Acoustic Lesson 02 - Acoustic Guitar Care and Love

Acoustic guitars are not as needy as children, or girlfriends, but they do need a little attention and devotion once in a while. Since guitars are made of wood, they are very susceptible to temperature changes and moisture. This quick article will teach you about some of the things you can do to keep your guitar happy.

Storage

When you are not playing your guitar, you should keep it in a safe place. The safest place for a guitar is in the case. Allot of people prefer to leave their guitars out on a stand for quick access or hang it on a wall to showcase it but this is defiantly not the best place for your guitar to reside for several reasons. Storing your guitar in its case gives your guitar the most humidity controlled atmosphere and keeps it from getting knocked around or falling over.

Humidity

The most important aspect to consider when you own an expensive acoustic guitar is the climate it is in during playing and storage. Wood is made up of small fibers that can come apart if they are exposed to heat and moisture. One method of woodworking is steam bending. In order to make the curved sides of an acoustic guitar, the luthier places a piece of wood into a steam chamber and steams the wood to loosen up all of the fibers. Then, the luthier lays this steamed piece in a jig that holds it in shape while it cools, and the fibers reset themselves. Based on the methods used to make acoustic guitars, it is evident how planning a gig in a sauna would not be good for your guitar.

With these principles in mind, avoid keeping your guitar in your car on a summer day with the windows up. If you really have to stop at a friend’s house for a period of time, take your guitar inside and just explain the situation. If you must keep it in your car, roll down the windows so heat is not trapped inside – this is a last life-saving attempt for your guitar and should not be considered an acceptable thing to do, especially with acoustics! 

But a lack of moisture in the air is an even bigger threat to guitars. A guitar can easily dry out and crack, with the pieces pulling away from each other. Adding a humidifier into the equation will keep your guitar in even better condition. A humidifier simply releases moisture into the air, thus keeping your guitar from drying out.  

Taylor Guitars recommend two humidity products for their guitars. “Damp-it” humidifiers are great if you will be living, or playing, in cold or dry conditions or if your guitar is severely dried out. Damp-it humidifiers are a small plastic tube that slips into your sound hole. Taylor also recommends “Planet Waves” Humidipak system

Cleaning and Maintenance

Just like any thing else your guitar requires maintenance and cleaning. You will need to change the strings and wipe down the guitar. String changing is varied depending on how much you play but if you are playing allot a safe bet would be to plan on changing them at least every couple of months. To preserve string life, wipe down your strings after to use to remove some of the oils from your hands. You’ll want to find a good guitar polish as well if you want to keep your guitar looking sharp. See your guitar manufactures website to see if they have any polish they recommend or application recommendations. Different guitar finishes require different polishes.  

Keeping your guitar safe and in good condition will insure many years of use and playing from your guitar.