Guitar Maintenance

Modern Saint

Modern Saint

Starve your Fear, Feed your Dream!
How many of you do your own maintenance? How do you care for your gear?

Since this past NAMM where I bought some additional pieces from Nomad Music, I have modified my maintenance program on my gear and have begun a spree on guitar setups and string changes. I have been watching a lot of reels on FB and IG from others who perform guitar maintenance and have learned a lot of new things which is really cool. One is to finally attack a couple of necks and finish my refret jobs.

The other day I used for the first time naphtha (Ronson Lighter Fluid) for cleaning the fretboard. I couldn't believe how much crap came off of it. Next was fret polishing followed by conditioning the fretboard with Nomad's F-One oil - Slick.
 
I just do the basic stuff - string changes, fretboard oiling, cleaning. I have been known to tweak string height, truss rod and fine-tune intonation, but if I want a full setup I will get a tech to do it.
 
in the 80's & 90's i was a stringed instrument tech (side job). i actually did an luthier apprenticeship in the mid 80's.
i have since backslid to changing strings when they break. :facepalm:
i also don't have very much of those tools and such, as they actually belonged to the stores.
and i only play the one strat about 2 a week total and one of my acoustics about the same or less.
there's really not much that needs done.
 
Being my hobby I don’t own expensive guitars. So for the last 30 years I have done a lot. I keyed in on fret leveling crowning and polishing on the cheap years ago. Fret sprout? Non-issue. I can knock it out. Since I don’t do it all the time inexpensive tools lets me do 5 or 6 without breaking the bank. This has been the biggest difference in taking a lessor guitar to a great feeling and playing guitar. I can wire it all. I found that I really love doing all of it. It just makes me really happy.

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The only thing I won't do is a re fret and carve a nut from a blank. There's a limit to my patience!
 
This is something I have started to perform over the last year, I have assembled tools from Music Nomad and StewMac. Basic cleaning, fret polishing, leveling, crowning, fretboard conditioning, truss rod adjustment, did some bridge filing and slight nut filing on the Harley Benton when I got it. String height, pickup height, etc. recently did a pickup swap which meant brushing off those soldering skills.

YouTube been very good to me!
 
I've done about everything you can do to a guitar myself. I once went to a pro asking about fret leveling for my strat and he tried to sell me on just raising my action.

At least he was trying to save me money. I bought some strings and a slide, then leveled my own frets.
 
I have always tinkered. But then I decided I was going to build guitars about 12 years ago. I built 10 and that was it for me.
After the 3rd neck, I started buying aftermarket necks. Anything other than a fret polish or level and I'm taking it somewhere.
I didn't have the patience for it. I threw a Estwing hand axe at a cabinet after working on the last neck.
It was a sign to give it up .
I did replace a FR Special last year with a Gotoh 1996. That was my last "big" project.
 
I do the basics including setup, string changes, truss rod adjustments, set action, adjust intonation, clean, oil. I have used a file on a few fret ends but never a full fret dressing. I have swapped pickups, rewired, soldered. I'm pretty mediocre at the wiring part because I can't read a schematic. Seymour Duncan has pretty pictures to follow for my primitive brain.
 
i like to put a nice dry rub on the body, brown sugar, some cumin, paprika, salt pepper etc i find it makes the tones come out
 
smurfco said:
i like to put a nice dry rub on the body, brown sugar, some cumin, paprika, salt pepper etc i find it makes the tones come out
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