Got your new Guitar? Learn the basics of how to take care of the little things
Are you picking up that guitar standing on your bedside? Strummed it? Now don’t know what to do? You just want to keep it fresh and shiny and yet bombard it with your basic knowledge. That’s what the life of a guitarist actually feels like. You might be a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player. You’ll always be that conscious of that little piece of heaven that belongs to you. So here we go with the little details that you might want to focus on to take care of that bundle of peace.
Cleaning
The only way that you can make your guitar appear shiny after many long years, is to keep them clean. Don’t go wiping the guitar at random for that. Each time you play the instrument try to be with a clean hand, that’s a must. You don’t want stains to stay upon any surface of it.
And have a sleeved cloth if you can help it. But for that, you can always be careful after you are ready to keep the guitar down. Just wipe it smoothly with a cotton cloth. Focus on the parts that you use the most like the neck, the back of it, the body, and the strings. A simple rubdown will do if you do it regularly.
Keep it fresh
This instruction can heavily be indicated to the strings. The strings have a certain edge within the bass strings where any part of dust can stay. And your sweat from your hands while playing and take it in. What next? Grizzly dirt soot starts to take the empty spaces inside.
The sound starts to dull on itself. So wipe down the strings after each use. Pinch the cloth on the string and move up and down the string. It will get a fresh touch of vibration after that. The same goes for the top of the neck, the body, and with that, we mean the whole instrument. Don’t be lazy and wipe it clean as regularly as possible.
Spare set of strings at all time
Diving in with the fun of playing, you can break the strings at unexpected times. This may be due to the grease in the string or just that the tension on it got too heavy for it to withstand. What do you do now? This sudden tension-free neck will affect the neck’s health. And it can hamper the condition of the neck as the next time you put on the string it might be a bit high on the neck. And you might have to go on the next level of managing with one on one battle with the truss rod.
To prevent that keep a set of strings in your gig bag at all times. So when the need arises you can magically heal the wound yourself.
Find a safe spot for your Guitar
It might be close to your heart, so close that you would want to sleep with it, have a walk around the park with it, and caress the curves smoothly. But well the reality is, you have to care for it to be good and safe. Having it open and lurking at every place without order will affect its heath from various causes. The top cause will be an unknowingly fated accident.
If you want it broken and tearing at its seams then no complain there. This habit will cost your instrument its life. It will lose its power as it slowly is exposed to an unhealthy environment. So pick a safe spot and hang it or stand it safe from other things that might affect it.
Get a safe and durable bag
It’s understandable that you pride over your fit and shiny guitar with that armor and shiny curved body. It’s always a good feeling when someone admires your piece of artifact. You give your instrument a lovely pet name. Man, you’re so happy. But what if it goes south? It can never be said, what might happen. So a hard bag with its safety features will keep your instrument safely inside. It might fall, but you can rest assured that the treasure inside will be safe.
A hard case bag will be a must if you travel around with your guitar. But in case you do not, then you don’t have to have a hard case but a light covering bag will keep it safe from the environment’s humidity, moisture, and dust. That is if you are careful enough to keep it safe in its spot.
Well, that was the basic information to keep your instrument safe and sound from the basic casualties and the natural processes. There are other simple things that anyone would be careful about, like don’t drip your drinks and food items over the guitar. I guess I don’t have to explain that for now.
The guitar is an instrument that goes on improving its sound with the years. So, the more you take care and play it, the better. It will last an eternity and even the generation after you can play the same guitar with a better sound being produced from it. So, remember that the guitar is a being that produces the sound if you make it so. Take care of yourself and your guitar.
See also: How To Learn The Guitar: Free 3 Weeks Programme for Beginners