Every guitarist's secret weapon.

Less googling.
More playing.

Stop losing hours to forum rabbit holes. Pocket Roady gives you the backstage knowledge every guitarist needs — setup, maintenance, and ear training — right in your browser, for free.

Take Me To The Tool Shed

Free to use  ·  No account needed  ·  Works in your browser

Guides & Tools
From the Roadie's Notebook

A Guitarist's Field Notes.

Main Stage
Stage Guide
How to Keep Your Guitar in Tune Live

Tuning slipping mid-set? Simple prep — fresh strings settled in, friction points sorted, and a plan for temperature swings — keeps you locked in from the first song to the encore.

Troubleshooting
How to Tell if Your Guitar Needs a Setup or Just New Strings

Something feels off but you are not sure what? Start here. A quick triage walks you through the symptoms and points you to the right fix first.

Intonation Guide
How to Tell if Your Intonation Is Actually the Problem

Guitar sounds fine open but goes sour higher up the neck? Here is how to confirm it is intonation before you start turning screws.

Intonation Guide
How to Fix a Guitar that Sounds Out of Tune on Higher Frets

Master the 12th fret method, the "Follow the Flat" rule, and how to safely stretch strings for perfect tuning stability.

String Guide
Why New Guitar Strings Sound Out of Tune

Fresh strings going flat constantly? Work through this break-in checklist to stretch, seat, and stabilize your strings faster — before touching your setup.

Setup Guide
Guitar Setup Guide

Setup is a chain, not a single fix. Walk through every adjustment in the right order — neck relief, nut, action, intonation — so you don't waste time fixing the wrong thing first.

Setup Guide
Guitar Neck Relief 101: How to Check and Adjust Your Truss Rod

If your guitar feels stiff, buzzy, or just off, the neck may need a small relief correction. Learn how to check the gap, read the results, and make safe truss rod adjustments.

Setup Guide
Guitar Nut Height 101: How to Check First-Fret Stiffness and Open-String Buzz

First-position chords feeling stiff? Open strings buzzing? The nut may be the culprit. Learn how to check it with the 3rd-fret test or a feeler gauge before touching a file.

Setup Guide
Guitar Action 101: How to Measure and Adjust String Height

String height too high or too low? Learn how to measure action at the 12th fret, understand target ranges by instrument and style, and adjust any bridge type safely.

Setup Guide
How to Fix Buzzing on the First Few Frets (Nut vs. Relief)

Buzzing near the headstock usually points to either neck relief or nut slot depth. Learn how to tell which one is causing the problem before you start adjusting.

Setup Guide
How to Tell if Your Action Is Too High

If your guitar feels like a workout, the action may be too high. Learn the signs and check whether the bridge or neck is the real cause before turning any screws.

Setup Guide
How to Set Up a Guitar After Changing String Gauge

A gauge change shifts the tension balance of the whole instrument. Learn the correct order — nut, relief, action, intonation — to bring everything back into balance.

Setup Guide
How Fretboard Radius Affects Your Setup

Your fretboard curves. Your saddles should follow it. Learn what radius means, how it shapes your action and bends, and where it fits into a clean setup.

Intonation Guide
How to Use a Capo Without Throwing Off Intonation

Capo on and something sounds sour? Learn the three rules — placement, pressure, and alignment — that keep chords in tune every time.

Setup Guide
The Physics of String Tension

Understand how tension shapes feel, bend resistance, and setup behavior — and use that knowledge to choose the right gauge with confidence.

Setup Guide
How to Set Up a Guitar for Drop Tunings

Drop tunings change tension, neck relief, action, and intonation. Here is the right order to recalibrate your setup for Drop D, Drop C, and lower.

Setup Guide
What Is a Multi-Scale Guitar?

Why fanned frets exist, how the math behind different scale lengths balances tension, and what it means for feel, bends, and low-string clarity.

Rehearsal Studio
Practice Guide
How to Build a Practice Routine Around Weak Spots

Stop practicing what you're already good at. Build a routine that targets your weak spots, tracks real progress, and still leaves room to just make music.

Practice Guide
How to Practice with a Metronome Without Sounding Robotic

Treat the click like a bandmate, not a boss. Learn how to lock in groove, use subdivisions, and stay relaxed — so your playing sounds alive, not mechanical.

Practice Guide
Decoding the Fretboard: Scales Without Memorizing Shapes

You do not need to memorize endless scale boxes. Learn how intervals turn the neck into a clear, repeatable map — and stop guessing shapes.

Practice Guide
How to Find the Notes on the Fretboard Faster

A few landmarks and patterns make the fretboard much faster to read. Learn the shortcuts that let you find any note without freezing up.

Music Theory
How to Understand Major and Minor Triads on Guitar

Triads are the core of major and minor chords — and much easier to understand than full barre shapes. Learn the formulas, inversions, and fretboard logic behind them.

Practice Guide
How to Train Your Ear for Pitch and Intervals

Train your ear to hear sharp and flat notes, recognize intervals faster, and build better pitch confidence for guitar and intonation.

Technique Guide
The Hand Independence Blueprint

The hub for clean, independent playing. Eight guides covering hand position, muting, bending, vibrato, double stops, and picking speed — all in one place.

Technique Guide
Clean Hand Position

Thumb, wrist angle, fingertips — the geometry that makes chords easier and practice less painful. Small adjustments, big difference.

Technique Guide
Keep Your Picking Hand Relaxed

Tension is the enemy of speed. Learn grip pressure, wrist motion, and how to build from a relaxed baseline instead of forcing tempo.

Technique Guide
Make Your Chords Ring Clean

Clean chords come from better angles, not more force. Finger arch, fret placement, barre technique, and setup checks.

Technique Guide
Stop Accidental String Noise

Muting with both hands — how to quiet the strings you are not using so every note stays clean and focused.

Technique Guide
Double Stops

Two notes at once — how to find thirds and fourths in pentatonic shapes and add instant texture to your lead lines.

Technique Guide
Bending & Vibrato in Tune

Bending to the target pitch, support fingers, and vibrato that sounds controlled instead of nervous.

Technique Guide
Build Picking Speed Without Losing Cleanliness

Smaller motion, lighter angle, better sync. Speed comes from efficiency — learn to build it from a clean, relaxed baseline.

The Bridge Crew
Bridge Guide
Mastering the Tune-O-Matic Bridge

Hardware-specific tips for Gibson, Epiphone, and beyond. Learn the saddle flip hack, how to stop bridge rattle, and Nashville vs ABR-1 identification.

Bridge Guide
Fender Style 6 Saddle & Hardtail Bridges

Precision tuning for Strat, Tele, and modern hardtails. Fix spring bind, level your saddles, and dial in your setup string by string.

Bridge Guide
Vintage 3-Saddle Guitar Bridges

Balance over perfection — the unique approach to intonating vintage Telecaster-style bridges. Witness points, shared string pairs, and compensated saddles explained.

Bridge Guide
Floyd Rose & Locking Tremolo Bridges

Surgical precision for double-locking systems. Bridge leveling, safe saddle movement, fine tuner workflow, and the final lock — step by step.

Bridge Guide
Acoustic Guitar Saddle Compensation

If your acoustic sounds sour up the neck, saddle compensation may be the fix. Learn how to check and correct intonation on acoustic guitars — step by step, with diagrams.

From the Roadie's Kit

Tools of the Trade.

Guitar Tool Shed
Free Tool
Intonation Assistant

Real-time Hz tuning, open string lock-in, and bridge-specific saddle instructions for TOM, Fender, Tele, and Floyd Rose — all in your browser, no download needed.

Free Tool
Online Guitar Tuner

Two tuners in one — train your ear with Click to Pick, then validate with Perfect Pitch, our precision Hz tuner. Supports 14 tunings — Standard, half- and full-step down, plus drop and open sets including DADGAD.

Free Tool
Guitar String Change Assistant

Step-by-step string change guide tailored to your guitar. Electric, acoustic, or classical — the right instructions for your bridge type, every time.

Free Tool
Guitar Setup Assistant

Answer a few questions about how your guitar feels and plays — the assistant walks you through every fix in the right order. No jargon, no guesswork.

Free Tool
Neck Relief Helper & Truss Rod Estimator

Check your guitar's neck relief in about 2 minutes. The tool walks you through the measurement, reads the gap, and tells you which direction to turn the truss rod — calmly and clearly.

Free Tool
Nut Slot Helper

First-fret chords feeling stiff or open strings buzzing? Check your nut height in about 2 minutes — quick visual test or measured check, your call. No guessing before you file.

Free Tool
Guitar Action Calculator

Enter your 12th fret measurements and get a clear result based on your instrument and playing style. Know instantly whether your action is in range — or what to adjust.

Free Tool
Pickup Height Helper

Get a safe starting height for your pickups based on type and position. Humbuckers, single-coils, and active pickups — in inches or millimeters.

Free Tool
Fretboard Radius Matcher

Enter your fretboard radius and bridge spread to get per-string saddle height offsets. Match your saddles to the curve of your board before you touch the bridge.

Free Tool
Capo Intonation Helper

Capo on and something sounds off? Tell us what you're hearing — sharp notes, buzzing, or sour chords — and get one clear fix in seconds.

Free Tool
String Tension Calculator

Pick a tuning, scale length, and gauge set — see per-string tension and a balance chart instantly. Compare setups before you commit to new strings.

Free Tool
Fret Position Calculator

Enter any scale length and get exact nut-to-fret distances, fret spacing, and a to-scale fretboard diagram — in inches or millimeters.

Free Tool
Multi-Scale Plotter

Design a fan-fret neck — set bass and treble scale lengths, pick a perpendicular fret, and see the geometry with per-string tension balance.

Free Tool
Micro-Groove Metronome

Drift-free timing with swing, humanize, and accent control. The metronome that helps you practice without sounding robotic.

Free Tool
Scale & Arpeggio Overlay

Pick a root, pick a scale or arpeggio — every note lights up across the full neck. Tap any dot to hear it. Covers 30 scales, modes, and arpeggios on 6, 7, or 8 strings.

Free Tool
Fretboard Note Finder

Pick any note and see every position on the neck at once. Switch to Drill mode and quiz yourself — find the note or name it — until you own the whole fretboard.

Free Tool
CAGED Navigator

Explore chord voicings across the full neck — open shapes, CAGED positions, barre chords, and triads in every inversion. Pick any root and quality and see every shape instantly.

Free Tool
Guitar Ear Trainer & Pitch Matcher

Train your ear with interval, note, chord, and scale-degree drills — then test your pitch with the built-in pitch matcher. Four modes, three difficulty levels, no account needed.

Productivity
Free Tool
My Guitar Profiles

Save a spec sheet for every guitar — bridge, scale length, string gauge, tuning, action, relief and more. Set it up once and the numbers are right there next time. Private to your browser, no account needed.

Free Tool
Gig Prep Checklist

Pack like a pro. A reusable checklist for everything you need at the show — guitars, cables, spares, tools and more. Tick it off as you pack, add your own gear, save your setup, and print a copy for load-in.

The
Helpful
Roadie
The Mission

Pocket Roady is your backstage pass to better guitar. A roadie doesn't lecture you — they hand you a tuned guitar before you walk on stage. That's the standard we hold ourselves to: practical, no-nonsense, and always in your corner.

Who It's For

Whether you've been playing for six months or sixteen years, you shouldn't need a tech degree to keep your guitar sounding great. Our tools speak plain English, explain the "why" behind every step, and catch the details your ear can't — like a 1.5 Hz intonation drift that makes chords feel slightly wrong without you knowing why.

What's Coming

The Tool Shed keeps expanding. Fretboard tools are here — the Scale & Arpeggio Overlay, Fretboard Note Finder, CAGED Navigator, and Guitar Ear Trainer are all live — and the Guitar Technique cluster just landed. More guides, more tools, always the same deal: free, no account, no fluff.