Classical Guitar Maintenance Checklist
Classical Guitar Maintenance - Taking Care of Your Guitar
Guitars normally require very little maintenance. However, a little care in handling and storage will protect your investment for many years.
Never expose your guitar to high heat and humidity. For example, don't leave your guitar in a hot car or in direct sunlight. Typical heat damage consists of warped soundboards and unglued (detached) bridges.
Never lean the guitar on furniture or the wall. The guitar is unstable (the lower bout is round) and can easily fall and be damaged. Always store your guitar in a case or on a guitar stand.
Wash your hands before playing. Dirt and oil will clog and corrode the strings and diminish the sound and life of your strings.
Handle the guitar only by the neck. Squeezing the top and body will damage the delicate soundboard bracing.
Wipe your guitar with a soft cotton or microfiber cloth after playing. Clean and polish your guitar occasionally with a light polish such as Martin Guitar Polish. Avoid heavy paste waxes as they eventually build up into a thick, vibration-muffling coating.
Guitar care
Extreme humidity or dryness are dangerous, as well as the quick change from one state to the other.
It is recommended that you keep your instrument between 40 - 60% relative humidity. When the humidity is less than 40% the wood could crack, and the action would be lower. When the humidity is greater than 70% the glue could soften, the guitar could lose sound and buzzing could appear because the string action would be higher.
Below you will find some other maintenance advice for each guitar part:
Soundboard
When cleaning it, only rub the guitar with a damp cotton cloth. There are also some other specific products for instruments but check first as they must not contain solvents. When rubbing the guitar, do it slightly, because matte finish could become a shiny finish (although this will inevitably happen over time.)
Be careful when applying products for wood maintenance, as different varnishes are used on different guitars. At Guitars Online, we bring in 10-12 different guitar brands, represent a number of Australian Luthiers and have been importing Alhambra guitars for over 20 years – so we are very familiar with their finishes and processes.
Using the Alhambra instruments as examples, I can distinguish between polyurethane varnish for models 1C to 7P, and the laca-nitro varnish (nitrocellulose lacquer) in models 8P up to professional guitars (top only). They began using this in 2002 and you cannot clean it with alcohol.
In all steel string guitars, Alhambra uses polyurethane varnish (shine or matte options). The most important thing is avoiding extreme humidity and dryness.
Fingerboard
After cleaning the dust, just apply a small quantity of petroleum jelly with a clean cloth. You can also use a cloth dampened with alcohol to clean the accumulated dirt.
Frets
The dirt accumulated between fret and the fingerboard can be cleaned with a small toothpick. To avoid damage to the rosewood or ebony, do not use anything harder.
Machine Heads
Grease them with lubricating oil.
Strings
We recommend you clean them after playing the guitar using a cloth dampened with alcohol under and along the strings. If you clean them regularly, their useful life will be extended, and they will recover their original brightness.
Classical Guitar Humidity and Temperature Control
To avoid shrinkage in a guitar's woods never leave a guitar next to a heat source such as a radiator or wood burning stove, or next to a cooling source such as an air conditioner. While most people associate dryness with cold weather, it is important to note that dry warm weather as well as air conditioning in humid weather can greatly reduce a room's relative humidity in a very short amount of time - often below the minimum safe level for a fine classical guitar.
To avoid swelling in a guitar's woods never leave a guitar next to a source of moisture such as a lake, pond, swimming pool, running shower, or filled bathtub.
When not in use a guitar should be stored in its case (with the case latches securely closed). A good hard-shell case with a tight weather seal is recommended. A guitar should not be left exposed in the open air where greater moisture loss can occur in a dry environment and greater moisture absorption can occur in a humid environment. For these reasons do not store your guitar on a guitar stand or hang your guitar on a wall. Storing your guitar in a good, closed hard-shell case also helps protect a guitar from accidental damage by young children and pets.
Note: Do not leave a guitar in the passenger compartment or trunk of a car or anywhere else where intense sunlight and excessive heat or cold may damage it.
French polish or Shellac finish
Most fine classical guitars are finished with a shellac applied using the traditional French polish method. Though acoustically superior to more durable finishes such as lacquer, a shellac finish is very delicate and can be easily damaged if it comes into contact with moisture (perspiration), alcohol, heat which exceeds comfortable room temperature, fingernails, shirt buttons, belt buckles, or other hard objects.
Note: Never apply any of the commercially available guitar polishes to a shellac finish. A polish which contains silicone or alcohol can be particularly problematic.
When playing a guitar that has a French polish of shellac finish you should always place a protective, waterproof cloth between a guitar and yourself to screen a guitar's finish from perspiration and excessive body heat.
If a French polish of shellac finish is marred (for example, it takes on a milky white haze due to contact with moisture), a guitar maker or repair person skilled in the French polish technique may be able to restore a finish's lustre using a very mild rubbing compound. Please note that it is not unusual for a French polished instrument which is played regularly to need some touch up work every three or four years.
Do Not Flex a Classical Guitar’s Soundboard.
Under NO circumstances should you ever apply pressure to a guitar's soundboard or bridge area either by forcing the top of a badly fitting guitar case down on a guitar's soundboard or by asserting pressure on a guitar's soundboard with your hands.
Always pick a guitar up by its neck, never by its body.
A guitar's soundboard can be severely cracked by being flexed.
String Choice and Changing
Some makers build their guitars with a specific string in mind, and I always ask makers if they use a particular string. Here are some of the ones I have met and whose guitars I have got to know well.
Angel Benito Aguado builds his guitars with Savarez 520 R in mind - a rich mid tension string that suits his guitars.
Prudencio Saez builds and strings his guitars with either the Savarez 520 R or Savarez Cristal. As does Vicente Carrillo.
Yuna Park uses Knobloch as does Elias Bonet.
Alhambra take their strings seriously so recommend the Alhambra extra High tension for their guitars.
Paulino Bernabe even has his own strings especially made to get the best out of his guitars and drive the tops efficiently. He also has developed his own string ties made literally of a hard space age material which has to be shaped with special tooling.
More on Paulino Bernabe and his choice of strings
This last year we spent a day in his workshop evaluating, ordering new guitars for 2024.
Paulino explained that using an upper-middle tension carbon string with a balance between warm and bright with optimum performance ensures his guitars feel easy and responsive to play.
Playability
It is the combined fact of managing the tension in the top, the string tie system and the straight through path the string follows in his bridge design that makes the guitar so resonant yet playable.
In the string changing card that comes with each guitar, Paulino advises:
Change the strings one after the other to avoid loosening the tension on the guitar top.
Start with the first string, sand the string end with sandpaper, guide it through the bridge hole, loop around itself 4 times. After that, guide the other end of the string and thread through the tuner and turn three or four times over itself. Pull the string by hand and start winding the string with the tuner.
Second string- sand the end again with sandpaper, guide it through the bridge hole, loop around itself 4 times. After that, guide the other end of the string and thread through the tuner and turn two times over itself. Pull the string by hand and start winding the string with the tuner.
Third string- sand the end again with sandpaper, guide it through the bridge hole, loop around itself 3 times. After that, guide the other end of the string and thread through the tuner and turn two times over itself. Pull the string by hand and start winding the string with the tuner.
Fourth, fifth and sixth. Wrap once around the bridge and time on the tuners.
It’s important to pull and tense the strings by hand before you tune with the tuners. That way they will stretch and settle in less time.
When To Change Your Strings
Quality strings will help you get the best out of your guitar. Changing your strings regularly is a good investment in your playing and will help you get the best tone out of your guitar.
While it might seem tedious, the sound is glorious afterwards!
When to change strings?
When your guitar sounds dull!
Also check if the base strings have worn black over the frets. An inexpensive string-winder will really make string changing a cinch and is especially useful if you have multiple guitars.
If you love guitar toys and want the best, check out the electric string winder from Royal Classics https://www.guitarsonline.com.au/cases-stands-accessories/electric-string-winder-stringmster-mve50 It’s made my life in changing strings a breeze.
But string changing is a changing is a chore!
Track athletes don't run the 100 meters with poorly designed or worn shoes.
Why? Poor quality shoes won't allow them to run their best.
Although they may be in exquisite physical condition and boast the finest training, bad shoes will shoot them down in a heartbeat.
To guitarists, strings are like the shoes of a track athlete. The finest instrument and player will sound dull with cheap or worn strings. To get the most out of your instrument and your music, use quality strings and change them regularly.
"When should I change my strings?" is a question I hear constantly.
Fortunately, there's a simple answer: Change them when they sound bad. Fret and finger abrasion, sweat, oil, and dirt eventually cause a reduction in upper harmonics (treble response) and volume.
In other words, the strings sound dead. At this point you'll see fret wear - black marks - on the strings and have difficulty tuning. And if they're really terrible, the basses will be corroded, and the trebles scratched (worn rough where you pluck.)
Guitarists who play all day wear out their strings in a week or less.
Players with dirty and/or sweaty hands can kill the tone of fresh strings in a matter of minutes.
However, the typical hobbyist that washes their hands before practice and plays an hour a day can expect a month of decent tone out of standard strings.
Traditional String Changing Method
Purchase a set of classical guitar strings, i.e., trebles of clear nylon and basses of nylon thread with metal wrap.
Never use steel strings on a classical guitar or you'll severely damage your guitar.
I recommend high tension strings to get the most out of your guitar if it has a quality solid wood top.
String Winder
This device is used to turn the tuning pegs and greatly speeds up string changes.
Removing Strings
Use a string winder to unwind the strings. It's faster than winding by hand.
Turn the winder counterclockwise to loosen the string and clockwise to tighten the string. Don't remove all the strings at once. Instead, remove and install one string at a time.
Removing all the strings traumatizes the neck and sound board.
How? The strings exert a total force of 75 to 90 pounds of tension on the sound board and neck. If you release all the tension, the wood flexes.
After reinstalling the strings, it takes several hours for the sound board to flex back to optimal shape. Thus, you'll notice a loss of volume and tone until the sound board returns to normal.
Attaching the string to the bridge
Once you have removed a string, attach the string to the bridge by threading the string through the bridge hole and loop it around itself.
Insert the string under itself at the rear of the bridge (where the back holes are) so that it locks on itself when you tighten the string.
Once threaded and looped, hold the string in place with your finger and take up the slack by pulling smartly on the string (pull towards the head stock).
Attaching the string to the tuning heads
After the bridge tie is secure, attach the opposite end of the string to the tuning head roller.
Turn the tuning key until the string hole is centered in the roller (see diagram above).
Thread the string through the hole on the top of the roller.
Pull the end out the bottom and twist it around the string:
Finally, use the string winder to bring the string up to pitch by cranking clockwise.
Keep a watchful eye on the bridge tie. If it begins to slip, slack off the string, and tie it again.
Repeat the above procedure with the remaining five strings.
Beads and string gaskets
Some guitarists use glass beads as gaskets and claim they enhance treble response.
Making your strings last
Many students have commented that their instrument sounds great with new strings but quickly loses its sparkle.
There are four main factors that influence string life: string quality, personal hygiene, technique, and frequency of playing.
String quality and personal hygiene are the easiest factors to control.
Strings are very personal to the player and for this reason I stock over 40 different brands based on player request.
Here is the current lineup.
https://www.guitarsonline.com.au/stringsonline
Strings are worth paying slightly more to preserve tonal response and avoid frequent string changes.
Finally, the more you play, the faster you wear out your strings; but the more you play the better you get! The enjoyment of beautiful tone and wide dynamic response is worth a string change every month or even every week.
Good luck with your next string change!
How Can I Help?
If You Have Questions?
Please give me a call at any time if you have questions about any of our guitars, or if you would like me to offer you some suggestions.
Pierre Herrero
m: 0410 708 338
e: pierre@guitarsonline.com.au
Expert Playing Style Assessment and Guitar Fitting
Don't let the wrong guitar hold you back and limit your ability to progress and enjoy your practice and playing.
My system for playing style assessment and guitar fitting has been developed from more than 50 years of acquired knowledge, playing and testing more than 3,000 uniquely different guitars from more than 70 different luthiers and helping match almost 18,000 people with their dream guitar.
So, unless you are an experienced, expert player, who has spent decades travelling the world, testing guitars, how do you know what specific guitar, is best for you, the individual player?
You don't have to - that is what we do. It's this service that helps make GuitarsOnline so unique.
Our Expert Guitar and Playing Style Consultation Service is a unique offering, whereby we do a complete analysis of you and your playing style - your physical characteristics and objectives.
You then have the opportunity to play a range of guitars, all perfectly suited to your specific playing requriements.
Our GuitarsOnline showroom is located just over the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne
If you would like to book a style assessment and guitar fitting, please contact me on:
pierre@guitarsonline.com.au
m: 0410 708 338
Or you can contact me through the following form:
https://www.guitarsonline.com.au/product-enquiry