Here at the Music Gallery we're always looking for more ways to take care of our instruments. Whether you're playing a Yamaha Classical or Gibson Custom Shop J-200, you have to treat each Acoustic Guitar with the utmost care and concern. Let's go through products and procedures that will maintain our beloved possessions. After all, these instruments do a lot for us... so we should do a lot for them!
Guitar Care starts at the foundation of playing... Before playing you should always wash your hands. Now some people naturally sweat more than others, washing your hands before you play will allow you to avoid exposure to any prior-bacteria and avoid excess built-up sweat residue. Now if you're jamming for a couple of hours sweat build up becomes inevitable, that's not to worry. Music Nomad makes a few great products that we sell here at the shop and I'll bring you through their functions and use.
Music Nomad's "The Guitar ONE" is a great all-in-one guitar polish and cleaner. After a few jams when you notice there is a little bit too much you left on the guitar, this polish will bring your finish back to a normal without being too tough on the finish material and give you a nice shine! Simply take a 2"x2" (in.) piece of paper towel and hit it with a few sprays of the Guitar ONE and apply it by rubbing it on the guitar in larger concentric circles. Fingerprints, sweat, & grime can all be taken down easy with this polish & cleaner!
For heavy cleaning use the "Pro Strength Guitar Polish" by Music Nomad. This pro-strength, silicone-free analeptic will restore and revive the dull, hazy, and scuffed surfaces on your guitars, revealing the brilliant shine that's hidden underneath. This remarkable youth tonic is safe for all guitar finishes, whether nitrocellulose, polyurethane, satin or gloss. MusicNomad Guitar Polish even removes oxidation and restores a brilliant shine to your guitar hardware! Nicotine, saliva, blood, & beer can all be taken down with this pro strength polish!
Another important part of guitar maintenance is hydrating the wood on your fretboard. Because the most rosewood, ebony, and Pau Ferro boards are left without lacquer on them they need to be hydrated about twice a year to avoid the neck drying out and warping or shifting. The folks over at MusicNomad also had this in mind when they released their legendary "F-One Fretboard Oil."
At the Music Gallery, we always recommend storing your guitar in a hardshell case to be the least susceptible to temperature, humidity, and environmental changes that it could possibly go through.
One of the most helpful products we carry in the shop is D'addarios Humidipack System. The Humidipak is as foolproof as humidity protection can get. It's mainly made for acoustic instruments but the design allows for use in any type of case that would be necessary. The set comes with the 3 pack bags you can see above and 3 gelatin-like packs that dry out over time till the substance in the pouch feels of pebbled stones. Once the pouch is dried out, D'addario offers a replacement pack, they normally only need changing every 3-6 months depending on the environment your instrument is stored in!
If your guitar shows signs of dramatic shifts, making it more difficult to play, we highly recommend to bring it into one of our repair techs to get professional advice on what job would be necessary for the instrument.
Thanks for reading through and I hope this information can be used to help you care for your instruments in the future!
This article was written by Spencer S