November 21, 2018

6 Ways to Show your Guitar Some Love

The fact is, guitars and basses need regular maintenance. If you don’t get a little blood, sweat, or beer on your guitar every so often, you’re doing it wrong. Here’s our list of the top 6 things you can do to show your guitars and basses a little love:

1.    Cleaning. Every time you use your guitar, wipe it down with a bit of guitar polish. You can use regular guitar polish on both gloss and satin finishes. Please don’t use rubbing compounds or abrasive formulas on satin finish guitars – it’ll turn them glossy.

2.    Lubrication. Each time you change your strings, dot a little machine oil onto the string trees or the roller bridges wherever the strings make contact with metal.  Use a guitar nut lubricant on the nut.  Apply it liberally, and wipe off the excess once you put the strings back on the guitar or bass.

3.    Fretboard Maintenance. A couple of times a year, treat your fretboard to prevent cracking. For maple fretboards, you can use your guitar polish. For non-maple fretboards, use lemon oil. Add a few drops to the fretboard – just enough to wet the surface — and rub it in. Wipe off the excess immediately, and let your fretboard dry overnight before you play it again.

4.    Tighten the Tuning Keys. Be sure to tighten the mounting nuts on the tuning keys a couple of times a year – just enough so they’re snug. Don’t overtighten, or you may harm your guitar or bass.

5.     Get out the humidifier. When the weather turns colder, and the heat kicks on regularly, extra humidity helps keep the fretboard from shrinking — the major cause of fret sprout.  Any humidifier will do, or even a pan of water in front of the heat register.

6.    Don’t leave your guitar in the car overnight.  As well as being a security issue, your guitars and basses don’t like extremes of temperature.  It’s often too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. So, bring your guitars inside after every gig.

For more care and maintenance tips, please check our Care and Feeding Guide (http://support.reverendguitars.com/html/support/rev_care_and_feeding_2018.pdf) the Reverend Instrument Owner’s Manual (http://support.reverendguitars.com/html/support/reverend_guitar_manual.pdf) or our support page.