Guitar Maintenance; The Complete Guide

So now that you have gone out and bought your first guitar (or fifth if you're like me) you need to know how to properly maintain it. This is a colloection of what I have learned from my grandpa, what I have figured out myself, and what I have seen online.

Step 1: The First Clean Up

If you bought your guitar new or used, you are going to want to do this first. These next few steps will make your guitar look better, feel better, and play better.

Comments

[noingwhat]

This guy is correct actually. The truss rod does not adjust the action, the nut and the bridge are the only two things that do that. The truss rod is only (supposed) to adjust the curvature of the neck, which is typically going to be almost perfectly flat, but most people will play with a slight forward bow. You never EVER want a back bow though, as this will cause strings to buzz, and quite possible even for them to go dead when played on certain frets.

[Robot Lover]

I am rebuilding a half sized strat and I can't seem to get this one question answered. You seem to be good with guitars so maybe you can answer it. Is a half sized stratocaster's pickguard the same size as a full sized strat's pickguard? Thanks! Anyway, good instructable!

[genghistron]

If you have the guitar already you can measure/sketch the size of the pickguard you want by using a strat image template and adjusting the size so that it leaves about 1cm from the edge of the pickguard to the edge of the body. You can always buy pickguard blanks from a site like www.warmoth.com and cut them to size. It's an easy material to work with.

[Robot Lover]

Thanks! I kinda planned on doing that if the one I'm ordering doesn't fit. .

[freeza36]

by half size, do you mean the "junior" models that sell new for $100?

[Robot Lover]

it's kinda like that. I don't think it's a child sized one though. I think it's a little bigger than the child sized ones.

[freeza36]

is it a Fender brand guitar?

[Robot Lover]

It's a johnson strat.

[freeza36]

Yeah i dont know. Strat (stratocaster) is a registered trademark of fender..... I have heard of johnsons before.... I am going to go with no, the pickguard will be smaller on that than on a normal size guitar

[freeza36]

is it a starcaster?

[genghistron]

Why are you using acoustic guitar strings on an electric guitar?

[freeza36]

im not. I use the same brand for both, but I do not have any d'ardio (or whatever) electric strings at the moment

[genghistron]

Truss rods adjust the amount of relief or curvature of the neck. The action, or string height above the frets, is a product of the bridge and nut height and the relief or bow of the neck.

[freeza36]

so this got featured... wow