Cleaning And Storing Your Guitar
Cleaning And Storing Your Guitar
Cleaning And Storing Your Guitar
Not only is your guitar a tool for your personal expression, but if properly cared for, can also represent an investment that will increase in value over time. One of the best ways to keep your guitar clean and safe is to store it in a specially made case when it is not being played. Moving the guitar from place to place can also end up being a perilous journey, so it only makes sense to take every precaution within reason to ensure that your guitar is suitably protected. Not only from physical damage, but also from the dangers that come with a change in climate or environment.
Different parts of the guitar can be cleaned by using many different agents. Most of the more modern guitars will have a cellulose finish as well as a few other types of synthetic varnishes. Because of this, they typically can be cleaned with care, using almost any regular household sprays or creams. One thing to avoid if you can though, are cleaning agents that contain silicone or wax, because these will sometimes cause a discoloration to the finish and also give the instrument a somewhat unpleasant sticky feel.
Never, under any circumstances should you use any sort of abrasive cleaning fluid, as these will just plain damage the finish. Most music stores will have on hand a variety of specialized cleaning fluids. So, if you are ever in doubt about what type of cleaning fluid you should use, it would be advisable to use one of these.
When dealing with high-quality classical guitars, additional care must be taken. Many of them have a French-polished finish, as opposed to a synthetic varnish. These instruments should never be treated with regular polishes. The surfaces should simply be wiped down with just a lightly damped cloth, and then after, buffed with a dry cloth.
The strings of the guitar will not only last longer if they are kept clean, but will also make the guitar feel more pleasant to be played. One of the best and most affective methods for cleaning, is to use a dry, lint-free cloth and pass it between the strings and fingerboard, and then drag it the full length of the strings from the bridge all the way to the nut.
Many players prefer to use string-cleaning fluids, however, keep in mind that these fluids should not be used to clean nylon strings.
Steel strings should ideally be wiped down and cleaned every time you are finished playing. It will prevent the salt that is naturally produced from the skin of the fingers as they sweat, from reacting with the strings, thus creating rust.
Fretboards that have a synthetic varnish can be cleaned just like you would the body. There are a number of guitarists that have oiled ebony or rosewood fingerboards. It is good practice to thoroughly clean them each time the strings are changed.
One cool trick here is to apply a bit of lemon oil to the wood, and leave it for about five minutes. After the five minutes, it can then be cleaned off using a dry cloth. Not only does it clean the fingerboard and maintain the feel, but the lemon oil also feeds the wood, preventing it from drying out.
It is very common for the dirt from the fingers to begin to build up along the edges of the frets. This can be removed quite easily by using a gently pointed object, such as a toothpick or even a nail file. Any grime should come loose fairly easily, so please try not to scratch too hard, because the fretboard could possibly get damaged.
Keeping all of the guitar's metal parts, such as the bridge, pickups, tremolo bar, and machine heads clean is probably the most effective way to prevent any rust or other tarnishing effects from rearing their ugly head. Any type of normal domestic, chrome-cleaning agent should suffice just fine for most of these items.
Switch-cleaning sprays can be used on the pickups or polarity switches, to keep them from sticking or clicking. It can also be used when cleaning the volume or tone controls, to help keep their operation smooth.
If you don't plan on using your guitar for a little while, it might be a good idea to pay some attention to the way in which the guitar will be stored. Apart from protecting the instrument from any type of bumps and scrapes, one of the most important considerations to take into account is the wide variations in temperature and humidity that your instrument can face.
It is even more important for those delicate acoustic instruments, where any type of sudden change in the climate can alter the action, distort the wood, cause cracks in the finish, or damage the glue joints. For this reason alone, guitars shouldn't be kept in basements, lofts, or close to any source of radiator or hot water pipe.
It will always be a good idea to keep your guitar stowed away in a sturdy case, but again there are many musicians who prefer to hang their instruments from walls. Although it isn't the optimal recommendation, because it will no doubt suffer from dust build-up.
But, if that is what you have decided on, and I must say it is very convenient, just make sure to buy specially designed fixtures and fittings. One last thing, please don't ever hang your guitar in any type of direct sunlight. It will damage the bodywork, as well as cause the color to fade and the wood to become distorted.
Before storing your guitar, make sure to always give it a thorough cleaning, to prevent tarnishing or rusting of the metal parts. Detune the strings as well, this will relieve the tension or stress that is placed upon the joints between the neck and the body.
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