GUITAR SHOWCASE 2022 : It's no secret that guitars are spirited instruments, sensitive to the elements and often susceptible to damage from clumsy or inexperienced hands.
Just as all cars need care and attention to keep the engine running, guitars benefit greatly from a little care.
What happens when it's gig time and you find to your horror that the 'Old Faithful' suddenly has lapsteel action or is buzzing at both ends of the neck? We guitarists invest hundreds if not thousands in our gear and it can be scary how many of us wait for something to go wrong to take care of our instruments.
Just as all cars need care and attention to keep the engine running, guitars benefit greatly from a little care from time to time. Having a good local technician or guitar builder is of course a great solution, but many problems can be solved or avoided entirely without resorting to more expensive measures.
We've compiled our top tips for 10 different areas of guitar care that every guitarist should know - master them all and your guitar will thank you for your loyal service year after year.
1. Understand humidity
Unless you're using one of these new carbon fiber wonders, chances are your guitar will be built from a selection of different woods. Wood is naturally very sensitive to moisture, so the humidity around your guitar is of paramount importance.
Compared to their electrified cousins, acoustic guitars are particularly vulnerable due to their relatively thin and delicate construction. While this brings with it all of the beautiful tone and projection that make acoustics what they are, it also exposes our beloved instruments to a multitude of problems.
Higher humidity means there is more moisture in the air; the moisture that the porous woods of your acoustics will devour as if it were their last meal. This excess moisture causes the wood to swell, which can cause the joints in various parts of the guitar to loosen (eg.
Drought, on the other hand, is potentially much more severe. When wood is severely deprived of moisture, it shrinks, which can result in a cracked guitar top or a warped neck. A telltale sign of dryness is when the edges of the frets suddenly feel sharp as they pull away from the wood. Alternatively, you can place a ruler on the underside of the guitar under the bridge. The top of the guitar should slope outward slightly, leaving small gaps under the ruler towards the outside edges. If the guitar is flat or worse, slightly sagging, you need to take action.
To avoid moisture problems, you need to create a stable environment for your guitar. Ideally you want a relative humidity of 45-55%. Room temperature can be difficult to regulate, so one of the best tips is to make sure you put your guitar back in the case between sessions.
Yes, it looks better when it's on a stand or hanging on the wall, but the simple fact is that the atmosphere of a room is a lot easier to control, especially when you're using a product like a humidistat. This nifty little device sits in the sound hole when the guitar is safely stored in its case and constantly monitors the relative humidity inside the case.
Alternatively, you can buy a digital hygrometer, humidifier, and dehumidifier and carefully monitor your guitar's environment and adjust as needed.
When to See a Professional: If your guitar shows signs of significant moisture-related damage, such as: B. Cracks and split joints.
2. Clean your guitar
Sweat, dead skin, and natural skin oils can affect the guitar's appearance and playability.
Cleaning your guitar is one of the most basic and important parts of effective guitar care. Whether it's an inexpensive guitar, a fully laminated strummer, or a luthier's masterpiece, every guitar deserves a regular cleaning, and it will make you feel better playing it.
Sweat, dead skin, and natural skin oils can affect the look and playability of your guitar by staining the finish, corroding the frets, and leaving unsightly deposits on the fretboard. Always keep a clean, dry cloth handy in your guitar case, and thoroughly clean your guitar from head (butt) to toe (huh... bridge?) before and after each playing session.
For a more thorough cleaning, there are countless special cleaners for guitars on the market. Just read the label and make sure the cleaner is right for your guitar and its finish.
When to see a professional: If you've used the wrong type of cleaner and damaged your guitar's finish.
3. Key Conditioning
Unlike the body of your guitar, the fretboard is almost always left unfinished and unsealed. For this reason it is often the first area to show the effects of dryness and the main way to prevent this is to condition the fretboard regularly with a guitar specific product.
The best conditioners not only moisturize the wood, but also remove dirt and grime while polishing the frets. Make sure any cleaner you buy is designed for dark natural wood fretboards and doesn't have silicone in its ingredient list. Also, be careful not to over-condition—remember that you're adding moisture to the mix and too much can have undesirable effects.
When to see a professional: If your fretboard has cracks or has loose or sharp frets.
4. Stay like a pro
Picking up a guitar is something a surprisingly large number of musicians can get wrong, and it can lead to a myriad of problems, from broken strings to poor intonation and tuning stability. How you start depends on the type of guitar (and bridge) you are dealing with.
Most steel string guitars come with either a series of slots to hold the strings securely or a set of bridge pins. These can be removed with a small pliers-like tool if they are particularly tight, but should generally be easy to loosen by hand.
The ball ends of new strings should fit snugly against the bridge pins with the string grooves facing forward to ensure a straight pull on the strings. Pins should be replaced with firm thumb pressure; Don't push too hard or you risk damaging the jumper or pins when you remove them.
Classical guitars require you to be a little more skilled and tie a knot to hold the strings in place. Different guitarists will inevitably have different ways of doing this, but the easiest way, we think, is (once you've run the string through the bridge) to bring the string back and loop it under itself twice, with each end of the string clinging to it the back of the bridge. Be careful not to tie anything too tight - the tension in the rope should do most of the work.
Once you've taken care of the easel, it's time to move on to the headstock. Thread the string through the tuning post using a sturdy peg box. Then, halfway up the bar, rotate the rope (clockwise for the bottom three ropes, counterclockwise for the top ropes) until the short end passes under the main length of rope.
Once submerged, fold back to secure the rope. This should ensure a secure fit that does not slip when playing and ensure the straightest possible string pull.
For split headstocks, follow the same basic method, except sweep the strings back and forth before winding the end of the string. In any case, when tuning, the string should be wrapped around the post at least twice to keep the tuning stable and reduce the risk of breakage.
When to see a pro: If your tuning keeps falling apart even after days of string play, or you suffer from frequent string breakage.
5. Neck Alignment
Neck relief is another topic that can easily intimidate both novice and experienced players. There's no shame in consulting your local neck expert and more often than not they're happy to give you advice or give you a second opinion.
Two main symptoms indicate a neck relief problem. The first is a loud buzz between the first and seventh frets, and the second is an unusually loud action.
The former suggests your neck is too straight (or worse), while the latter suggests your neck has leaned too far forward. A common misconception is that you need to adjust the truss rod to tune your guitar mechanics, when in reality the neck should always be slightly bowed with the truss rod being adjusted only to address the real problems of neck relief and setting controlled action. to nut and saddle (see elsewhere in this article).
Assessing neck relief is actually a fairly simple task in itself. Start by playing the low E string at the 1st fret with one hand and the 12th fret with the other. It's a good idea to use a capo to free one hand (or both if you have two), otherwise you may have to ask someone else to give you a little help.
When you've played both parts of the string, take out a ruler and measure the distance between the bottom of the string and the top of the seventh fret. The average fretboard relief is between 8/1000th and 10/1000th of an inch - if your measurement is off by more than 12/1000th of an inch or if it's lying flat at the fret then there is a problem with the neck relief which you will need to match with rebar.
If your neck relief is good but you're still having string height issues, you might want to consider making nut or nut adjustments.
When to See a Professional: If you're having trouble getting an accurate reading or are experiencing ringing in different areas of your throat despite normal neck relief.
6. Diagnose problems with the mother
stop laughing you
Yes, this section of our guide is inevitably going to be full of euphemisms, but saddle maintenance (I've said enough!) is an important area of guitar repair and something we could all do with understanding. .
In most cases, unless you're extremely comfortable filing your guitar wood or just don't care if it goes extremely wrong, we recommend consulting a professional first. However, diagnosing problems at home can help isolate problems and figure out how best to fix them.
As with checking the neck reliefs, the best way to diagnose a nut problem is to simply run each string up to the third fret (yep, another good time to use your trusty nut) and then check the nut. Distance between each string and the top of the first fret. If the strings move more than a few thousandths of an inch when playing, the saddle could benefit from some filing (with a special set of saddle files, of course) to lower the string action. If the opposite is true, the capo may already be too low and need some boosting.
When to see a pro: Honestly, unless you already have a set of saddle files on hand and are very confident, this is one area where we recommend taking your guitar to a pro 99% of the time. But that doesn't mean you can't diagnose the problem yourself!
7. Make jumper settings
Most of the time, the bridge is a much better place than the saddle when it comes to setting your guitar's action. In comparison, the saddle is a much easier part of your guitar to modify, and also a lot easier to replace if the worst happens.
In fact, on most modern guitars, the saddle is easily removed when stringing the guitar. If you have an older style guitar with the bridge set into the body, it is best to consult your local technician or luthier.
Before making any adjustments to the saddle, it is very important to first check the saddle height and neck spacing. Misdiagnosing the problem can cost you more money and time, not to mention sheer frustration. If both are fine and you're still having trouble, saddle adjustment could be the solution.
The next thing to check is the radius of the saddle, which should perfectly match the radius of your neck. If not, you may need a new saddle. Finally, if your guitar comes with an under-saddle piezo pickup, you should take it straight to a pro. These pickups rely on perfect saddle setup, and any inaccurate or sloppy adjustment could affect string balance and the tonal quality of the connected device.
Well, if you decide to adjust the nut yourself, the first thing you should always do is measure and write down the height of each string at the 12th fret. Next you need to decide how much you want to raise or lower them. This number is multiplied by two to find the correct saddle setting.
Make sure your planned measurements still allow your saddle to sit snugly and snugly on the bridge and your planned height is between 1/32 and 3/16 of an inch. If your intended changes fall outside of this range, yes you guessed it, consult a professional.
To lower the saddle, you need to measure your setup with a pencil under the high and low E string slots. Use a ruler to connect these two points and you should end up with a perfect level to file the saddle. The easiest way to adjust the saddle afterwards is to put on some 80 grit sandpaper and sand it down to the line you drew earlier.
Once there, finish it off with 120 grit for a better, flatter finish. This is extremely important for those of you with under-the-saddle pads for the reasons outlined above.
Luckily, raising the saddle is a lot easier and just requires placing a piece of hard, flat material under the saddle. These items are easily purchased online as part of nut and caliper repair kits and are a useful item to have in your tool kit. They're often made out of bone, plastic, or even wood, so take your pick and enjoy!
When to Consult a Pro: If you have an expensive and/or delicate vintage guitar, or if you need to consider an under-the-saddle pickup.
8. Tackle the soul
If you've checked the neck relief and decided there is a problem with the neck itself, it's time to get familiar with the truss rod. This can be one of the most daunting areas of guitar care to get used to, and for good reason: messing everything up can cause serious damage to your beloved instrument. Make sure you have the right tool for the job, here's the key: if you don't have the original tuning tool that came with your guitar, contact your manufacturer and get a replacement.
Using the wrong tool could damage the soul itself, which you should avoid at all costs. Truss rod access is usually at the top of the headstock under a truss rod cover or at the base of the neck under the rosette.
Depending on the results of the neck relief assessment, you should tighten the truss rod (clockwise) to create more bow or loosen it to straighten the neck (counterclockwise). Before performing a single trick, you should also make sure you're in tune properly, as this is the reference point for all fretboard adjustments.
The amount of twist will inevitably vary from guitar to guitar, but as a guide, try to make adjustments of about 1/8 to ¼ of a turn at a time. Regardless of what fit is desired, we usually recommend loosening the collar first as a precaution. You should also play the guitar between rounds to allow the neck to fold in before taking another step, as shown in Tip #5. It's a slow process, but patience is a virtue.
When to See a Pro: If you notice resistance or crackling in your setup, stop immediately and take your guitar to the nearest technician. You should also cancel the configuration if you haven't fixed the problem after two full shifts; it's just not worth the risk.
9. Store your guitar
Whether you're a live musician or a DIY enthusiast, finding the right cabinet for your acoustics is vital. A good case not only protects your guitar from damage, but also helps control humidity by providing a more stable environment and protecting against sudden temperature changes.
Your guitar might look great on a stand, but it only takes one mess to ruin it all. Many years ago, even during the winter months, I would come home from a weekend trip to find that my water heater was broken.
To my horror I had left one of my guitars on a stand and of course the neck was bent. Luckily I was able to fix it for just over £100 but things could have been a lot worse. I've heard of other people who have dropped pets, children, jewelry, and damaged their own guitars as well. It's just not worth the risk!
But before you rush all the hobbyists out to buy a set of guitar-shaped nuclear bunkers, take a moment to think about what you really need in your guitar case.
Tote bags in particular have come a long way in recent years and today you can find budget examples like Mono that offer an exceptional level of protection as well as benefits like waterproofing. Not to mention they're also significantly lighter, ideal for gigs where god forbid you have to walk to the venue.
Some cases also come with built-in hygrometers (great for monitoring humidity on the go). They're fairly rare, but Ortega produces a particularly nice selection. Usually, however, the average hard case doesn't really protect, especially if you're planning on handing your guitar over to airline baggage handling.
Then SKB cabinets are an absolute bargain and offer the kind of occupational safety that gives everyone peace of mind.
Whichever case you choose, it's always a good idea to invest in at least a digital hygrometer or the incredibly useful Planet Waves Humidipak (D'Addario).
When to see a professional: When you feel there are too many options, or when you need a second opinion on whether your current case is working well.
10. Tools for the job
While many of these tips and tricks require little or no investment, there are inevitably a number of useful items that a guitarist should keep in a safe place. Below we have listed some essential (and some less essential) that can be used to keep your guitar in the best possible condition.
• Metal Ruler - with detailed measurements in inches
• Pitch adjustment tools
• Multimeters
•Tuner
• Guitar cleaner
• Bite conditioner
• Fret cleaning solution (e.g. chrome frets)
• Digital hygrometer
•Humidifier
• Dehumidifier
• Planet Waves Humidipak (plus refills)
• Cleaning wipes
• String Winders/Cutters (Planet Waves makes a good one)
• High quality hard case/carrying case
• Nut files (optional)
• Sandpaper - 80 and 120 grit
• Magnifying glass (to facilitate careful measurements)
• Manuals: Many manufacturers provide PDF versions of the manual for your guitar; Paste them on your computer or smartphone for easy reference. Manuals can contain important information about recommended chains, actions, required tools, warranty, etc.
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