Sometimes, a good friend is all you need.
When you play guitar there are all sorts of things that make your life easier. Finding a place that takes care of you when you need something is absolutely a necessity. Many times, you have different go to places depending on your particular need. For many players, the first go to is your inner circle. These are the people that have supported and guided you all along the journey and include your family, friends, musician friends, bandmates and many others. These are the ones you can bounce ideas off of and expect an honest answer.
Some of your inner circle possess skills and may be able to do more than just offer advice. For example, changing guitar strings is a little intimidating until you’ve done it at least once and having a friend from your inner group walk you through it, is pretty cool. The same is probably true about adjusting the neck of your guitar. This is even more nerve wracking than changing strings, but I bet you have someone who can show you the right way to do it.
How about buying a guitar? Your inner circle will undoubtedly have advice on what to purchase and where to look. When you are down to your final two choices, they can also offer pros and cons and help you justify your final decision. As the complexity of the ask goes up, more than likely there’ll be less and less of your inner circle that can assist you. Sometimes you might just be on your own, maybe...
If you gig as much as I do, things tend to need more maintenance. I adjust the neck of my guitars a little more often to keep the playability exactly where I want it. Having a few specialized tools really helps. I have a notched straight edge, a set of feeler gages and a good truss rod wrench, which makes the job so much easier. I also dressed the frets on one of my acoustics, which is a fairly involved process, but with the right tools, mission accomplished.
How did I learn to do all this? I found a company called Stewmac.com. They manufacture and sell a lot of specialized tools for luthiers and DIY folks like me who want to keep their guitars in tip-top shape. The best part is they share all their years of experience on how to make the repairs and the tools and materials required to complete them. The teaching format is either through books or instructional videos. Like I said, it’s good to have a friend.