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Comprehensive Guide to Guitar Maintenance
The primary and foremost aspect of guitar
maintenance is cleaning. If you have a guitar then you need to
clean it on a regular basis. This will ensure that your guitar
strings don’t slack and you can play it for a longer period of
time. There are different cleaning methods for the acoustic
and electric guitars. Acoustic guitar is made from wood and
hence you need to be extremely careful regarding the type of
polish you use for cleaning.
Here is our list of guitar cleaning and
maintenance suggestions:
Avoid water :
While cleaning your acoustic guitar, you can use a damp cloth
or even chamois for polishing the body of the guitar but avoid
using too much of water as it can get soaked in by the wood,
which will eventually damage the guitar and distort the sound.
Fretboard and strings :
The fretboard and the strings complement each other and are
used the most.
While cleaning the fretboard or the
fingerboard, use fine steel wool. You can wipe the fretboard
lightly using the fine steel wool and gently remove oil
blotches attributed mostly to sweat. The point is that there
are some people who sweat more than other and hence while
playing the sweat might drip down and fall anywhere on the
guitar. Sweating fingers can add oil & water to the
fingerboard and strings. So the ideal thing to do is to wipe
the strings clean after every playing session to avoid
oxidation. You can also purchase guitar maintenance kits but
read the instructions before starting to use them for
cleaning.
As for the strings, you need to wipe them
after every session because strings attract dirt and once the
dirt builds up, it will damage your strings. This dirt can
also get transferred to the fretboard and accumulate near the
frets. Once you have wiped clean your guitar strings, use a
soft cloth to clean all the gaps between the strings on the
fingerboard. There are times when the grime might get
accumulated on your fingerboard. In such a scenario, scrape it
off using a plastic radius gauge.
And most importantly, if you are not
playing your guitar then keep it in the guitar box or case.
Tuning Keys :
The tuning keys are basically knobs, which are situated on
your guitars headstock. The keys are using for tuning each of
the six strings on your guitar. The older the guitar gets, the
more lubrication the tuning keys will require. So it is
advisable to keep lubricating them from time to time.
Frets :
The frets form another integral part of your guitar. Since
they are used the most, the chance of wearing and tearing is
much higher. You will hence have to dress up your frets
occasionally depending on how often you play. You will notice
over a period of time that the due to pressing and bending of
strings on the fret, it gets worn out and this can cause
intonation problems. It is always advisable to let a
professional repairman dress your fret. Unless you have the
experience, it is best advised not to try your hand at fret
filing.
Nut :
The nut is an integral part of guitar playing because it is
responsible for your guitar's tone. The nut ensures that your
guitar stays in tune. Hence it is important to lubricate the
nut slots well with soap.
Bridge :
You need to lubricate the bridge slots more often with soap.
Try to do it before you start playing.
Body :
The guitar body will accumulate a lot of dust, sweat and dirt
over a period of time. You can use a soft cloth to clean it
but make sure that you fog it first and then gently wipe the
area.
Always remember, the
cleaner your guitar is the better it will sound for a long
time to come! |
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