What's your guitar care routine?

Voodoo Blues · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:05 am **Posts:** 1333

I don't do any of that silliness. I just pick up and play.

Jah Soldier · **Posted:** Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:12 am

I do everything I can to keep them in great shape. When preparing for battle, you must always keep your weapons in perfect working order as much as possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkGIxGdZoYY

Replace the word rifle with guitar, and you'll understand where I'm coming from. :wink:

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:16 pm **Posts:** 881

Wait till a string breaks, wipe it down with a cloth, ehhh thats it

Rossome · **Joined:** Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:48 pm **Posts:** 70

I don't like washing my hands before I play, because it softens my calluses. I don't like playing with that feeling. I guess that kind of has its cleanliness cons, but I go as far as to avoid playing for a few minutes if I just washed my hands, in order to let them dry out.

mike07502 · **Joined:** Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:47 pm **Posts:** 748

I like concoctions. I make this rubbing alcohol and mr. clean mix. The alcohol helps to air-dry quickly. I like the Sunday ritual of cleaning my instruments. But I am not very thorough with my electrics, focusing more on the acoustics. Wiping each string down often works wonders to prolong string life, we know this, yet I am not consistent with it. Now, can someone comment on oiling the rosewood fretboards? I use olive oil. Can one use hand lotion for that?

tdanb2003 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:37 am

mike07502 wrote:

I like concoctions. I make this rubbing alcohol and mr. clean mix. The alcohol helps to air-dry quickly. I like the Sunday ritual of cleaning my instruments. But I am not very thorough with my electrics, focusing more on the acoustics. Wiping each string down often works wonders to prolong string life, we know this, yet I am not consistent with it. Now, can someone comment on oiling the rosewood fretboards? I use olive oil. Can one use hand lotion for that?

No hand lotion if it has any petroleum products in it. I use olive oil on my rosewood boards because I generally have it and don't keep lemon oil in the kitchen. Most organic based oils are suitable but the thinner the better. It soaks into the wood more quickly. Lemon oil just smells good... Olive oil well not so much.

guitslinger · **Posted:** Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:46 am

I think that all this relicing,roadworn,artificially aged garbage was thought up by people who were too lazy to do routine care and upkeep of their guitars.Although I don't meticulously clean and wipe the guitars,hands etc before and after playing,I do keep my guitars pretty smudge and grim free and needless to say I'm fanatical about keeping them ding free.

07Highway1 · **Joined:** Sun May 29, 2011 8:14 am **Posts:** 28

I play the living snot out of it!

I do oil all the contact points, nut, saddles, etc when I do string changes or adjustments and I oil the neck with lemon seed oil from time to time.

I wipe it down periodically but I am not fanatical about that either, besides with a Nitro finish its pretty tough to get a shine on it.

I gig a lot and play it even more so if I worried about every ding and dent I'd cry!

I use Elixr strings which never get that sticky feeling.

My 07 strat looks a LOT older than it is. Lots of dings and some wear through the nitro.

INHO guitars are meant to be played not looked at:)

If this was a collectors piece I would treat it differently. :mrgreen:

Rossome · **Joined:** Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:48 pm **Posts:** 70

07Highway1 wrote:

INHO guitars are meant to be played not looked at:)

Pete Townshend would agree with you. When people were angry at him for destroying guitars, he'd tell them he thought they were tools to be worked with, not objects of idolization.

That's a whole 'nother thread though.

EgFryer · **Joined:** Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:26 am **Posts:** 253

Rossome wrote:

07Highway1 wrote:

INHO guitars are meant to be played not looked at:)

Pete Townshend would agree with you. When people were angry at him for destroying guitars, he'd tell them he thought they were tools to be worked with, not objects of idolization.

That's a whole 'nother thread though.

So, one should destroy one's tools just to prove you don't "idolize" them?
Man... you'd go through a lot of cordless drills that way.

slidewaysracing · **Posted:** Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:56 pm

lungimsam wrote:

I condition fingerboard when it gets dry/or string change. Whichever comes first.

I have instruments with maple fretboard and instruments with rosewood. What do you use to condition each of these?

Thanks for the info!

TobiJ · **Joined:** Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:45 pm **Posts:** 180

07Highway1 wrote:

I play the living snot out of it!

I do oil all the contact points, nut, saddles, etc when I do string changes or adjustments and I oil the neck with lemon seed oil from time to time.

I wipe it down periodically but I am not fanatical about that either, besides with a Nitro finish its pretty tough to get a shine on it.

I gig a lot and play it even more so if I worried about every ding and dent I'd cry!

I use Elixr strings which never get that sticky feeling.

My 07 strat looks a LOT older than it is. Lots of dings and some wear through the nitro.

INHO guitars are meant to be played not looked at:)

If this was a collectors piece I would treat it differently. :mrgreen:

Can you post pics of your Strat. There are almost no pics on the net of well worn HW1s. I have a few and my 2008 Tele is the most worn, but still not through the finish to the wood, though I dont gig....

Cheers!

Stratfreak51 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:25 am

TobiJ wrote:

Hey forumites,

Do you wash your hands before playing everytime? Do you wipe down your strings after playing everytime?

Do you try to but often forget/couldnt be bothered?

Can playing with dirty fingers or never wiping down your guitar cause any damage to a guitar in the long term (not strings, but the whole guitar)?

I generally dont, and didnt think it was much of a problem until I was excoriated by a friend for it. He says it will cause fret corrosion, which I thought was impossible.

Now Im self conscious and wondering what others think. Apologies for the lameness of this topic.

Question 1: No. Question 2: No. Question 3: Yes. Question 4: Not to the entire guitar, no. It will corrode the strings and finger funk will build up on the fretboard, but that's easily cleaned up when you restring it. Never heard of it damaging frets. Frets wear because of the strings rubbing on them and being pressed against them for years. Believe me, with the acidic perspiration in my hands (I think I could probably corrode my way through a bank vault door by merely pressing my hand against it), if I don't melt the frets off my guitars, then nobody ever will.

Rossome · **Joined:** Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:48 pm **Posts:** 70

EgFryer wrote:

Rossome wrote:

07Highway1 wrote:

INHO guitars are meant to be played not looked at:)

Pete Townshend would agree with you. When people were angry at him for destroying guitars, he'd tell them he thought they were tools to be worked with, not objects of idolization.

That's a whole 'nother thread though.

So, one should destroy one's tools just to prove you don't "idolize" them?
Man... you'd go through a lot of cordless drills that way.

I'm not saying I agree with him, I was just paraphrasing him. I would never trash one of my guitars. I guess I'm guilty of idolization. :roll:

07Highway1 · **Joined:** Sun May 29, 2011 8:14 am **Posts:** 28

I would never destroy one either. :cry:

I use it as you say like a tool but I have a connection to it also.

It's inanimate but it isn't. You breathe life into these things and they take on a personality that you connect with. Dents, dings, dirt and all! :mrgreen:

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