Guitar Maintenance - How To Maintain A Guitar

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General maintenance for your guitar is not only very useful but something that, if done correctly will ensure your guitar always sounds good and plays well... making it more enjoyable for you to play (and that's what it's all about.)

We'll cover a few things - changing strings, storage, tuning, and cleaning.

It’s no secret guitar strings wear out. So to keep your guitar sounding fresh and in the best shape it’s important to build a routine of changing out your strings. You won’t need to change them everyday, but to start out you should consider changing them every couple of months. Of course, if you reach the point where you are playing and gigging regularly you may want to change them more often.

You have probably heard stories before about guitar strings breaking at the most inopportune moments; well for the most part it’s very true. If you are playing with older strings on your guitar, not only will it lose tuning faster, sound dull, and cause intonation problems, it also increases the chances the strings will break. So it is always a good idea to be on top of it and make sure to avoid those problems on your guitar as often as possible.

When it comes to choosing which strings to use on your guitar, a huge element to consider is personal preference. Of course, strings are sorted first by type of guitar: steel guitar strings for acoustic and electric guitars, and nylon guitar strings for classical guitar. That decision is the easy one if you already know what guitar you are playing.

Remember - never put steel strings on a classical guitar! It does not have a truss rod and you can easily pull the bridge off or worse...

Now where most of the personal preference comes into play is the gauge, or thickness, of the strings. For a beginner, I would recommend a light gauge string to start with then use that to judge what feels best for you. One thing to keep in mind with different sizes of strings, typically, the thicker the gauge the better the tone is but the harder it is to play.

For me, on my acoustic guitars I use a .012 gauge high E set, and on my electrics I usually use a .010 gauge high E set. I usually use Ernie Balls, but D'Addario, Dean Markley, Martin, Fender, DR, and many other brands are just fine. Just beware of "cheap" strings at smaller music stores. I've had problems with them in the past.

Alright so here I will share an example of changing the strings on an acoustic guitar. For most electric guitars, you should know that changing the strings is similar to the acoustic guitar. This is not the only way to do it, but it works well for me.

There are electric guitars that require different methods to change the guitar strings, such as where to feed the string on the body of the guitar. If you require specific instruction for your guitar, there are resources online and if you are purchasing a new guitar it is a good idea to talk about changing strings with someone working at the guitar shop.

To change strings on an acoustic guitar, start with the guitar laying flat.

To begin changing strings on an acoustic guitar, find a flat surface to lay your guitar on with the low E string closest to you. It is important to note that you should always only change one string at a time; do not uncoil all the strings on your guitar at one time since they will greatly change the pressure needed on the neck.

Lower the E string with the guitar tuner

Here I'm using a stringwinder to completely slacken the low E string

Use the tuner to completely slacken the low E string. Once slackened uncoil the string from the tuning peg and remove the bridge pin on the end from the bridge. After you have removed the string and discarded it, this is a good opportunity to wipe down the area underneath the old string with a cloth and possible guitar polish.

Now that the old string is completely removed, notice that your new low E string has a small ball on one end; slide that ball into the hole in the bridge and replace the bridge pin on top of it.

Insert the ball end of the E string into the hole in the bridge, then place the bridge pin on top of it.

The ball and bridge pin should slip into place with a few small tugs. Next pull the string along the neck of the guitar towards the headstock. Then about one inch past the tuning peg, crimp the string with your fingers so the excess is at a 90-degree angle facing toward the tuning peg.

If you look closely, you will notice a small hole in the tuner; align the tuner with the tuning peg so you can slip the string through it with ease. Once you have inserted the string in the tuner hole, start bringing the string to tune slowly using the tuning peg. If you apply tension to the loose string on the fretboard, the excess slack shouldn’t flop around everywhere.

Notice how I keep the string in place with one hand while increasing tension with the other hand on the guitar tuner

On the first pass while you are wrapping the string, make sure the wrapped string passes over the top of the protruding end. Then for the rest of the time, make sure the wrap-arounds are below the previous.

Try your best to keep the coil neat and not cross over itself. Once the string has been brought to tune, it is very important to stretch it out so it will hold a tone for an extended period of time. Simply tug on the wound string slightly about half way down the neck to stretch out the string. For an excess string past the tuner, simply cut it with a pair of wire cutters to the desired length. The remaining six strings will get easier to change since they are smaller than the low E string.

Remember to change each string one at a time and that the last three strings might have tuning pegs on the opposite side of the headstock, so make sure to apply them in the opposite direction from the first three. What may seem like a long process now, will get easier and easier with time and practice.

Of course, tuning your guitar is also a very important step for it to sound its best. I've written on this subject before... but for beginners sometimes the best option for tuning is to take it to someone who knows how.

Even with modern electronic tuners, you still have to be able to listen and hear that it is out of tune, and you often have to be able to hear which direction it is out of tune. If you've been playing for a while you probably take that for granted, but if you haven't it seems really daunting.

One of a guitar’s greatest enemies is humidity. Since so much of the instrument is made from wood, it’s important to note harsh temperature changes will have a large affect on your guitar. In dry conditions, wood dries out very easily which can lead to splintering and cracking while too much humidity will cause wood to swell which weakens joints and glue. This damage is often not repairable.... so ideally you should keep it in its case when you aren't playing it...

However, if you've read much of what I've written in the past you'll know I'm also a proponent of keeping a guitar handy at all times. You have to use your judgement here because, after all, guitars are for playing. I live in a fairly moderate climate and I leave guitars out all the time. If you live somewhere with extreme differences in temperature and humidity, you may want to put the guitar in the case when you're done with it.

Now cleaning your guitar is a process that will not only keep its’ appearance but may help make sure wood pores are open to allow for maximum resonance - in other words, you get the most tone from your guitar. A lint-free damp clean cloth is an easy way to keep your guitar looking its best. Even better are specific guitar polishes; furniture and heavier polishes often contain ingredients that will clog wood pores. There are also guitar hardware cleaners that will polish metal parts on electric guitars as well.

An extra tip for basic guitar maintenance is checking the tuners. Sometimes, tuners can seem loose; if that’s the case for you it’s an easy fix. Tighten them on the back of the headstock, but be sure not to torque too hard so you don’t strip the screw. Also, you may want to check the nuts on the face of the headstock. If the strings are on and tuned, they will probably seem tight but that may be only due to the pressure of the strings. Next time you change your strings, I suggest checking those nuts on the face of the headstock.

Follow these steps and your guitar will live a long, happy life and be a joy to play