Your guitar care ritual?

p90fool

Just wipe it down with a t-shirt during string changes. 

Unless you live in New Mexico, don't bother oiling your fretboard. It doesn't do anything positive, why turn the most critically precise part of your guitar where the frets need to be perfectly seated into a soggy sponge?

It's one of those silly, internet-driven habits. 

HAL9000

JD50 said:

Rub the body with an old t-shirt and scrape the gunk off the fretboard with a bank card when I change strings.... use dunlop lemon oil every couple years.  That's about it.

Be careful whose lemon oil you use - some are mineral oil with a whiff of lemon added to give the impression of real lemon oil. My preference is for Music Nomad products - not cheap but consistently get some of the best reviews.

Anyway, guitars always get wiped down with an old tee before going back in the case. Touch of fretboard conditioner every six months or so. Polish once in a blue moon (and only then if the blue moon falls on the second Sunday after Easter).

TTBZ

When I restring my guitar I will give it a dust with an old cloth over the bits the strings are normally in the way of, and occasionally (1-2 times a year) give the fingerboard a bit of Fret Doctor which stops it looking too dried out. I don't think I've ever polished a guitar unless it was for sale.

Sassafras

People never used to bother with all that palaver. A quick wipe down of the strings after each session always sufficed.
Since when did we all get so precious?

fretmeister

New strings.

That's it.

Sassafras

Thinking about it, the only thing I did with any regularity was rub a pencil lead in the nut slots to stop the strings sticking.

stonevibe

Lube them up, give them a polish and then finger them hard, simples.

prowla

thegummy said:

prowla said:

My ritual is pick it up, play it, put it down.

Hate that last step.

Also known as having to go to bed or work.

...and pick up the next one. :-)

57Deluxe

not letting ANYONE play or touch them!

Cols

thegummy said:

To those who use nut sauce - when exactly do you put it on?

I find if I put it on the nut and then thread the strings through and tune up, the part of the string that was on the nut moves up and I wonder if it leaves enough behind in the slot.

Also, those who use it and also are less frequent string changers - do you still only put it on at string change or more often?

Just a dab in each slot and then work it back and forth with some dental floss.  You really don’t need any more than a thin residue.  Shouldn’t need to be applied any more frequently than each string change.

Litterick

I wash my hands before playing, and wipe the fretboard and strings with a soft cloth before putting the guitar back in its case. When I change the strings (not that often), I clean everything with diluted vinegar.

ESBlonde

They sometimes get a quick wipe with a duster as they go back in the case, sometimes a lint free cloth over/under the strings (more likely).

String changes as applicable.

A more thorough dust maybe every 4-5th string change, and pencil lead in the nut slots.

One a year or less frequently I might clean and if applicable oil the fingerboard.

I also dust the cases everytime I take them out the house in daylight and realise they collect dust.

Sassafras

How the hell did we manage before all these guitar specific products came on the market?
Did we throw away our guitars when they got dirty?

Dave_Vader

I wipe the sweat off the strings after playing

Also cover new strings in WD40 before they go on (also goes in the nut, bridge saddles and tuners) because I am a whammy fiend

If the strings make it to a second gig (usually one has broken by then) I'll cover them in more WD40 in the hope they won't be completely dead from acid sweat

The filth stays on the guitars, after all, 'the funk is in the gunk'

Corvus

Depends on the guitar a bit, but lemon oil when changing strings. It doesn't turn wood into sponge. Obvs don't use any old thing labelled lemon oil but the idea it harms wood is silly. String cleaner pad thing with a squirt of Kyser glop stops the gack building up on the board.

58 acoustic gets waxed like once a decade.

The gloss black one gets a wipe fairly often because it gets more smeary than a US election campaign.

Roland

Dave_Vader said:

I wipe the sweat off the strings after playing. 

Litterick said:

I wash my hands before playing, 

Yes. Forgot these two. They’re actually the most important. 

skunkwerx

Woah... you mean you guys actually play them after cleaning em?!?! 


Madness! 

thomasross20

This is another problem with having too many guitars. The maintenance is a right pain in the ass!

Alnico

20 minutes assessing the entire guitar noting changes and/or defects.

Full set up without fretwork:

1 hour to mask the neck, polish the frets (EVERY time), clean the board, remove all hardware to clean and polish body, remove tremolo to clean and inspect.

Rebuild with new strings and reset neck relief, action and intonation.

Play for 20 minutes, periodically downtuning a whole step, re-stretching strings and tuning back up again.

Lubricate nut and tremolo if fitted, recheck neck relief and action.

Wipe strings and guitar clean with a dry microfibre cloth.

Total 2 hours.

...With fretwork:

As above but remove neck if possible, remove nut and complete fretwork as a sub section of above.

Anything from 2 hours to 3 hours extra work, depending on what it needs.

Refit nut and recut to new height after restringing and setting up, to correct nut height to new fret level (Now lower than it was).

Total approx 4 - 5 hours.

Every time, to every guitar I work on whether it's mine or someone else's.

"Ship shape and Bristol fashion."

merciful-evans

Litterick said:

I wash my hands before playing, and wipe the fretboard and strings with a soft cloth before putting the guitar back in its case. When I change the strings (not that often), I clean everything with diluted vinegar.

I shower first. Then dust the fingerboard with anti fungal powder for 20 minutes and remove using compressed air before returning it to its case. I never play my guitars. This only serves to wear them out.

BTW, I assume you use best Modena balsamic vinegar?