Caring for Your Guitar

Although, as I’ve said before, knowing how to play and having a good guitar technique is more important than playing the best guitar, it’s still important to look after the guitar you have. So here are five things you will need in order to take care of your instrument:

1) A Hard Case

Once you have your guitar, you’re going to need something to carry it in, right? Well, you could choose a “soft case”, which is essentially nothing more than a guitar-shaped canvas bag. A soft case will protect your guitar from most of the elements, but not the element of surprise- I’m talking about all the unexpected bumps and scrapes that it’ll encounter in it’s lifetime. All those little bumps can not only dent and scratch your guitar, but they can also knock the tuning pegs (which will put your guitar out of tune, requiring you to tune up more often).

Take my advice, get a hard case! I can’t count how many scratches I’m got on my guitars because I’ve used soft cases! When I was studying at the ACM in Guildford they didn’t allow hard cases, and my guitars have the scars to show for it, and no matter how many scratches a guitar has, new ones are no less upsetting!

2) A Guitar Stand

Many people suggest that you should keep your guitar in it’s case when you’re not playing it (I think the idea is to protect it from dust etc,), but I strongly disagree. When you’re not playing your guitar (I mean, in the unlikely event of that happening) you should stand it on a guitar stand- this will enable you to just pick up the guitar and play it whenever you want. When the guitar is in a case, you have to dig the case out, open all the locks, open the case etc… it’s much easier to just pick the guitar up from a stand.

Also, keeping a guitar on a stand is better for it than leaning it up against a wall- because a stand doesn’t place so much tension on the neck (which could warp it!). It also prevents it from falling over (I’ve smashed off the machine heads of a guitar from that happening!).

3) Guitar Polish and a Cloth

You want your guitar to stay clean, right? Then you’ll need some polish and a cloth- this will also lengthen the life of the strings (I mean when you keep the strings clean, of course!). It’s also good to ensure that all of the parts of the guitar are working and aren’t clogged up with dirt (machine heads, allen key sockets etc…).

4) Guitar Tuner

This is essential for making sure your guitar stays in tune, especially if you’re a beginner and haven’t developed a good ear yet. Keeping the guitar in tune keeps an even tension over the neck (uneven tension could cause warping), and it’s also alot easier to sound good on a guitar that’s in tune! Plus, tuners aren’t that expensive to buy, and it’s sometimes impossible for a beginner to tune a guitar without one.

5) Metronome

OK, so this isn’t so much about looking after the guitar, as your own ability. If you always use a metronome when you practice, it will improve your timing and feel (two very important things, no matter what you play). It will also allow you to slow down or speed up according to your own ability. All of the technical exercises on this site should be practiced to a metronome.

So, if you buy these five things, and use them wisely, your guitar should live for many years to come!

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November 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm | How to, Music News and Opinions | No comments