Guitar maintenance manual summary（two）
last time we introduced the guitar maintenance tools and the effect of dry and humidity on the guitar. Today we will talk about the knowledge of guitar maintenance.
Many believe that expensive guitars are immune to fluctuations in relative humidity. In fact, high-end guitars are more sensitive to humidity than regular guitars. A high-end guitar uses thinner wood and paint, and it is more susceptible to weather changes than a plywood guitar.
Method for guitar maintenance
Acoustic guitar maintenance I divide it into three types of maintenance: daily maintenance, routine maintenance and deep maintenance
(1) Daily maintenance
Speaking of daily maintenance, it mainly depends on usage habits. It’s like driving a car, usually don’t care about anything, drive like a bad road, and drive violently, think about it and know the result. The same is true for guitars. Usually, a good use habit is better than anything else.
1. Wash your hands before playing the piano
Before playing the guitar, wash your hands first, then dry them with a dry towel or paper towel before you play the guitar. Because both dead skin on your hands and the natural oils on your skin can affect the appearance and playability of your guitar, skin marks can corrode the frets and leave dirty deposits on the fretboard. Wash your hands so that even your fingers Sweat, and there won’t be much sludge either.
2. Wipe the guitar after playing
After playing, use your usual cleaning cloth to wipe the entire body of the guitar, as well as the strings, to prevent the strings from rusting quickly. When the guitar is not playing, don’t put it in random places, especially when you lean it anywhere, it is neither clean nor safe. Many people like to hang their guitars, I think it is better not to hang them. If you don’t play it anymore, just wipe it clean and put it in the piano bag and find a suitable place to put it. If you put it on a shelf, don’t keep it in the sun by the window, or put it on the balcony in the northern winter, it will have a certain impact on the piano, and remember to clean the dust often.
In addition, the guitar should be avoided for a long time, especially if the strings are not loosened, it will cause the guitar to deform. If you can’t play the piano for more than a month, it is recommended to loosen the strings. Of course, you don’t need to loosen them all. You can lower them by a whole tone.
(2) Routine maintenance
1. Control temperature & humidity
The protection of the guitar starts from its environment. Temperature and humidity always affect the vitality of the guitar unknowingly.
If the temperature and humidity are too low, the wood will shrink, which may cause depressions on both sides of the guitar bridge, the neck will bulge, the wood will crack, and the string spacing will become lower, which will cause the fret. It causes the guitar top to bulge, the neck to be sunken, the wood to dry and crack, the string spacing to become high, and the degumming of the glued places such as the neck and the body, the bridge and the top, and the top and the back side.
Maintenance:
The best temperature condition is 16~24 degrees. please don’t place the guitar in direct sunlight, don’t place it in any corner with high temperature. In winter, place the guitar from Do not touch the heat source immediately when taking it home.
Be more careful about humidity control! The best humidity condition is 45%~55%. If conditions permit, you can buy a dehumidifier, which will help preserve the guitar.
The best way to control the temperature is to buy an incubator to store the guitar. In the incubator, you don’t need to spend too much energy on it, but it’s a bit expensive. If your guitar tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not too bad to buy an incubator for it.
2. Place it properly
The wood of the veneer is usually lighter and thinner. Compared with the fire stick and the plywood, it is more fragile. The chords may be knocked out, which may cause the guitar to go out of tune, and the body may be scratched or even cracked.
Maintenance:
Remember to put the guitar in a place where it is not easy to collide after every time you play the guitar. It is not recommended to hang the guitar diagonally on the wall, which will easily cause the guitar to deform. It is also not recommended to hang the guitar straight on the wall for a long time. There will be some damage to the neck for a long time, you can choose to support it with a floor stand. If it is placed against a wall, the panel should face the wall, which can reduce the damage to the neck.
(3) In-depth maintenance
In addition to environmental factors, deep maintenance of the guitar still needs to be done on a regular basis. After using it for a certain period of time, it is still necessary to do a deep maintenance and cleaning on the guitar. At the same time, you can also change a set of strings, and then resurrect with full blood. The in-depth maintenance cycle should be determined according to the frequency and intensity of your piano practice. If you play for 3 hours a day, you can clean it once every three months. If the frequency of practice is not too high, it will be once every six months. This depends on the situation.
1. Clean the piano body
Use a wiping cloth to remove the dust from the piano body, and then use the piano body wax to apply it evenly, but be careful not to apply too much, too thick will also have an effect.
2. Fingerboard cleaning
Use lemon oil to clean the fingerboard (be sure to pay attention to the instruction manual that the material of the fingerboard is lemon oil), then wipe it clean, apply the fingerboard oil, and wipe it evenly. Be careful when buying cleaners, and be sure to buy dark natural wood fretboard designs that don’t contain silicone in the ingredient list. This is very important, don’t overuse it, anyway, you are also painting something on the guitar, too much or too much, there will be unexpected negative effects.
3. Derusting of the frets
Use tape or a special sticker to stick the fingerboard part, and then wipe the frets with a rust-removing cloth.
4. Replace the strings
Replacing the strings is a relatively simple step, so I won’t repeat them here. There is a little trick to use. Don’t throw away the old strings that you have replaced. If the strings you use are better, You can clean it up and apply the string oil to set it up for use. If one of the strings is really broken, it may not be easy to find a matching one for a single string.
After this process, it takes a little time for a long time to pass. You use your own guitar, who doesn’t care about it It won’t let you down either.
Well, the whole guitar maintenance manual ends here. If you have any good opinions on guitar maintenance, please leave a comment! It’s not easy to code words, just follow and like, this is the greatest support for me! Thanks for watching!