Acoustic Guitar Care?

A

ambi

New member
I just bought that Takamine used classical guitar that i talked about in a post a while ago, for anyone who remembers. It's very nice and i got it for 400 (Canadian) with a hard case and extra strings. Now it's at least 20 years old, which is good because it has a nice tone from being broken in over the years, but it also has a fair number of skratches and minors dents. All in all it looks very good, but i was wondering if there was something besides a damp clothe that i should be using to polish it up and take care of it with?

Also is there some other standard guitar ettiquete i should follow for taking care of it? This is my first guitar so i don't know what should be done.
 
as far as the body goes just a damp cloth will clean it ok, on the fretboard i use windex when i change the strings and do this well you gott the strings off, see your fingers have alot of oils in them and they build up on the fretboard and then all that dead skin and dust sticks and turns into crud and windex will take it off without hurting the guitar, ive even used it on my guitar bodies and it has never hurt the finish but i would suggest you do some research first just to be sure it wont hurt the finish but never has on mine. they make guitar polish they make some for the fretboard and some for the body that you just spray on the stuff for the fretboard cleans your strings as well as making the neck feel faster do to the oily feel it has. i think ghs makes it and martin makes the polish you can use on the body of your guitar.
aside from that enjoy your new guitar and practice practice practice, one thing you might wanna do for your acoustic is check out one of those humidifiers that go wright in the soun hole they work very well and keep the guitar at the wright humidity well in the case. god bless flash
 
Thanks guys!

A humidifier huh?

And put it in the sound hole? So inside the guitar? Or in the case near the sound hole?

And what exactly do these devices look like/where do i buy them? Are they special ones for guitars or just something you can buy at a hardware store? Do they mount to the case or just sit in the case?

When i got it home i went over it with a damp clothe and used some damp cue tips to clean of various hard to get at area's. It came with some new strings on so i'm going to wait until i change them to clean the fret board. So would cleaning it with windex, and then conditioning it with lemon oil be a good route to take?

Also the case i have is a hard case, it's not air tight or anything, it was used but in good condition. Just a regular black one with the 4 clamps going around it. I was going to get a guitar stand like they have in guitar stores and just leave it standing on the floor so i can get at it easily, but i'll follow your advice and save a few bucks and just keep it in it's case!
 
So would cleaning it with windex, and then conditioning it with lemon oil be a good route to take?
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Well, I would not use Windex for the simple reason that it contains water. Water will eventually (over time) get in between the frets and board and may give you problems.
Use a soft cloth with a little bit of naptha (lighter fluid) to get all the grit and dirt off. Naptha evaprates quickly and will not harm the board, then follow up with a little lemon oil.
You'll be "right as rain" ;)
 
Also, there is no need to clean the board this way every time you change strings. There is a perfect combination of cleanliness and the natual oils from your finger that will give your fretboard the perfect feel.
 
Well the guitar as at least 20 years old, and i just bought it today so i can't say when the last time was that it was cleaned.

You think it would be a good idea to start fresh and wipe off all of the other peoples gunk from the fretboard? Or do you think it helps it to play better?

And i looked into the humidifiers myself...
 
You think it would be a good idea to start fresh and wipe off all of the other peoples gunk from the fretboard? Or do you think it helps it to play better?
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Yes absolutely!!!!
Your gunk is OK, other peoples gunk is kinda... well,.. gross. :p

I would start off fresh.
 
i like to take some mild steel wool to the fretboard of anything i buy, and lightly oil it with olive oil.
 
Properly setup?

I'm guessing you mean have a proffesional set it up.

But what exactly does that mean?

Sorry i don't know a lot about guitars.
 
Ah. Ok that's cool! Any idea how much that would run? It would vary between instruments i'm sure, but a ballpark?

Also what kind of establishment would i look for to have this done? Would be be some sort of specialty shop? There aren't a lot of little specialty shops around where i live due to the size of the area, but i could look!
 
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