5 Tips to Keep Your Electric Guitar in Great Condition
Amid the excitement of obtaining a new electric guitar, many people mistakenly believe all that’s left to do is to learn the scales, master some riffs, and start shredding. In reality, guitar ownership involves a lot more than learning how to play—particularly if people want to maximize their investment and ensure that their instruments remain in good playing condition.
Electric guitars can last for decades—some of the most famous guitars of the 1960s and 1970s are still played today—but keeping them in good shape requires careful attention and proactive care.
The following are some tips that can help keep to your electric guitar in tip-top condition, no matter how old it is.
Use a Protective Case
It should go without saying that the best way to keep your guitar in good shape is to keep it protected with a good case, particularly when traveling. Since most electric guitars have a solid body, a soft case (also known as a gig bag) will typically suffice, although it is a good idea to get one with some padding, particularly near the pickup and in areas that have fragile electronics. Many cases also have pockets for cables, picks, capos, extra strings, and other important equipment.
When flying with an electric guitar—or when traveling with a hollow or semi-hollow electric guitar with a wooden body—it may be a good idea to use a hard case. While these are slightly heavier and bulkier, they provide a lot more protection, which will come in handy if an airline requires passengers to check in their instruments.
Use a Dehumidifier As Necessary
While dehumidifiers aren’t really essential for solid body electric guitars, they are important for hollow and semi-hollow electric guitars with wooden components, particularly for those guitarists who are traveling to humid areas or living in regions with noticeably higher humidity than where their guitars were built. Excess humidity can cause wood to swell, which may lead elements such as the bridge to come unglued, warp the neck, and even damage electrical components in extreme cases. Although a portable dehumidifier won’t completely mitigate extreme humidity, it will certainly help—particularly when used with a sealed hard case. Even better is to have a humidity-controlled studio or room in your house in which to store your guitar.
Regularly Clean Your Guitar
Guitars tend to collect dust, grime, gunk, and even oil and drift from your fingers, all of which need to be cleaned regularly in order to prevent buildup and damage. In order to efficiently clean your guitar, you should wash your hands; remove the strings; clean the fretboard with either fine steel wool followed by lemon oil for rehydration (in the case of pau ferro, ebony, or rosewood fretboards) or a damp cloth (for maple fretboards); polish the body with either guitar polish (for gloss coat guitars) or a dry cloth (for non-gloss finished guitars); and use a soft cloth and a small amount of polish to clean the hardware. It is also a good idea to wash your hands before every jam session, as this will help prevent oil and dirt from building up on your guitar.
Be Proactive About String Replacement
Strings frequently break, and when they do, they obviously need to be replaced. But sometimes they can go months or even years without breaking, and guitar owners tend to be a bit lazy about replacing them. There are two main reasons why you should regularly replace your strings, even if they haven’t broken. First of all, new strings aren’t as stretched out and have a livelier tone. Secondly, old strings tend to rust, which can spread to the hardware on the guitar. Regularly changing the strings is a cheap, easy way to prevent this.
Care for the Pickup
In addition to the body of the guitar, it is important to do routine maintenance on the pickup, as this will ensure that it remains in good working order and effectively transmits the sound from the guitar to the amplifier. Essential maintenance includes cleaning the guitar, ensuring that the pickup height remains appropriate, checking wiring and connections, and getting the pickup serviced by a professional from time to time.
Buy Nice or Buy Twice
While maintaining a guitar might seem burdensome and an added expense, the reality is that investing time and money in good maintenance routine will help to extend your instrument's life, which will save you a lot of time and frustration over the long run. This is equally true when it comes to purchasing an electric guitar. While many people might want to save money by purchasing a cheaper model (especially when they are first starting out), the old adage “buy nice or buy twice” holds true with instruments. Investing in a high-quality guitar from the outset will increase the likelihood that the instrument will last a long time and maintain its sound over the years, which can save guitarists money in the long run because they won’t have to go out and buy another instrument a year later.