Care for Guitar

In order to maintain your guitar in tip-top condition and extend its playability, it is important to have proper care for guitar and maintenance for your guitar. Keeping your guitar in good conditions is not difficult. Here are some tips to help you along the way to show some guitar care to your instrument.

After Guitar Practicing

Most guitarists have the problem of strings rusting very quickly and this can pose a hazard to your fingers as the strings are very rough and can cut into your fingers. To prevent the rusting of strings, always take a soft cloth to clean your guitar strings and guitar neck after practicing. This will clear all the dirt, oil and sweat that had accumulated on the strings. Before placing your guitar back into your case, apply a thin layer of “string cleaner or conditioner” onto the guitar string as this would prevent the oxidation of your guitar strings. You can easily purchase any string cleaner solutions for under USD$10. A good place to purchase guitar care products is online via Musician’s Friend.

Cleaning the Fretboard

Take a look at your guitar fretboard and look at the frets. Do you notice any muck that has accumulated behind the frets? The next time you change your strings, take the chance to clean behind the frets with a piece of damp tower and follow up with a dry cloth. Similarly, you can use fretboard conditioners such as Dunlop’s Fretboard 65 Lemon Oil to rejuvenate your fretboard after cleaning it.

Polishing

You should clean and polish the guitar body with a lint free cloth regularly to sustain the life of the guitar finishing as well as to preserve the wood beneath it. I would recommend using only specific guitar polishes instead of using furniture polishes. This is because some furniture polishes may contain abrasives which would damage the finishing of your guitar overtime.

Storage

The guitar is very sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature and humility because wood is porous! Although most guitars are tolerant to a range of temperatures, a sudden change in temperature can cause cracks to appear in the finishing. Excessive moisture due to humility can cause swelling in the guitar wood. This can lead to warpage of the guitar neck and cause intonation problems.

Bottom line, the storage location of your guitar is very important. The optimal storage conditions for a guitar should be about 50% humility and at around 25 °C.

Scratches

Ok. This is a no-brainer. Before playing your guitar, remove any jewelry or accessories that might scratch or scar your instrument.One of the most common causes of scratches while playing the guitar comes from belt buckles or jeans. I myself was guilty of this when I “forgot” I was wearing a belt with buckle and played the guitar. At the end of the day, the back of my guitar was marred with scratches.

Most of the time, applying common sense in handling your instrument will prolong the life of your guitar. Maintenace and care for guitar is not that difficult. Remember, a little guitar care goes a long way.