tinkerbeast Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I just bought an epiphone hummingbird a week back. It's my first guitar and I love the sound. However being a guitar newbie I'm really worried as to how to take care of it. I went through the DYI thread and it was really helpful, but I couldn't find anything specific to the hummingbird. What I really want to know is how to take care of the guitar body? Lot of places suggest cleaning and then waxing the body - But the finish on the hummingbird doesn't really look like it needs waxing. What do you guys suggest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I just bought an epiphone hummingbird a week back. It's my first guitar and I love the sound. However being a guitar newbie I'm really worried as to how to take care of it. I went through the DYI thread and it was really helpful, but I couldn't find anything specific to the hummingbird. What I really want to know is how to take care of the guitar body? Lot of places suggest cleaning and then waxing the body - But the finish on the hummingbird doesn't really look like it needs waxing. What do you guys suggest? Welcome and congratulations, First I'm concern about the term "waxing". Never use any furniture wax or oil product on your guitar. Since your guitar is new it only has what ever was put on at the factory and that's it. When I get a new guitar after a couple of days of playing and getting to know it I will usually give it a cleaning/polishing with a product like Ernie Ball Guitar Polish, which comes cotton flannel cloth. This will help prevent dirt and body oil from penetrating into the finish. How often you do this will depend on how often you play your guitar and the environment that it is exposed to, i.e. smoke, dust and such. For the most part all you'll have to do after playing it is just wipe down the guitar and strings with a clean flannel cotton cloth and that will do it. I've also read that some folks cleaned the pickguard and ended up rubbing off the detail on it, so be careful there. Another good product is Dunlop 65 lemon oil; this is used to condition the fretboard and can also be use on the unfinished bridge, but this is something you should only do no more that maybe once every other year. Conditioning the fretboard too often can actually soften the wood; not a good thing. Probably you should be looking into your humidity and temperature where you will be storing your guitar. I would strongly recommend getting a case or at least a gig bag and to store you guitar in when you are not playing it and it won't hurt to get a hydrometer, so you will know the exact humidity. Below it a link on guitars and humidity. http://www.musiciansworkshop.com/humidity.html Well I hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerbeast Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks for all the information, it helps. I never meant to use furniture wax on my guitar. I meant something more like Dunlop 65, Carumba Wax. And thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I'd copy Rix's note and past it into a word processor, then make each sentence a paragraph for easier reading. For what it's worth, I'm coming up on 50 years of pickin', and literally dozens of guitars over the years with bunches of different finishes. Ain't never, ever, used anything but a soft cloth that might be a bit damp to clean them. Your 'Bird has, as I understand it, a poly finish. It can scratch and cloud and get dinged, but that soft damp (not wet) cloth should do well on the poly. Maybe I'm not as grungy as some, but... I just don't think anything more is necessary unless something odd happens. Still, even if you spill beer or chili or wine or mustard on it, that damp soft cloth should handle it. Inside the body - heaven forbid - I'd be even more careful if chili or something were spilled. Likely just absorbent towels asap, then doin' some scraping later when it dries. But beware of anything with "oils" in it like the good grease you get in great chili. <grin> You can say, "That'll never happen." I hope you're right. <grin> I'd also second and third the deal with getting a hard case. Worst thing I ever did to a guitar finish, though, was using "Off" at a campfire pickin' session once. My right arm seemed to sweat more than the rest of me, so I looked down and... the "Off" had liquified the finish on the guitar top where my arm touched it. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I had a guy in a guitar shop tell me I could use Lemon Pledge on a guitar! Should I go over and El-KaBong him for this advice? (I"ve never done anything more than wipe down with a cloth and keep my guitars in a hardshell case.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I had a guy in a guitar shop tell me I could use Lemon Pledge on a guitar! Should I go over and El-KaBong him for this advice? (I"ve never done anything more than wipe down with a cloth and keep my guitars in a hardshell case.) Yes, I think you should, but use one of his guitars. :) Obviously Pledge has an oil base, which is what you are usually trying to remove from the guitar's surface. In high school the music teacher used Windex to clean the guitars. Which in a way makes sense, because you have all these oily teenagers handling the guitars all day and he needed to remove the oil from the guitars. And like I used to tell my clients about cleaning their monitor screen spray the cloth then wipe the screen. Per Dan Erlewine; he will use just a breath on a stubborn spot and that little bit of moister will usually work. Also you should never use a silicone based products on any guitar surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisB643 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Great advice all...thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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