Taking care of a guitar
If you want a guitar to last you need to show it some TLC. Made of primarily natural materials, a guitar is heavily affected by the environment it is stored in, and the wood will expand and contract dependant on humidity.
Cared for properly, a guitar will ‘age’ appropriately, and the sound produced when playing will achieve far more tone and richness as time goes on. This is part of the beauty of owning a musical instrument.
The first thing you will need to do when beginning guitar lessons is make sure you have a suitable case to store and pack your guitar when traveling to and from your lessons. There are two basic types of casing: the soft shell gig bag and the hard shell guitar cases. The soft shell gig bags are great for the ‘on-the-go’ guitarist; many feature handy pockets for you to store sheet music, picks and other tools of the trade. Some also come with backpack-like straps, making them easy to be carried from work or school straight to your guitar lesson. The hard shells offer a heavier protection, but are also heavier in weight. Choose what will work best for you.
It is good to establish a regular cleaning routine for your guitar. Oils from your hands and fingers build up on the guitar body and strings so it is a good idea to clean the instrument on a weekly basis. A soft dry cloth is best to wipe the body, using a small, soft brush to reach into the areas between strings that are hard to get to. A chamois cloth is excellent for cleaning the strings – use the cloth to give them an all over wipe down and then pinch each string between the fabric and slide it up and down the length of each string to remove any grime and dirt.
If you are removing the strings, you can clean the fingerboard. If you have an ebony or rosewood fingerboard you can effectively remove buildup of dirty using extremely fine steel wool (look for 0000 grit). Apply a little lemon oil to lubricate afterwards. Note: Do NOT use steel wool if your fingerboard is maple as you will seriously damage the finish. In this case, use a warm, damp, cloth or invest in a quality guitar polish.
If you have an electric guitar, NEVER touch the pickups with anything other than a brush or soft cloth as using a liquid can upset their magnetic field.