Looking after guitar?

[ecktronic]

Does anyone have any tips on how to look after a guitar. For example what kind of polish to use on the body/neck, what product to use to stop rust on metal parts.

Thanks.
Eck

 

[hixmix]

Gibson or Martin polish for the body.

Lemon oil for the fretboard.

Some Simichrome polish for the tuners and other chrome hardware when it needs it.

 

[ecktronic]

Thanks for the info.

Would you recomend the stuff for the chrome for expensive guitars?
Or do expensive guitars not get rust the same as the cheaper models?

Cheers.
Eck

 

[Dumby]

Wrist band

Prevention is key my good man. Don't keep them in a moist basement during a heat wave

Also, I wear a tennis wrist band on my picking wrist to prevent sweat and what not to damage the finish in the only area that's get "traffic" above the bridge.

 

[Light]

There are a lot of good polishes on the market. As long as they don't have silicone in them, they are probably OK, but if you stick with the popular brands you'll be fine. My favorite is called Powerchord (made by Bioterra Industries), followed by the GHS guitar polish. But you probably don't need to polish them very often.

When the fingerboard is dirty, it can be cleaned with some OOOO steel wool, and then oiled with lemon oil or mineral oil. If you use lemon oil, it should be made up MOSTLY of mineral oil, with a little lemon oil to make it smell good. But again, you really don't need to do this very often.

The thing you need to be most careful of is heat and humidity. Make sure it doesn't get too hot, as glue can start to melt at temperatures as low as 110 degrees. If you wouldn't leave your baby or you dog in the car, don't leave your guitar. Cold is less of an issue, but you do need to be careful. It is not going to cause any structural issues, but if the guitar gets cold and then warms up too fast, you will cause weather checking.

Humidity is a bigger factor. You want to keep your guitar in an enviroment with a consistant realitive humidity of between 40% and 50%. High isn't going to hurt, but your guitar will not sound very good. Lower, however, will distroy your guitar, and fast. The top will start to sink, crack, and you may even get loose braces. If you live part of the country which has cold winters, he will not be possible for you to keep the humidity where your guitar needs without damaging your house. Instead, make sure to use an appropriate humidifier.

The only thing you should be sure to do every day is to wipe the guitar down with a soft cloth when you're done playing. If you do this, wash your hands before you play, and changer strings on a regular basis your guitar will be fine. It will likely need some occasional adjustment, which is best handled by a professional, but there's not much else to worry about.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[ibanezrocks]

When the fingerboard is dirty, it can be cleaned with some OOOO steel wool, and then oiled with lemon oil or mineral oil. If you use lemon oil, it should be made up MOSTLY of mineral oil, with a little lemon oil to make it smell good. But again, you really don't need to do this very often.

Not to nitpick at your excellent advice Light, as I often read a thread I'm not even interested in after noticing that you've posted and would like to hear from your experience, BUT when cleaning the fretboard with the steel wool isn't it necessary to ensure that none of the small filings from the steel wool don't come in contact with the pickups?

 

[SHEPPARDB.]

There are a lot of good polishes on the market. As long as they don't have silicone in them, they are probably OK, but if you stick with the popular brands you'll be fine. My favorite is called Powerchord (made by Bioterra Industries), followed by the GHS guitar polish. But you probably don't need to polish them very often.

When the fingerboard is dirty, it can be cleaned with some OOOO steel wool, and then oiled with lemon oil or mineral oil. If you use lemon oil, it should be made up MOSTLY of mineral oil, with a little lemon oil to make it smell good. But again, you really don't need to do this very often.

The thing you need to be most careful of is heat and humidity. Make sure it doesn't get too hot, as glue can start to melt at temperatures as low as 110 degrees. If you wouldn't leave your baby or you dog in the car, don't leave your guitar. Cold is less of an issue, but you do need to be careful. It is not going to cause any structural issues, but if the guitar gets cold and then warms up too fast, you will cause weather checking.

Humidity is a bigger factor. You want to keep your guitar in an enviroment with a consistant realitive humidity of between 40% and 50%. High isn't going to hurt, but your guitar will not sound very good. Lower, however, will distroy your guitar, and fast. The top will start to sink, crack, and you may even get loose braces. If you live part of the country which has cold winters, he will not be possible for you to keep the humidity where your guitar needs without damaging your house. Instead, make sure to use an appropriate humidifier.

The only thing you should be sure to do every day is to wipe the guitar down with a soft cloth when you're done playing. If you do this, wash your hands before you play, and changer strings on a regular basis your guitar will be fine. It will likely need some occasional adjustment, which is best handled by a professional, but there's not much else to worry about.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Relative humidity is the sweat that forms on your balls when you are fucking your cousin.I play a strat,and I treat it like a stat.Pick gaurd has rusty screws and shit.I dont humidify it.It's a fucking Strat.
When I sweat it out and everything is rusty,I replace it.
Thats a fact of life when you sweat a lot and play 3-4 nites a week.

 

[Light]

Not to nitpick at your excellent advice Light, as I often read a thread I'm not even interested in after noticing that you've posted and would like to hear from your experience, BUT when cleaning the fretboard with the steel wool isn't it necessary to ensure that none of the small filings from the steel wool don't come in contact with the pickups?

Well, they're not going to hurt anything, but I do always tape off the pickups when I'm doing it, just to keep things neat.

Relative humidity is the sweat that forms on your balls when you are fucking your cousin.I play a strat,and I treat it like a stat.Pick gaurd has rusty screws and shit.I dont humidify it.It's a fucking Strat.
When I sweat it out and everything is rusty,I replace it.
Thats a fact of life when you sweat a lot and play 3-4 nites a week.

Fine, it's your guitar, and that's your choice. But he didn't ask how to abuse a guitar.

Oh, and if you started taking care of it, you would ever HAVE to replace it. Try wiping it down when your done playing. You'll be amazed how much longer your guitar will last. As for humidity, are the frets sticking out of your fingerboard? `Cause if you treat a guitar like that here in Minnesota, you may as well be playing a bread knife.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[jaykeMURD]

Love Juice makes a decent lubricant. Leaves a kinda "foggy" residue on the wood though!

 

[travelin travis]

Love Juice makes a decent lubricant. Leaves a kinda "foggy" residue on the wood though!

I'll take your word on that.

 

[Dani Pace]

Nylon scrubbing pads (like used for non stick cookware) works about as well as steel wool for cleaning your fingerboard, and you don't have to worry about metal fibers getting into the pups.
As Light said, excess heat can do a lot of damage. Try to avoid sudden changes in temperature, allow your guitar to warm up or cool down slowly.
Buy yourself a good case, and keep your guitar in it when you aren't playing it.
Lubricate metal parts (saddle adjusting screws and tuning machines) sparingly with a good grease, a tiny dab applied with a toothpick is plenty. Avoid products like WD40 and anything which contains silicone.
If parts (especialy screws) get rusty, replace them, they don't cost much and don't require a lot of tools to change them.
If you can't do a set up, take your guitar to a shop and have it done at least once a year, more often if you live in an area where the weather changes a lot.

 

[Dumby]

Love Juice makes a decent lubricant. Leaves a kinda "foggy" residue on the wood though!

I try to keep the babybatter off that instrument also.

 

[ibanezrocks]

Well, they're not going to hurt anything, but I do always tape off the pickups when I'm doing it, just to keep things neat.

I suppose if its a covered pickup or an extremely well-potted pickup it really wouldn't hurt. However there is a very small possibility that it could not be good for the pickup.

My advice: if its a stock pickup don't worry about it. If you spent extra money on a certain pickup to put in that guitar its worth the time to tape off the pickup.

EDIT: I am quoting guys from the Seymour Duncan forums, which should be acknowledged are pretty paranoid about pickups.

 

[ecktronic]

Thanks alot.
For the fretboard I have just been using a polishing cloth with some good ol spit. Not much though.
Is this safe?

Eck