How to Care For Your Guitar – 5 Tips For Acoustic Guitar Care – Sewing Machines Los Angeles

When you first begin to study guitar, one of the first things you need to learn is how to care for your guitar. Here are my 5 tips for acoustic guitar care.

1. The climate Around the Guitar

First thing to keep in mind is that your guitar is made of wood and is very sensitive to the environment. Any changes in temperature or humidity may be potentially hazardous. Inside buildings, or when transporting your guitar, observe these simple rules to avoid mishaps.

In warm summer climates, never leave your guitar in a vehicle, or anywhere that it will be in direct sunlight, even just by a window inside the house. The finish can become cracked, or even worse with long exposure. In cold climates, avoid exposing your guitar to extremely cold outside temperatures for any length of time and never leave a guitar in a cold car — not even briefly. Extreme cold could cause the strings to contract, resulting in very serious damage to the guitar neck or to the face of the body! It could be the end of your guitar!

In your home, make every attempt to keep your guitar in consistent temperature and humidity. If you are in a very dry climate, or have a dry season, you would do well to buy a humidifier that fits into the guitar case, that will put moisture back into the air surrounding your guitar. If you live in a cold climate, winter becomes a dry season indoors, because most types of heating dry out the air. Never let your guitar sit near any type of heater or hot air vent from the furnace. Extreme dryness can cause serious damage to your guitar. Buy a humidifier and put your guitar away after you finish playing. By keeping the environment around your guitar as consistent as possible, your guitar will require fewer adjustments. This important point is often overlooked by new guitar owners.

2. Clean hands

Greasy hands can cause damage to the finish on the back of the neck and can also reduce the life of your guitar strings. Even if your hands are clean, there will still be dead skin and natural oils accumulating on your fingerboard. Your best bet is to always wash your hands before you play. You will have longer lasting strings as well as a better looking finish, and less dirt to clean off your fingerboard when you get around to cleaning it.

3. Cleaning your guitar

There are professional products available to help you clean and polish your guitar. I would think that any professional products made specifically for guitar should be safe. As a general rule I would say to never ever use any kind of soap on your guitar. For my guitar, I use only a damp rag. I use a bit of fine oil, like sewing machine oil — only a drop on my rag. This adds shine to the guitar’s finish. I find all the spots come off with just a damp rag and this little bit of oil. Soap, even mild soap, is not good for the finish. I would never recommend it.

I generally give my guitar a good cleaning whenever I change strings. It is easiest to clean the fingerboard without strings on it and easiest to clean right next to the bridge as well. When cleaning the fingerboard, I put a bit of muscle into it. I rub hard right along the frets. How often you clean and whether or not you always washed your hands before playing, will determine how much dirt there is for you to remove. If there is a lot of dirt, you’ll see a dark smooth area in the center and a slight build-up towards the fret. The space between the frets should look the same color and have the same smoothness. If it doesn’t, it’s dirt. Rub it off.

4. Changing Strings

Changing strings is part of caring for the guitar. With new students I usually recommend that they change their strings a minimum of every six months. Professionals change them anywhere from every night (of a performance) on up. The newness doesn’t last very long. The absolute height of the string’s performance is quite brief, and after a couple of weeks use most of the newness has worn off. Now you can buy strings that have a special coating that makes them last longer. I found that to be true, but with many of them, the sound was not quite as good as the uncoated. However, it is a good deal, moneywise, and quite a suitable choice for students.

5. Some Handy Tools

Some tools that come in handy for changing strings are — a string winder, a pair of wire cutters and a tuner or tuning fork. The very best and easiest way to learn to put on strings is having someone demonstrate it for you. A guitar teacher would be the best choice. Myself, I never have anyone (like a music store) put my strings on for me. It’s a personal thing. I consider it part of being a guitar player and I like to have them put on my way. There’s nothing wrong with having a store put them on for you, but I do recommend that if you’re going to be a player, you should know how to do it yourself.

By observing these tips, you will learn how to care for your guitar. With proper, thoughtful care, a good guitar can last you a lifetime. The guitar can provide a lifetime of joy for you and those who enjoy your music.