How to Clean a Guitar & Strings
Cleaning your guitar is never as fun as practicing or jamming with your band, but it is just as important. A well-cleaned and properly-maintained guitar will not only feel and look better but will also stay in top shape longer. By learning a few quick cleaning techniques you can make sure that your guitar is always looking good and sounding great during any jam or performance.
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Instructions
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Using the Swiffer cleaning pad, wipe down all of the wooden parts of the guitar including the back of the neck, the headstock and the front, back and sides of the body. This will remove any dust or other particles that have built up on your guitar. You can also use a dust spray and rag to do this, but it is easier to carry around a few Swiffer pads than a can of dust spray.
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Take the cloth, or clean rag, and wipe up and down the top of your strings. It is OK to lift the strings off of the fretboard 1/2-inch or so if needed. Any more than that may cause the string to pop out of place.
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Wipe the underside of each string with the cloth. This, along with cleaning the top of the strings, will remove any sweat or grime that has built up around your strings. This can not only make your strings sound better, and be easier to play, but can extend the life of your strings by a noticeable margin.
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Push two strings aside and use the rag to wipe down your fretboard. Removing all of your strings to clean the neck is not advised as this can cause your neck to move out of place, instead try and clean the fingerboard as well as you can by moving the strings out of the way.
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Use the Q-Tip to remove any grime or dirt that has built up in hard-to-reach places such as next to the frets, under and around the bridge, in and around the pick-ups or around the tuning pegs. Removing this built up dirt, especially around metal parts, can help prevent corrosion which may occur over time.
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Tips & Warnings
Carrying around a small pack containing a rag, Swiffer pads and Q-Tips will enable you to clean your guitar no matter where you are.
Resources
- Photo Credit www.stockvault.net
