Due to health problems I have, I have not had the ability pick up my American "Texas Fat" Strat or used my Squire amplifier for over a year. Now I am, so here is my problem.
1. How do I clean my Strat and what products should I use to get it back in peck order? I'm also referring to the electronic of an electrical guitar.
2. I know that speakers will dry out with time. This is especially true when the speaker is not used often. How do and can I restore the speaker to peck condition?
I would appreciate any input especially on the speaker problem. I CAN NOT afford to purchase another one.
PS
I live on permanent disability due to very painful spinal injuries which keeps my resources very low. And I need the solidus of my guitars to make it day to day. So, HELP!javascript:emoticon(':idea:')

Honestly, you dont even need another one. I have a low grade strat and I'm happy with what I have. Even though to some, its not even a guitar.

What I use to clean my strat, is car polish and a lint free cloth for the body. For the neck I use wood polish mostly used for chairs and all sorts of wood.

The electronics is something that in my opinion, you should not mess with. My squier strat was laying underneath a bed with nothing but a bed sheet to cover it, and I never opened the pickguard for anything except a 5 way switch replacement (which was already having problems even before it was put away).

Make a string replacement to it and see how it acts after that. Then adjust the tension on the saddles accordingly along with the string height.

On the amp, I wouldn't recommend messing around with it. My dad has a pair of jensen speakers on his car that he bought at around 1979. They're still bangin, and he never changed anything on them.

If you're having any problems with it and you dont know your way around an amp, take it to the electronics store. They wouldn't charge you much for something as simple as cleaning and maintenance of the amp.

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One of God's own prototypes. Too weird to live, too rare to die.

Likewise here. I use the Fender Meguires kit for the body of my guitar. I treat the neck with Dr. Duck's Axe Wax. Best thing you can do though is to wipe it down after every use with a flannel cloth.

If the neck feels funky when playing or the intonation is out of whack, take it for a new setup. As for the amp, only get into the electronics if you want trouble. Let a shop handle it, re: re-biasing for new tubes or whatever.

I know what you mean. I am recovering from my second fusion (L4-L5, and L5-S1) right now and these are very long days without my guitars. That damn 5lb. lifiting restriction. Hang in there!!!

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2008 Am Dlx Strat HSS
2008 Am. Std. Ash Telecaster
2009 Gibson SG Standard
Hot Rod Deville 410
Blues Jr. NOS
Marshall MG100DFX
2006 Martin HD-28
1993 Alvarez Regent

I dont know, I probably wouldnt handle 24 hours without a guitar to strum a few chords.

And yeah, electronics are the most annoying part of a guitarist's life.

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One of God's own prototypes. Too weird to live, too rare to die.

A year I can't see you having to do much. Electronics if you want just clean them with CRC spray, jacks just spray it on the jack good then plug it in a few times. Cones not going to crack in a year of sitting.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

What kind of problems are you having? You didn't identify any. The only issue you might have with the amp is dirty (noisy) pots and probably the same for the guitar other than dust. You can get a can of compressed air from just about any store that sells computers or electronics to blow out the dust around the electronics and speaker in the amp and from around the pickups and jack of the guitar. If the pots are scratchy you can get some electronic cleaner aerosol from radio shack. tell them what your problem is and they should be able to tell how to use it best. sometimes you only need to take the knobs off and spray around the shafts then work the knob. But first of all tune it up turn it on and crank it up Jam On Man