Regardless of how advanced or skilled you are at playing the guitar, by now you would’ve realised that your guitar is much more meaningful than just a few pieces of wood attached to some strings that make sounds. Your guitar is the bridge which connects your soul to music – whatever it may be – through the touch of your fingers.
Many people even see their guitar or other instruments as a sacred object and take excessive care of it. That brings us to our point. Such a valuable possession needs to be looked after and taken care of regularly, which is what we’re going to talk about today.
We’ve prepared a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how you can care and maintain your guitar to help it remain and its best condition at all times; hope you enjoy!
Keep your guitar clean
The number one rule is to regularly clean your guitar and make sure it stays that way. To keep your guitar at its best condition, we suggest cleaning the neck, fretboard, and rest of the body with a soft cloth (make sure its lint free to avoid damaging your guitar) every few practise sessions or at least once a week. This will get rid of a range of things that sit on your guitar such as dust and even the oil from your palms!
Avoid extreme temperatures for your guitar
To keep your guitar healthy and safe, any extreme temperatures or extreme temperature changes should be completely avoided. A temperature too hot may result in the glue and famishing’s becoming loose/undone, and an excessively cold condition will contract the wood, potentially decreasing the tone and sound of the guitar and maybe even leaving you with a crack (or a few!).
Any major temperature changes can also shock the delicate wood of the instrument, a lot of the time resulting in cracks – sometimes ones fatal to the guitar!
Change strings when needed
For the sake of making the most out of your guitar, you should always keep your strings fresh and brand new, changing them out roughly every 5-6 months. However, keep in mind that if you do practise more or less than the average 30 minutes/1 hour a day, then your strings may last for a different period of time.
You should keep an eye out for when the strings start to lose their tone and brightness, as well as for when the strings begin to rust or change colour on certain spots.
Enjoying these tips? Our guitar teachers in Adelaide are waiting for you to book your FREE introductory lesson now! Click here to book immediately.
Protect your guitar from sunlight
Too much sunlight (especially in Australia since UV rates are higher than other places) can fade the finishing of your guitar and cause it to age faster than usual. As a general rule always try to void playing in sunlight, even if just a little bit.
Keep your guitar in a hard case
First of all, when not playing, we suggest keeping your guitar closed in its case, to protect it one from dust and external objects, and two from potentially you or someone else in the house getting into an accident with your guitar (especially if your house isn’t too big and there’s not much room!).
On top of this, we recommend using a hard case as it ensures more security for your guitar, especially when it is taken outside where threats are quite high. Hard cases are a much better option which can potentially save you your beloved instrument and a ton of money!
Always inspect parts of your guitar
A very important thing to do regularly is to inspect your guitar and look out for any issues (or any potential ones). Catching an issue from the beginning is much easier and more effective than suddenly finding out when its progressed and become worse, leaving you with not many pleasant options.
Keep an eye on different parts of your guitar including the strings, body, fretboard, neck, tuning pegs…and the rest of your guitar to ensure everything is in place and is working like it should.
Should you spot any issues, don’t be afraid to watch a few YouTube videos or even seek some professional help from a teacher or another expert!
Start with Kia Music Academy now!
Congratulations for reading up to here! You now have all the knowledge you need to care and maintain your guitar to its best for the rest of its lifetime!
If you enjoyed this article, we assure that you’d also enjoy getting to know our guitar teachers in Adelaide. And we want to give you the opportunity for that for FREE!
We encourage you to book a free introductory lesson to come and get to know our teachers, play some music, and kick off a bright start to your journey of guitar lessons in Adelaide!
Our guitar classes in Adelaide offer a range of different styles for all ages and levels:
- Acoustic guitar lessons in Adelaide
- Electric guitar lessons in Adelaide
- Classical guitar lessons in Adelaide
…and any other style of guitar which you are interested in! Our teachers are flexible to provide learning on any style which amuses you, giving you the chance to enjoy a fully personalised music journey here in Adelaide.
Book your lesson here now; we are looking forward to seeing you!
