Instrument Care And Maintenance For The Player
by Tom Bazzolo
©2009

 

Over the years, numerous articles have appeared in guitar related literature addressing the subject of instrument care. One would expect that the “do’s and don’ts” are clearly evident and that more information would be simply redundant. Unfortunately, guitars routinely arrive at my shop for repair and display a variety of predictable damage. Damage which was the consequence of either benign neglect, or in some cases, just plain abuse. With this in mind, what follows is intended to save the life of some innocent guitar out there somewhere...

A guitarist should understand the nature of the instrument. Guitars, especially those which are handmade, are lightly constructed of very thin wood and are easily damaged. The most common damage falls into two categories; impact and exposure to undesirable environmental conditions.

Nearly all the examples of traumatic impact to guitars that I have encountered could have been easily prevented if the instrument had been closed in a case. A guitar left on a piece of furniture, or worse yet, laying on the floor is an invitation for disaster. Falling objects demonstrate unerring accuracy for striking a guitar on target. Guitars have been bumped by moved furniture, kicked, stepped on and sat upon. Toddlers seem to have a particular affinity for bashing guitars with a variety of hard and pointy objects. Even the family pet should be considered “armed and dangerous” when guitars are left out in the open. Damage sustained by any of these mechanisms is at best a challenge to repair. Even if meticulously executed, the repair is seldom invisible and will live on to sadden the instruments’ owner forever.

A valuable instrument deserves a quality case. Forget about the inexpensive soft cases with the flimsy hardware. Guitars rarely fit them well. They are easily crushed and the unreliable hardware does not latch securely to prevent unintended dumping of the contents (your guitar) onto the ground. What does the job is a three or four-ply hard shell case, preferably one with an arched top. Store the guitar in the case with the top closed and latched. An instrument left half in and half out of a case is begging to be damaged. Exercise care when taking the guitar out of the case and placing it back. The hardware on the case lid can act like crocodile teeth. Finally, if you are not in the habit of latching the case lid, start doing so. Sooner or later you will pick up the case only to have the instrument leap out and belly flop on the ground. Trust me, gravity never fails!

For those who own instruments which travel by air, a rugged travel case is an absolute necessity. Avoid checking in the instrument as baggage but if required to do so loosen the string tension and make sure the guitar is securely cushioned from movement inside the case.

One of the reasons the guitar sounds the way it does is because it is constructed out of wood. As a natural material, wood never dies. It is constantly in a state of movement, either shrinking or expanding, depending on the moisture content of the air in it’s environment. Therein lies the problem. I have never seen a guitar damaged by excessive humidity. Although a protracted exposure to a hot, steamy, tropical environment could cause an instrument to swell excessively and the glue joints to fail. The more common problem is dryness. Here in New England winters are notoriously dry. During the heating season, the relative humidity in the home can drop below 25%. The effect on a guitar which was constructed at a relative humidity of 45 - 50% is no mystery. The wood will shrink and crack along the grain and usually on the top or back of the instrument.

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Preventing this from occurring is simple. The relative humidity of the room where the guitar is kept can be controlled with a vaporizer. For the performing guitarist whose instrument is moved about from place to place, Dampits are used to condition the atmosphere inside the instrument. After moistening the Dampit, it should be squeezed between a towel and inserted into the soundhole. This is important. A soaking wet Dampit will drain inside the guitar, stain the instrument label and saturate the back of the instrument. The water will discolor the wood under the finish and in extreme cases lift the finish off entirely.

Equally as important as humidifying is knowing when to humidify. A hygrometer (relative humidity gauge) is used to measure the moisture content of the air. If you don’t have one, then buy one. They are available wherever weather instruments are sold and through pharmacies. When the relative humidity drops below 45%, it’s time to humidify.

Just as there is a comfort zone for moisture content of the environment, there is a temperature range to be aware of. As a rule of thumb when you are comfortable your guitar is OK.

More important than the actual temperature is the rate of temperature change that the instrument is subjected to. Moving the instrument from a comfortable 70 degrees in the home to 15 degrees in the car on a dark February night is looking for trouble. As well as the strings immediately going out of tune, there is a strong likelihood that the finish will crack in a million places and look shattered. If nothing else, the instrument will become sufficiently destabilized to be unpredictable and cantankerous during the performance after it arrives. Again, prevention is simple. Warm the car before you place the guitar into it for the drive.

Incidentally, if you have never seen a guitar with every glue joint popped open and the bridge pulled off then leave yours in the trunk of your car in a parking lot somewhere on a hot summer day. Enough said on this topic! Seriously, avoid even leaving the instrument exposed to direct sunlight in your home. It can dry out quickly under this exposure.

Finally, a word about maintenance. The finish of a guitar is intended to last its life time. It requires very little care other than an occasional polishing. Use a soft cotton flannel cloth (diapers, if not totally extinct by now work well). A quality polish designed for guitars is recommended. C.F. Martin makes a good one. Never use a furniture polish or anything containing silicones. Silicones penetrate tiny cracks in the finish and eventually leave a greasy residue. Further, any crack in the instrument if impregnated with silicone is very difficult if not impossible to repair. Glue will simply not stick to silicones.

The next time you change the strings on your guitar, carefully sneak through the soundhole with the hose of a vacuum cleaner. Dust and lint accumulated to become dust bunnies and lint lizards! This debris dampens the tone of the instrument and attracts moisture. And when you change nylon strings, always apply a stiff card to the guitar top down stream of the bridge should a string slip off the tie block and try to leave a nasty scar.

On closing, remember always that the guitar is a fragile assembly of wood, strings and glue.

The New England Luthiers is an association of professionals and amateurs brought together by a common love of making stringed instruments