, setup, route and sanding. The only thing I still can't do is nut-filing and fret-stuff, because like you I lack the tools.

If you know how to solder (easy to learn too), then electronics is a breeze. I would never take my strat to a shop for a pickup swap.

If you're serious/curious about learning, I recommend Dan Erlewine's excellent book, it contains pretty much everything you need to get started, and then some.

Nobody said building a guitar was easy, but nobody said it was boring! You'll cherish that instrument, with all its bumps and edges and faults, because it will truly be yours.

I used Rock Guitar for Dummies to start, then I purchased this for more specific guitar tweaking.

I also took tools to my strat and tried a number of things, and now it plays/sounds amazing.

Trial and error and youtube. There are a ton of great videos and the basic rules all make sense--just be very, very cautious when it comes to the truss rod and invest in a good tuner or use http://sourceforge.net/projects/lstune/ . Go slow, research from multiple sources and consider picking up Erlwine's book http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368087198&sr=8-1&keywords=guitar+book+setup .

>I certainly am, how'd ya tell?
Americans say shit, Britons say rubbish. Essentially your curse words sound classier.

What do you mean by impedance? What does the natural resistance of a wire sound like?

Despite this, I have yet to fix this very annoying feedback that I hear in both the amp and in my Mac (so I suspect it has something to do with the pickups). Before I do that, I must catch up on some basics.

Here's a list of basics that I bought recently to give you an idea:

Feeler Gauges

Hex Key Wrench Set

String Action Gauge

String Winder

Contact Cleaner for Electronics

Neck Rest

I already have various sized screw drivers, but if I didn't that would be on the list as well.

The above would be enough to do a basic setup: adjust truss rod, adjust action, get into the guts and clean the electronics. Everything will fit in a beat up old shoe box haha.

Along with YouTube videos, this book is a good reference guide. It has everything from basic repair and maintenance information all the way to repairing a broken neck or trying to repair a messed up truss rod.

This book will be a life saver for any basic DIY repair.

This book has been a great help. It covers everything from changing strings to major repairs.

If you are interested in learning how to do this yourself there is a great book on the subject. Combined with the right tools (straight edge, hex wrenches, feeler gauge) it should still run less than $50. It's not complicated and just requires a bit of patience.

I use stands all of the time. If you are one to lean your guitar against the amp/wall etc. if you don't have a stand available then a stand is your best option. Les Pauls are prone to breaks where the head meets the neck should they suffer a fall, but i've never seen a stand cause any damage.

All parts has a sale on second bodies right now for $60. Eyguitar music link has the other parts you will need ,they also have bodies, for pretty cheap. If you got your parts from those two sources it would be in the range your'e looking at.

I should mention that I've built a grand total of one guitar so I'm by no means an expert but I did spend a lot of time trying to source cheap parts.

As for assembly instructions I would check around the internet or maybe some of the other redditors can help out. I did find the guitar player repair guide really useful.

EY Guitar Shopping list

Strat Tele Gutiar String Tree Retainer Neck custom CR -- US$1.20

1Set,Big Size Strap End Pin,Chrome Finish, for Acoustic,Electric Guitar,Bass -- US$2.50

PACK12PCS* Strap Pin,End Pin Felt Washers,Vitage White -- US$0.80

PACK 6PCS,Telecaster Chrome String Mounting Through Ferrule -- US$3.00

New Chrome Neck Plate w/ Screw fit Fender Strat Tele -- US$3.00

pack15pcs,telecaster bridge mounting screw chrome -- US$1.50

10pcs,19mm Straight Pickup Height Springs,For Telecaster Neck or Bridge pickup adjusting,Chrome Finish -- US$1.00
Amercian Standard Tele pickguard 3 ply white -- US$6.19

Tele Jack plate Cup For your Tele body custom,Chrome,Metric Thread -- US$5.50

New,Natural Color in Satin Finish,Telecaster Neck 21 fret,Rosewood Fingerboard,10mm or 8.3mm, machine head mounting hole,White Dot,free shipping -- US$57.00

Tele Bridge Chrome 6 saddle String through body style_004 -- US$9.00

Chrome Grover 6 INLINE 305C6 Mid-Size Rotomatic Tuners -- US$20.00

3 Meters (9.8 Feet) Coated Hook Up Wires,22awg,style001 : Red -- US$1.70

3 Meters (9.8 Feet) Coated Hook Up Wires,22awg,style001 : White -- US$1.70

Artec Tele bridge alnico,TRA-44 --- US$10.00

Artec Tele neck Alnico Chrome,TFA-40C -- US$10.00

Eyguitar Total: $133.09

add the body from allparts.com $60

Approximate total shipping (I'm guessing here) $70

Grand Total: $263.09

Hope that helps.

Edit: Formatting & added Total

Edit 2: I just thought about it and you may also need to get screws attaching the neck & pickguard. You can get them from all parts.

Also, you'll probably need to use a drill press, people please correct me if I'm wrong, to add the holes for attaching the neck / pick guard.

Looks like you need to adjust your action height or your truss rod - or both. Your nut may be cut too low, or your bridge, maybe both. You might also have some fret height issues.

You can google how to fix these things. They are not hard.

If you want a reference, then buy this:

Guitar Player Repair Guide 3rd Edition
http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

This is the best book on guitar repair period.

It goes though the absolute basics, all the way up to extreme repairs.

Check out some of the Dan Erlewine books and online videos. You can get the books in all the usual places, they're fantastic resources for all things guitar repair/modification. His guitar players repair guide is awesome and gives you different levels of information from casual diy to in-depth expert for each type of repair.

This is sort of the Bible for that stuff.
The Guitar Player Repair Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/0879309210/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VVeyCbXSV4P73

This book


https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

I've been doing occasional repair work for guitars and other fretted stringed instruments for several years now (i.e. new nuts/saddles from bone, adjusting intonation, and minor fret work). Your problem is most likely a combination of high action and scale length being too short. This is common on cheaper ukes. Contrary to what others might have posted, I do not recommend filing the nut slots unless it's difficult to fret notes at the first fret, and if you've never done it before, I don't recommend fiddling around with a nut at all - unless the uke is only a cheap $20 one, then grab some jewelers' files and have fun with it. You'll learn quickly how NOT to fix a nut if you do it wrong heheh.

To fix a short scale length (the vibrating area/length of the string between saddle and nut), you'll need to move the saddle further away from the fretboard. This is done by carving a new one that allows for this adjustment. That might require widening the saddle slot somehow by removing wood from the side of the slot that is furthest away from the strings and then inserting a shim for the saddle in front of it when you replace it etc. There are lots of ways to do it. Please don't mess around with the nut - that's not usually the cause of the problem. Look more toward the saddle.

For my ukes, I always make a new saddle - one that is lower than the original, and from bone for better tone. I carve intonation compensation into it if required, similar to what you'd find on an acoustic guitar. Most of the time the factory nuts are fine, but sometimes I have to use nut files to deepen them (there is a limit to this - technically a string should only have half of its thickness within a nut slot - it shouldn't disappear in there - if it does, then I remove material off the top or make a new nut entirely so that string depth is optimal). Again, only try that if the 1st fret is hard to play. As a quick check, press down on the 3rd or 4th fret, and then see how much clearance you have at the first. If you have more than 1 or 2mm under the string at the 1st fret while holding down at the 3rd or 4th, then the nut slots may be too high for that instrument. Have a luthier look at it then. In fact, have a luthier help you with anything involving the removal of wood or bone, unless the instrument is inexpensive.

Check out this book for info on how to set up a stringed instrument. It's written for guitars, but it'll give you a good idea of the correct shape of necks, scale length, angle of strings from saddle to nut etc. The principles are the same.

Edit: Scale lengths (vibrating area of the string between nut and saddle) that are too short result in sharp notes as you play up the fretboard. Scale lengths that are too long result in flat notes as you play up the fretboard. To check your scale length / intonation, play a harmonic at the 12th fret and then compare with the fretted note itself. If the fretted note is too sharp, then the scale length is too short and the saddle (that little white piece of plastic/bone at the bridge) needs to move back to lengthen it. You should have the same pitch between the 12th fret harmonic and the fretted note at the 12th fret. Excessively high action can also cause intonation problems because you're stretching the string as you fret it. Fix the action, then adjust the intonation, and your problem should disappear.

Dan Erlewine's Repair Guide https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

If you want a P-90 in the bridge position with minimal effort, get yourself a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat. It's a humbucker-sized P-90 pickup and it sounds pretty damn good as well. P-90s are a little dirtier than your average Strat single coil though, and probably won't help for that cleanish tone you seem to want. They're great for stuff like Revolver-era Beatles, early Clash and blues.

Since this is a cheap Strat copy the tuners are probably garbage. Replacing tuners can be really easy or moderately difficult; I've had guitars where the replacements just dropped in and fit with the old holes and I've had cases where I needed to drill new holes. I know I installed a set of Gotoh vintage slotted tuners into a cheap Fender Starcaster neck (those crappy strat copies they sell at places like best buy) and I had to do some drilling, but it only took about 15 minutes with a hand-held Dremel, and once the screw holes were there they installed easily.

There's nothing stopping you from sanding down the whole body and clear-coating it. John Lennon did this to one of his Epiphone Casinos, and you see them done to project guitars on eBay all the time.

I hate tremolo bridges; for years on my crummy Ibanez Strat copy I had the tremolo springs removed and shoved a wooden block under the bridge to keep it from moving. :P Never slipped out of tune once. You can get a tremolo bar cheap on eBay or from Stewart-MacDonald.

Is it worth it? That's a totally subjective question, but I've had tons of fun over the years fiddling with cheap guitars and making them not suck. One time I replaced the tuners and bridge pickup on a cheap $200 Epiphone LP Special II, and it sounded & played great. I've also had a couple reissue Duo-Sonics that I've replaced pickups on, and I built one frankenstein Strat out of parts from eBay that I gave to my brother.

The best way to learn is to break stuff and mess up repeatedly. I still can't do a lot of it properly (mostly the woodworking type stuff) but I can do plenty of other things no problem, like re-wiring a guitar or installing tuners.

TL;DR It's definitely possible to do most of the things you want, plus it's fun! Do it!

There are plenty of books and websites out there about this, but probably the one book that helped me the most is The Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine. Tons of useful information.

Hope this all helps.

If you're making an electric, and if you're allowed to use ready-made guitar necks and bodies, I'd do that. Making a neck completely from scratch is serious business - lots of math (fret placement) and more than a little skill. The two most popular companies that come to mind are Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars. Both are reputed to be very high quality. The electronics are probably the easiest part - google and you will find tons of info on that.

Note: Making the nut properly will require special nut files and more reading to understand the angle and shape. A handy string gauge will also be helpful since you can't just set the strings an even distance apart - the thickness of the lower strings will throw everything out of alignment. Go to the Stew-Mac website for nut files and a string gauge if you'll be needing them.

Book recommendation: The Guitar Player Repair Guide. - it'll give you enough of the basics to get started with general guitar set-up, making nuts, leveling frets etc.

You're dangerously close to doing something that will wreck your guitar. If you want to learn this stuff, get Dan Erlewine's Repair Guide and a couple of busted up pawn shop guitars.

I recommend this... http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210. It's how I learned. Although I'm nowhere as good as the guy I take my stuff to. But it's only a half hour drive for me.

I may get voted down here, but I have found this to be a good investment. (It's less at places other that Amazon).

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

A Guitar Repair book http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0879309210/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/177-5364806-0471406

or

A Guitar Setup book http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989