How To Store Your Guitar

By Author: Bill Scott
Total Articles: 4351
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Guitar players go out of their way to keep their instruments in great condition when it's still in active use. But then, there's a tendency that the important details of taking care of the guitar would be overlooked when it's not played for a while. To make sure that your guitar will still be in good condition when you put it in storage, all you need is just follow a few simple steps.

Materials

- Guitar case (hard cases are preferable)
- Any wood-friendly oil or lemon oil
- Polish
- Canned air duster

Instruction

1. Loosen the guitar strings. It is not required to take away all the tension from the guitar's strings. But it is advisable to lessen the tension just enough so that there won't be any strain placed on the guitar's neck. If you're worried that you would be leaving a lot of tension on your instrument's neck, you can just take away the strings and stash them away in a bag together with the guitar.
2. Clean your guitar well. To blow away dust out of the other guitar components and the winding keys, use compressed air. Take some time to polish your guitar. This is the ...
... way to protect its surface against dryness. To keep the fret board moisturized enough, use any wood-friendly oil or lemon oil to rub it. This process would resist damage on your fret board when you tighten the strings for next use.
3. Put the bag containing the strings (if you decide to remove them) with the guitar into the guitar case. Hard cases are preferred for long-term storage because it can give maximum protection from damage. But if there are no other available cases, you can do with a soft case. Make sure that the case is securely closed.
4. Choose a storage spot which won't get direct sunlight and will not be subject to extreme low or high temperatures. As much as possible, make sure that the spot's humidity will remain constant. Avoid locations where air has a tendency to be extremely humid or very dry.
5. Once you've placed your guitar in storage, refrain from moving it around. If you keep on moving your guitar, there's a great risk of it getting damaged. Choose a spot where it will remain undisturbed until you take it out for your next use.

Tips and Warning

- To make sure that your guitar will still look its best, keep a regular polishing and cleaning schedule. This will also help your instrument from avoiding damage brought by dry air.
- Be careful in tuning and restringing your guitar after taking it out of storage, most specially when it was kept in storage for a long period. Take your time in tuning. If you rush, there's a tendency that you would end up over-tightening the guitar's strings, breaking them in the process or straining the neck of your guitar.

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