Take Care of a Guitar

You just got that great guitar you've had your eye on for so long, but have no idea how to maintain and care for your new instrument. Here are some helpful tips to keep the guitar looking and sounding brand new.

Steps

  1. Treat your guitar with care. Treat guitars how you would treat guitars at the store, or maybe your other valuable possessions. Never lay it down on the ground when you are not playing it or doing maintenance on it. The best place for your guitar is inside it's own fitted case or something that will hold it properly. You can choose between a hard case, or a gig bag, or hang it on a wall hanger or stand it up on a floor stand.
    • If you have an electric guitar, try loosening the strings a bit so you can remove the dust that most likely has gathered around the pickups.
    • If you have an acoustic, loosen the strings and remove the dust by the bridge.
      • You don't need to loosen them much, just enough to get a cloth underneath. *Prod the hardware to see if it is loose, and if it is, see if there is a screw you can tighten.
  2. If you're going to ever take it out of the house, then head down to your local guitar store and check prices for padded gig bags or even better, cases. Guitar cases have a hard shell that protects your instrument from damage.

Changing Strings

  1. Restringing a guitar is not as hard as it may seem. Make sure you have the correct strings for any guitar you have, you can also mix and match different gauges and metal material for electrics.
    • You might find it easier to start with high E (1st string), but it doesn't matter where you start.
  2. A real nice thing to possess is a string winder, it makes the process of unwinding and winding string much easier. It is not a required tool however, but most certainly recommend that you should use, just in case of accidental string breaks on stage. First, you unwind the string at the machine head. Keep on turning until the string is so loose you can wind off the string with your hands and removing it from the machine. Then, you go down to the bridge and notice how the string is fastened there.
  3. Make sure you have a few wraps around the peg for if not, the string will go out of tune more often and easily.
  4. There are several different ways the guitar manufacturers make bridges. However, on most electrics, it is quite simple and you do not need a tool to loosen the strings, except if you have a Floyd Rose system, and then the strings are fastened by tightening the string into a clamp. For this, you need a hex wrench tool but you should have been provided if you bought the guitar new.

Customization

  1. Go to your local guitar store, or look on the internet for spare parts. Replacing a pickguard or volume knobs are things almost everyone could do with their guitar and increase looks.
  2. If you are a skilled artist, you can try to customize your guitar by painting it, or you can put on some stickers. However, do not paint an acoustic guitar as it can reduce the quality of the sound. Do not try to reshape it, neither the body nor the neck and headstock, as this can mess up the sound coming from it.

Tips

  • Make sure that guitar straps and strap pins are secure and properly maintained to reduce the incidence of the instrument being dropped and possibly damaged.
  • Keep your guitar away from excessive temperatures, moisture, or abrasive situations. Keep it around 70 F and 40 % humidity.
  • Whenever possible, tuck your cords between your strap with some slack if you are standing up and moving around while playing.
  • Strap locks can save any guitar player from dropping their guitar from a loose strap.

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