Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: David.C.Bond Dec 8 2007, 06:10 PM

So, are you obsessive about you axe? Discuss!

Posted by: Bogdan Dec 8 2007, 06:13 PM

I don't actually take care of it much...I rarely clean it, I change strings when they loose sound I'm looking for,..But I do carry it in hardshell case..I have many bumps on it , on my beautiful tiger eye quilt top but what can I do man , guitar is meant to be used ..

Posted by: Xranthoius Dec 8 2007, 06:18 PM

Well, i change strings when they need it and i polish it every week or two

Posted by: mattacuk Dec 8 2007, 06:21 PM

Strings when they snap, or when they just sound really bad. And I polish it when its REALLY bad!

Posted by: VinceG Dec 8 2007, 06:33 PM

Well I sometimes get anal about my guitar. Just a month ago, I bought some cleaning supplies: polished, waxed and re-string both my guitars. It rarely happens but I actually enjoy doing it especially if there dirty and full of finger marks.

Posted by: Owen Dec 8 2007, 06:36 PM

Strings, when they snap or every year whether they need it or not.

Guitar, it tends to get accidentally knocked about a bit, I bash the headstock off doors etc etc stand breaks, blah blah, got a fair few dents, had to choose the fourth option for honesty.

Posted by: FretDancer69 Dec 8 2007, 06:54 PM

yeah same here

Posted by: mattacuk Dec 8 2007, 07:19 PM

LIke with the guitar magazines, I always think if I have enough time to be cleaning my guitar I could be pracicing a cool lick or two !

Posted by: FretDancer69 Dec 8 2007, 07:29 PM

great minds think alike...

Posted by: Smells Dec 8 2007, 07:45 PM

change the strings depending on how they are starting to sound 3-5 weeks, and give the guitar a polish when I change them.

Posted by: Davidian Dec 8 2007, 07:45 PM

I haven't got enough money to change my strings every week ! Not that I would do it if I had the money
I only polish my guitar when I have to take a picture for somebody, so the polish I bought is still 3/4 full, that says enough ...

Posted by: ClifordACDC Dec 8 2007, 07:56 PM

i usualy change the strings after about a month, and i usualy put some fretboard conditioner on during string changes. i dont realy polish my guitar because the polish i have is horrible and actualy makes my guitar look worse .

Posted by: rokchik Dec 8 2007, 08:08 PM

I change the strings when I feel they need to be changed or they break. When I do change them I clean/polish my guitar. However after every use I do wipe off all finger prints/smudges just so there is not a lot of build up.

Posted by: Pavel Dec 8 2007, 08:17 PM

I was really obsessed with cleaning and stuff half a year ago. Now i don't care too much. I clean it every time before playing not to have dust on guitar and fretboard and i change strings when i feel i need to do it because of tuning issues.

Posted by: fkalich Dec 8 2007, 08:27 PM

I used to be obsessive years ago. But I got over it. I did not do pathetic things like wash my hands constantly or change my underwear 10 times a day, but I was a perfectionist in a non productive way.

Today I am not that way at all. Well when I started up guitar over a year ago, I immediately bought 7, 4 Gibsons and 3 Fenders. But since then have not given it a thought, don't care about Ibanez wonder guitars, or strings, or anything like that. I have what I want, and I don't worry about pickups or anything, just my playing. And my practice is not obsessive, it is always done in a productive fashion.

And it is a much better world in my view. It can take years to get over the damage that your parents do to you, with is just about unavoidable, no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

If you are obsessive, it is counter productive. And it takes years to overcome it. You learn to sort of box it off. Such as myself, buying 7 guitars right away. That was it. Instead of obsessing over stuff for years, I just got it all over with in a couple months, and am totally satisfied with what I have. Now I don't give any of that a thought, don't care, I just play, and everything is just fine, don't have to change anything, don't have to mess with anything. I rarely clean a guitar. Unless it gets real dirty, don't care. What is that going to matter when I am 6 feet under?

edit: I do edit things, but not obsessively. I am just particular about my writing. For example typos, misspelling, that makes you look careless or stupid. Or poorly organized thoughts. Or perhaps not expressing yourself as you prefer. That is not obsessive. What would be obsessive would be, for example, if I were to edit this because I put 4 Gibsons and 3 Fenders above, when in fact it is 5 Gibsons and 2 Fenders. That don't mean a rat's ass, so that would be obsessive. But I respect people who put effort into what they write, nothing obsessive about that in my view.

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Dec 8 2007, 09:08 PM

I clean it every time I change the strings - about every 3-4 weeks. I don`t like my guitar looking dirty. I just wipe it with a soft wet cloth - don`t use chemicals (exept fastfret off course)

Posted by: Smikey2006 Dec 8 2007, 10:29 PM

I polish my guitar once and a while.. i have a fender guitar cloth.. so if its laying around ill give it a polish.. and i always clean the frets when i change strings which is about once every 2 weeks or when they break. Even if i just break a high e i tend to change all of them just for good measure.. keep it constant..

Posted by: David.C.Bond Dec 8 2007, 11:22 PM

I'm very obsessive about mine, my girlfriend makes fun of me about it sometimes! I generally change the strings a couple of times a week, and I polish them on saturdays.
I usually play a minimum of 6 hours a day though, so the strings need changing quite frequently.

Posted by: Alucard Dec 9 2007, 02:26 AM

Ehh, I change strings about 2-4 weeks, and i polish it every week. What I'm really anal about is scratches and dents, but thankfully my guitar is silver so no worries

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Dec 9 2007, 02:31 AM

A set of strings lasts me a month or so, and I always polish and dust when I change 'em

Posted by: The Uncreator Dec 9 2007, 02:52 AM

Im EXTREMELY ANAL about it, i chose the first option.

Posted by: Understudy Dec 9 2007, 04:22 PM

I am very anal about my Carvin, but I have to be to keep the finish and the wood in the condition it needs to be. A natural tung oil finish has to be maintained every month with lemon oil and then every 6 months with tung oil to keep the wood from drying out. I change strings when I feel I need to but I re-oil every month with a 100% cotton cloth that leaves no dust. My Ibanez gets restrung when it needs it, and every now and then I just wipe it down with windex.

Posted by: mattacuk Dec 9 2007, 05:52 PM

Fancy cleaning mine too?

Posted by: Dejan Dec 10 2007, 03:53 PM

It simple!

I clean it when it's dirty, and restring it when I feel I should

Posted by: Paul Coutts Dec 13 2007, 08:47 AM

I'm obssesive, in a way, but I also think that guitars are like shoes...they need to be treated like crap now and again. They need to be worn in, so to speak