Flamenco Guitar Care

[falseta]

Wanted to ask everyone about the products or procedures they use in order to keep guitars in great shape. I know some people don't do anything and call their guitars "beater guitars" and some that have humidifiers, special rooms, etc. for their guitars. I am not looking for anything specific, just starting a general thread on guitar care.

Here are some things that I do:

- When changing strings I take a towel and wipe down the fretboard. At times when I play heavily build up of dirt can happen on the frets so I try to make sure to clean this to keep a nice appearance for performances. Plus it does make a difference when I play to not feel the dirt in the frets.

- I use regular household wood polish spray to wipe down my guitar and keep it clean from oils after playing.

Look forward to reading your tips for Flamenco Guitar Care!

[Black Sheep]

The advice I received from my guitar's builder was never leave it out of its case while you're not playing it. Apart from reducing the instances of something falling on it or it sliding off a chair onto the machine heads, the case protects from quick temperature changes. We don't seem to have issues with excessive humidity or desert dry in Adelaide but the case that came with the guitar was a full air-tight case.

I do tend to leave it in the same room that I play in so the atmosphere is as constant. But that's more convenience than fear. I don't fuss too much - guitars are built to play...

I've also had advice from people to not remove all of the strings at once but to change them one by one to keep the tension on the neck and then other say take them all off and clean the fret board with lemon oil each change... it's hard to know which is correct...

[Frontera]

I would advise on a flamenco guitar not to use household polish or cleaners. Wipe off the smudges from skin oils with a "damp" rag, then buff with a classical/flamenco polishing cloth. Several place sell them. Avoid waxes and polishes, they can build and damage finish as well as affect tone.

I always use the polishing cloth over the entire guitar before putting it in the case. I only have the guitar out of case for playing.

[falseta]

@blacksheep - Long ago I remember being told something similar so I adopted the changing of top three strings first and cleaning the top half of the fretboard. Then changing the bottom three strings and the bottom half of the fretboard. I don't remember who or when I was told about the neck tension, it just became habit.

@frontera - I will keep an eye out for a polishing cloth!

[Frontera]

Falseta, In my opinion, I would rather take off all the strings than half. The reason is with half you have tension pulling in one direction and more likely to cause neck damage than taking them all off. If you take them all off, you need to bring them up by starting at bottom E1 and bringing it up at a lower pitch, then do E6, then do B2, then A5, then G3 then D4. Then bring E1 to pitch. From there use open tuning starting at the bottom plucking E and B together and tuning the B to a smooth 5th. Then B and G which is a 4th, then G and D a 5th, then D and A a 5th, then A and E a 5th. As you know you will repeat tuning several times before the strings get stretched. I also change strings this way ONE at a time, but always bring the new string to pitch since the others are already there. I just run a rag underneath the strings to clean fretboard. If too much build by frets, use dental floss.

I tune my guitar this way (open tuning or 5th's and a 4th) and then check with octaves and sometimes harmonics. It takes some practice, but in time it comes automatic and is fast. This is when you want a peghead! LOL!

[falseta]

Thanks for the tip frontera... Old habits die hard I will keep your advice in mind next time I change strings...

[Black Sheep]

Wow... dental floss on the frets... I never thought of that... Great tip. Mint or plain?

The other thing I was told was to rub a little candle wax in the string groves of the nut to allow the string to slip through when tuning. Mine are a little tight so when I tune the little fine movements of the machine head don't get translated to the string tension. I have to do a little 'hammer on' either side of the zero fret just to even the tension out.

Any tips there as filing or sanding the groves makes me a little nervous?...

[Payul]

Hi Black Sheep,

There is a little trick for that.
If you want to do the groove from the bone from let's say the 6th string,

Get the 6th string out, and use it as a dentall floss, to "polish" the groove.
For the 5th string groove use the 5th string, the 3th string groove the 3th string.

This way you cannot change the form of the groove, and angle from the groove and "sand" it minuscully.
Mostly this is enough.

!! Be carefull or protect the headplate from the headstock, you do not want to sand that

Btw, I like your weblog, you have a nice way of writing down things

Payul

[Black Sheep]

Sometimes the most elegant solutions are absolutely simple. Next time I change the strings I'll spend a bit of time polishing...

And thanks for visiting the site. That's two I know read it...

Cheers

[deteresa]

I find the most important thing to do is humidify. Up here the winters are dry and central heating makes it even worse. My guitar actually sounds much more alive when I use the humidifier (Dampit) not to mention protecting the woods.