Wiping down after playing- do you?

[subversion]

'Ello friends! 8)

how many of us here actually spend some time wiping down their guitar/ bass after each play? otherwise, how often do you do it?

i believe that the instrument should be devoid of dirt/ stains/ etc when it's laid to rest in its case/ bag. uncleaned instruments deteriorates in storage. some people has an indifferent approach, they believe that it's gonna deteriorate anyway (especially the strings), so why bother cleaning.

what's your philosophy? :?:

 

[guitar_phreak]

I'm a shine freak.

After playing, wipe body,
wipe strings top and bottom (rust easily...)
+ fret board (ttz where all the dirt is)

plus do minimum monthly "preventive maintenance" : juz cleaning up...polish...tuning...oiling...

*seems excessive huh..**

 

[marshall_law]

Of course! Wouldn't let my baby get too dirty.

 

[pooo]

I wipe every part of the guitar in which my body comes into contact with. It's already a habit so i kinda wipe them down after each session. But unfortunately the vintage trem on my strat has started rusting

 

[subversion]

ah you're not alone... everyone's chrome hardware deteriorates upon contact with body fluids.

my PRS' bridge & pickup covers seems to be very vulnerable to stain. then PRS replied my e-mail with regards to this concern- they are nickel plated so they react to organic fluid very easily to accelerate that vintage look, but not everyone's a vintage-look fan... i'm certainly not one :roll: same goes for nickel strings, they get stained more easily than their steel counterparts, for instance.

 

[pooo]

It's pretty unnerving to find rust one day on closer inspection of the chrome parts. But well i guess it's part and parcel of playing the guitar. I find that it starts to look better as it slowly ages. Vintage looks appeal to me

 

[metallibeast]

Actually what's the diff between chrome and nickel? They pretty much look the same to me on photo....never had the chance to compare teh two side by side....all I know is chrome is much more ex than nickel.



-Beast

 

[marshall_law]

I know one of them can corrode... but not sure which one of them.

 

[subversion]

nickel is corrosion resistant but ironically, it's not stain resistant...

 

[jeromey]

yeah i wipe,after every time i use her(my guitar) - be it just practice,gigs,or after jamming,i wipe it.i use a scotch brite cloth by the 3M company(you can get it almost anywhere).it removes fingerprints,dust etc effectively without you having to wet the cloth first. (so that when the fret board and other metal parts are wiped,they dont rust)



clean guitars are good
lol
jerome

 

[squidospyder]

I wipe down my strings top and under, plus fingerboard with string cleaner... The ones that leave no residue! Stuff like fast fret definetly a no no for me... i hate yucky slimy strings. I know the string cleaner stuff's not good for the fingerboard, but heck i do it anyway while i'm at it with the strings. It keeps it nice and grime free :lol:

I play bass by the way, and string cleaners help keem em strings nice and bright for slapping and overal tone for whatever technique. I know some bassists hate brightness to the core (those who like vintage tone with almost dead strings), but to me its a matter of control... Besides you can always cut what's there (cut treble to become less bright) but you can't boost whats NOT there (you can't get a gd slap tone with dead strings no matter how much u boost the highs!)

 

[Lifehouse]

For me, I don't sweat much so I seldom clean the strings. If they are really in an awful state, I just use fast fret. But I do clean the neck every now and then for the slickness.

 

[gargamelesp]

yea definitely everytime after playing. use an esp sorta cloth glove and dunlop string cleaner. its nice to pick up the guitar and feel smooth strings and a clean neck

 

[Matrionix]

I like mine dirrrrrrtyy....heheh. Nah j/k. Though Im not a clean freak either. Stains don't really show up easy on my guitar's metallic blue body. I don't really wipe the strings that often either. I suppose it's because I don;t sweat that much either over here in uk coz of the cool temperature and low humidity. I try to do a monthly clean & polish though, both strings, and body. The lemon oil does provide some lubrication on the strings for that smoother feel on the fret board. Also, I pick up my guitar a couple of times each day to play, and if i wiped it everytime i put it down, I'd be running out of polish pretty quick, so i really cant be arsed.

 

[Ragus]

Does anyone here find that gold plated parts corrode faster than chrome?

 

[guitar_phreak]

I dunno, my gold parts are only 2mths old and they "stain" easily. I wipe down often because of that.

But property though, gold is quite inert, so its suppose to be corrosion resistant.... which leaves me to think if guitar parts are really gold plated...

 

[brundisium]

the gold plated part could just be 0.000000001% of the element. If not, most of the guitar will be out of reach to most. For real gold in guitar, chk out the link below and search for the anniversary vigier fretless electric guitar pictures. It uses real gold for the various parts and diamond on the guitar. $30k usd. Comes with a gold pick too.

http://www.vigierguitars.com/

 

[L3on2k]

Corrosion resistence

haha. if you really wanna be sure that your metal parts are shiny, connect a small wire to the part then to a piece of magnesium piece (or something more reactive than the material of the part) that should be hidden somewhere in the back of your giutar. haha.
thats alot of work and hiding to do, but if you are some shine freak, its a good way to ensure a long lasting shine. like brand new i guess haha. its just a theory. oh but you might need to change the sacrificial metal occasionally tho.



Basic Chemistry stuff for shine freaks!!! haha.

 

[artoflife]

imagine losing that pick!!!!

 

[killinghall]

I've only started wiping down strings with WD40 after each session in the last few years. Not the body or fingerboard though. Too lazy. That probably happens once a month.

My guitars are never stored in their cases, except when going for a gig or a jam.