Guitar Maintenance

By: John Brown

Any serious guitarist respects his instrument as something very
high in value to him. He does not treat it as a toy that is
thrown around and left lying around if it is slightly
inconvenient for him to put it way. What entails taking care of
your guitar in the proper way? Well, let me tell you!

I always like to keep my instrument well taken care of. I'm even
a little hesitant to let other people play in fear they may
accidently chuck it across the room or set it on fire. Well,
maybe not but I definitely don't want them to drop it and knick
it.

I'll start with the first thing you should do, even before you
pick up your guitar. Wash your hands. I'm serious here. The oil
from your hands not only corrodes the strings but it shortest
the life of the guitar neck (the wood). You're also going to
want to wipe the guitar strings down when you are done playing
to remove any dirt or oil from your hands that was left on the
guitar when you played. This will greatly increase the lifespan
of your strings, which is recommended to be changed about once a
month but will always differ depending on how often you play and
how clean you keep your hands and the strings

Keep you guitar in an environment that will be free of constant
temperature and humidity change. That means don't keep it in
your garage because it clutters up your room, as it can warp and
damage your guitar.

Every time I change my strings I like to wipe it down with a
nice coat of wax that I bought at a guitar center. This will
help keep it clean and will also give it a nice shine to show
off its beauty. It will also give it a semi protective coat.

If you're looking to keep all the scratches off your guitar I'd
suggest investing in a back guard. When you stand up and play
the back of the guitar rubs all over what you are wearing, and
if you're wearing a metal belt buckle that could result in some
nasty gouges on the back of your guitar. Considering guitars can
be very expensive, that would be most unfortunate.

It can also be good every once in a while to put some type of
oil on your fret board when you're changing your strings. I've
seen some older guitars with dry dry fret wood, and it isn't a
pretty sight. Try to keep it moisturized with a lemon oil to
keep it from becoming rough or even worse, cracking.

Other than keeping all the nuts and bolts snuggly tightened,
that about does it for basic guitar maintenance! Keep those
guitars in good shape so they can keep on a blazin'.

About the author:
For more information on saving yourself from guitar mistakes and
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