Guitar Repair Technician 101 (GRT101): Basic Guitar Repair & Maintenance
Anatomy-Driven Playability & Applied Electronics
16 hours – 2 consecutive days – Certificate course
GRT101 is the gateway course in our Guitar Repair Technician mentorship path (GRT101 → 201 → 301), created for players and aspiring pros who want more than “follow-these-numbers” setup tips. Offered only once or twice a year in select cities, this intensive weekend moves beyond rote measurements to the why behind every adjustment—linking guitar design, physics, and repair technique so you can tackle real-world problems with confidence.
Over two tightly mentored days you’ll learn precision setups, maintenance, hardware fixes, and practical electronics work, all with portable tools you can carry to any stage, showroom, or studio. Finish the class with a certificate, and a new way of looking at every guitar that lands on your bench.
The book, “Complete Guitar Care & Maintenance“ is required for this class and is available at Long & McQuade (Canada), Chapters/Indigo, Amazon, or anywhere else that sells books.
Enrollment is limited and dates sell out quickly.
Join GRT101, earn your certificate, and start thinking—and repairing—like a pro.
What You’ll Be Able to Do
Communicate repairs professionally with clear inspection sheets and customer-friendly language
Measure & interpret every critical spec on electric and acoustic guitars (or bass!)
Dial in relief, action, nut slots, and intonation based on gauge, scale, tuning, and player style
Diagnose & repair the most common electronic faults—in minutes, not hours
Install popular upgrades (treble-bleed, series/parallel, coil-split) cleanly the first time
Use the drop-down menus below to learn about the required supplies and tools needed.
- Mastering precision setups for optimal playability
- Identifying and correcting loose, broken, or poor-performing hardware
- Building confidence in soldering, diagnostics and simple mods
- Adopting best-practice maintenance routines for showroom or tour use
- Laying the groundwork for advanced fretwork, structural and custom builds
- One working & functional electric and one acoustic guitar – arrive with strings on
- Fresh strings for each (plus a spare set)
- Cleaning/polishing supplies for fretboard & body (polish, cloths, fingerboard conditioner, steel wool, etc.)
- A protractor app on your smartphone (many free options available)
- Pen/pencil & calculator
- Neck rest + bench mat or towel
- Plug-in chromatic tuner
- Crescent wrench / nut-driver set
- String winder, capo, side cutters/wire cutters
- 6″ steel ruler (64ths)
- Multi-head screwdriver
- 32-blade feeler-gauge set (.001″ increments)
- Appropriate truss-rod & bridge-saddle wrenches for your guitars
- Textbook: Complete Guitar Care & Maintenance
- Recommended (Day 2, not mandatory):
- Compact soldering iron & supplies
- Full nut-file set matched to your preferred gauges
*Many tools can often be found in bundled guitar tech kits.
Recommended tools (Amazon links):
