A good proper cleaning?

[daveinspain]

Hi Guys and Gals...

 

I was just looking at some posts and saw a pic of a SG completely taken apart to do a cleaning, no tail piece no strings. This made me think either the owner is a guitar tech or has lots of extra cash to spend on set ups. I was under the impression that stripping down the guitar so much to clean it would throw it of wack, like the intonation and action... Am I wrong?

[Plank_Spanker]

A setup will be needed after a disassembly like that, especially if the bridge was removed and the thumb screws turned. When I do a thorough cleaning, I use low tack painters tape to keep the bridge in place (I wrap it around the bridge ends and the mount bolts), and I'll remove the stop bar but be very careful not to move the studs while I clean. If I'm just changing strings, I'll change them three at a time to keep the bridge stabile.

 

Contrary to what some will say, there's no harm or foul in removing all of your strings temporarily. The only way to effectively clean and oil the neck is to remove all of the strings. Guitars are actually pretty robust instruments and there's no need to treat them like they're made of fine blown glass.

 

As long as the bridge stays put, you shouldn't have any major setup issues when you're done cleaning. I check and set intonation after the new strings have settled and stretched.

[AS90]

I always strip down my Gibsons when cleaning them, set ups are easy to do, there are millions of pages about it on the net. This is quite a good guide...

 

http://www.everythingsg.com/setup.htm

[Plank_Spanker]

I always strip down my Gibsons when cleaning them' date=' set ups are easy to do, there are millions of pages about it on the net. [/quote']

 

No problem with me on that, but lots of players aren't adventerous or experienced enough to sally forth on their own setups.