Regular Maintenance

[LPCustom]

I'm curious what you folks do as regular maintenance for your guitars.

 

Do you regularly check the neck for drift, relief, etc.?

 

Do you regularly clean the entire guitar?

 

Do you regularly polish your guitar to protect the finish?

 

Do you spin the pots back and forth (full travel) several times when you first pick it up to keep the pots from corroding?

 

Do you change your strings regularly?

 

Do you have a schedule where you clean and treat the fretboard?

 

Do you wipe down your strings with something to keep them from corroding after you finish playing?

 

Do you keep your guitar in its case (if you have one) or do you just leave it on a stand?

 

Do you check the frets regularly to check for cupping and wear?

 

What are your criteria for determining if your guitar needs a refret?

 

Or am I just an anal retentive sort?

[EmptinesOf Youth]

sadly i dont do anything..at all...i dont evcen know when the last time i changed string on my main axe or acoustic, they both probably get useed around 5-6 hours a week. Not good i know, but ill get around to it somethime right? haha...what i ned to do is learn to properly set up and fix everyhting...which reminds me, what do you do to fix noisy pots? you guys dont have to answer that ill search the forum. but yea nothin...

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by LPCustom:

Or am I just an anal retentive sort?

I believe you've got it pegged.

[Bluesape]

I'm terrible about maintenance, leaving strings on for years, not polishing, etc. I use light enough strings that I've never had to refret an instrument. Pots do get noisy over time, but there's always that contact spray. My guitars are normally cased when not in use. I only keep one at a time on a stand.

[caprae]

Hang on the wall. Try to remember to wipe then down after playing. Polish once every other month or so. Have started taking them to get them initially set up, then do the rest myself. Change strings before they corrode.

[Guitarzan]

Originally posted by LPCustom:

I'm curious what you folks do as regular maintenance for your guitars.

 

Do you regularly check the neck for drift, relief, etc.?

 

Do you regularly clean the entire guitar?

 

Do you regularly polish your guitar to protect the finish?

 

Do you spin the pots back and forth (full travel) several times when you first pick it up to keep the pots from corroding?

 

Do you change your strings regularly?

 

Do you have a schedule where you clean and treat the fretboard?

 

Do you wipe down your strings with something to keep them from corroding after you finish playing?

 

Do you keep your guitar in its case (if you have one) or do you just leave it on a stand?

 

Do you check the frets regularly to check for cupping and wear?

 

What are your criteria for determining if your guitar needs a refret?

 

Or am I just an anal retentive sort?

no you are not anal retentive. i do all of the above to a certain extent. i am also constantly tweaking the things for maximum plability.

i hate grungy axes. i cleaned one up for a friend once and when asked for another grunge removal i declined. i even took the Japanese 5 way switch apart to make it work. no easy task. the damn ball bearing flew out an i had to hunt it down. this thing was major yucky. there was DNA everywhere.

impressions on the neck from laying on a workshop bench on top of other junk. ever see an accoustic after years in an attic? get ready to play slide.

i wash my clothes, i bath, i change the oil in my car. why not take care of something that is used to create music?

[Dr. Ellwood]

I do ALL those things on my gigging instruments.. I refret when I start to loose tone and sustain... the pots never have worn out on anyting I have including the vintage instruments! I replace strings ALL the time on the gigging guitars. I do the adjustments on my necks myself unless there is a major problem then my tech does it.

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by Guitarzan:

i wash my clothes, i bath, i change the oil in my car. why not take care of something that is used to create music?

Another one of those anal retentive sorts.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

For a long time I had a regular schedule on which my guitars went to the luthier for TLC. I don't anymore, but I still try to get the ones that I play a lot to him about every 18 months.

 

Bill

[Bbach1]

I don't have any regualar schedule, but I do maintain my equipment. I change strings when they start to sound like they need changing, which is at least once a month. If I were gigging, I'd be changing them all the time. I use some Dunlop fretboard and fret cleaner and then use some fretboard conditioner. I will check the truss rod adjustment and adjust if necessary. I like to clean and polish the finish and clean any dirt off the pups, switches, etc. Interesting day for this thread as I just finished re-stringing both my guitars today and gave them a good cleaning and polishing. Things work better when they are clean. Ever notice how your car runs better after you wash it?

[revorhythm]

I usually tend to only change my strings if i break one, and even then its usually high e, and i just leave it. Ill change em about 2 weex before a show or something to get em broken in. But i do all my cleanin when changin the strings. Its easier when theyre not in the way, so ill polish the body and use somethin on the fretboard. But usually i use em so much that they keep clean, my acoustic on the otherhand, atracts dust and keeps it.

[Gruupi]

Hmm.. I could always be more attentive, but I try and take care of any guitars I am currently playing.

 

I don't really check neck or setup unless I notice a problem. I have to wipe down strings since I sweat too much. I should change strings a little more often but I hate brand new strings. On classical it takes a week for them to settle in so I put it off till the windings break on the bass strings. I especially hate the sound of new classical bass strings. I just changed them last week and still hate the bright sounding bass.

 

On electric when I was gigging I changed them for every gig or maybe 2 if it was 2 nights in a row. I'll usually clean up the neck and dust things off. I really haven't had maintainence issues to often, my guitars generally play in tune and feel fine.

 

I've only had one "professional" setup when I had a fret job done awhile back. I was very dissapointed in that the guy set the action really low even though I said I was happy with the way it played. Since then, I do my own work. I don't know about next time I need a fret or nut job, I probably will have someone do it, But I am tempted to give it a try.

 

I really should pull all my 6 guitars out at least once a month and check them over but really only keep one electric and my classical up to speed. I don't keep any in cases, But I really should do that too.

[Guitarzan]

a friend of mine keeps all hs guitars on stands and only sprays the hell out of the fretboard with fingerease when he plays one. now all that dust and dirt is now drenched in slime. i need a clean fretboard to really enjoy playing. crud makes it seem like your playing on a cheap guitar.

he often breaks strings and i know i bend/play alot more agressively (tarzan style). i haven't broken a string in years.

dust and crap kills switches and jacks eventually. why not prevent that?

just my opinion.

[skipclone 1]

I really need to learn how to set my own neck relief, string height and intonation. The more guitars one acquires, the more essential it becomes-setups just cost too freakin much.

Other than that I do like to keep strings fresh, though brand new ones are scratchy. I use pure lemon oil for cleaning-the kind in the small bottles, from health food shops. No added ingredients for me thanks.

One thing I like to do on occasion is to take ethyl alcohol-rather than methyl-and clean around the inside of all jacks with a Q-tip. That goes for stereos too. I also take a cotton pad and clean all the prongs on my cables and plugs, then don`t touch them-finger oil will not only interfere with signal integrity, it will etch into metal surfaces over time. Word to the wise, hands off your cable ends. If you haven`t done any of this at all, you`ll be amazed at the difference.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

I change my strings whenever they need it and change the whole set. I clean and polish the body and neck when I do that, too.

 

Having said that, I'm forever buying and selling my guitars so it's not as if long term maintenance is an issue.

[The Geoff]

Like Vince, I tend to clean & oil the fretboard & clean & polish the body when I change the strings. Other than that I make adjustments as things become noticable.

 

G.

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Originally posted by LPCustom:

I'm curious what you folks do as regular maintenance for your guitars.

 

Do you regularly check the neck for drift, relief, etc.?

 

Do you regularly clean the entire guitar?

 

Do you regularly polish your guitar to protect the finish?

 

Do you spin the pots back and forth (full travel) several times when you first pick it up to keep the pots from corroding?

 

Do you change your strings regularly?

 

Do you have a schedule where you clean and treat the fretboard?

 

Do you wipe down your strings with something to keep them from corroding after you finish playing?

 

Do you keep your guitar in its case (if you have one) or do you just leave it on a stand?

 

Do you check the frets regularly to check for cupping and wear?

 

What are your criteria for determining if your guitar needs a refret?

 

Or am I just an anal retentive sort?

I maintain my equipment, but I don't go overboard with it. I change the strings probably once every week to 2 weeks (depending on how much play they get), when I change strings I polish the guitar and wipe everything down. I don't make any adjustments unless something needs adjusting.

 

I've never had a pot corrode on a guitar....I guess it could happen, though. I have had them just wear out and quit working, though.

[Guitar55]

I gig fairly regularly so I change strings about every 2 weeks or so. Before every gig, I wipe the strings with isopropyl alcohol (trying not to get it on the fretboard), and polish my guitars (I take 2 to every gig).

 

I occassionally check intonation, but I am not good at checking neck relief myself.

 

I have a great guitar tech who is totally meticulous and checks EVERY possible thing on the guitar that can affect playability and tone. I try to get my guitars to him once a year. He has absolutley improve the usability of my guitars.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

oh... one basic thing that most people miss..... I keep a humidifier running, 24/7. The studio had one built into the HVAC. I added one to my apartment. Never let the humidity drop below 40%

 

Bill

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Originally posted by bpark@prorec.com:

oh... one basic thing that most people miss..... I keep a humidifier running, 24/7. The studio had one built into the HVAC. I added one to my apartment. Never let the humidity drop below 40%

 

Bill

Yeah, humidity too high or too low is a killer, especially for acoustic guitars, and you'd be surprised how low the humidity is in most houses, especially if you have central heat/air.

[Wes from Wpg]

Change strings when they need it, usually about once a month or so, depending on how much time I get to play. The acoustic probably every three or four months.

 

I hang my guitars on the wall. I dust them off when I change strings. I usually do my own adjustments. With practice I've learned to get the intonation pretty close (close enough for what I do), and I can get the neck relief to where I'm comfortable with the action.

 

I don't usually worry about humidity. I've never noticed it affecting anything. Also, my guitars aren't anything special. Electrics are both under $500 and my acoustic's a beater. If I had a piece worth thousands I'd probably be more anal.