Hi there GMC im just wondering is it really necessary to learn every inch of theory about the guitar and where the notes are on the fretboard? I mean didnt SRV learn everything by ear? I mean i know a bit and i can read music to some extend like tabs and such, but i never really cared for the name of those fancy chords or a scale or what note i am playing when i put my finger on the 8 fret on the b string. Only those small things that are impossible to miss like third fret low e string is G. I think most of the things ive learned on the guitar i learned from listening and watching guitarists, wonder if this is a good thing or is it something i just HAVE to learn about the fretboard and such? Cheers.

EDIT: I have some questions about the guitar

1. When changing strings, if all the strings are removed at the same time will this cause the guitar to loose its intonation and bend the neck?
2. When tuning, if you go past tune into sharp. Is it true that if you just loosen back to tune, the string will "slack" out of tune after a while?How to keep guitar in tune.
3. What happens if you forget to clean your guitar?
4. When winding new strings are there right and wrong ways to do it?

Im afraid of not knowing crucial things about the guitar that can suddenly give me a slap in the face!

Well. Number 1 i'd answer eventually. If you leave them off for just a few minutes to clean and put some on then that is fine but if you leave no strings on for weeks then it will have an effect.

Number 2. Lots of bands tune strings sharper. Especially Sonic Youth you tune there E strings to F a lot of the time. It doesn't do anything to the guitar or string although if you go too far on small string guages they'll just snap.

Number 3 - It gets dirty Nothing else.

Number 4 - There are better ways and for sure wrong ways but it's only wrong if your strings keep losing tension.

Well,nothing is necessary in learning progress unless you want it,
so the more you learn the more you'll be able to easy
fit yourself into different bands,do lot of recording sessions
without any troubles etc.
Learning by ear is best thing you should do,build your ear A LOT.
But also try to understand what your ear hears,
and that would be theory,nothing else.

Now onto your questions.
1.There is no problem if you remove all strings at once and
then put new ones,actually you'll have to do it that
way if you wanna clean your guitar properly,
this is best to do once per month or som.
Problem would appear if you remove all strings and
leave it that way for a week or longer.
2.
If you tune your guitar too sharp strings might get too loosen a bit
cause you pushed the too hard and now they need do adapt
to regular tuning.
How much they're gonna loose and how long it's gonna last depends of few things,
first,how much sharper did you tune it actually
and second,it depends a lot of strings brand,gauge etc.
3.
First thing you'll notice is that it looks dirty and filthy,
which is not what we want to see with our instrument,right??
Nest thing,corrosion will be there all the time
and it'll affect all metal parts,bridge,pickup's poles,screws,jacks,pots etc.
Full cleaning of your guitar once a month is good thing to do,
clean everything,frets,body,metal parts.
Also be sure to clean strings after every time you play,
specially if you have sweating problems,
that will brings even more corrosion if you don't.

Hope this helps.

How do you clean the metal parts of guitar (pots, bridge ect)?

I have guitar polish, is that a guitar cleaner really? It says it is, but it works really poorly...

I agree with Muris on the first part

Now just to add my opninions for the questions:

1. When you remove all strings, trus rod will push the neck in some direction, and when you re-string it back it will take some time (minutes, hours, days - depending on quality of guitar and the time of string absence) to return back to it's place. When taking strings off, gradually lossen each string to avoid twisting of neck, and when putting new strings do it in the following order: 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6.

2. I know what you asked, the guys misunderstood it When tuning you should ALWAYS tune by tightening the string, if you go sharp, loose it back to flat and tune it again by tightening. Why? The tuning mechanism locks better in place when tightening, than loosing. That applies to non-locking types, naturally

3. It gets dirty and strings lose their brilliance

4. I already gave a hint on restringing above, just to add that it's best to keep string tense while winding, it will look better and decrease possibility of loosing the tune.. like in the picture






I use this combination for all guitars.. and also for keyboard, computer, etc..

microfiber cloth


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and finally, his majesty.. the fast fret