Over the years, I’ve heard many cringe-worthy horror stories of damaged guitars, from cracked tops to delaminated nitro to broken head stocks, etc., etc..
In some cases, the damage couldn’t be avoided; for instance, due to flooding. But in a majority of the cases I’ve heard about (and experienced myself as I’m not immune to my own past stupidity), the damage could’ve been avoided by just following a few simple things. And the funny thing is that they aren’t exotic suggestions like placing your instrument(s) in a temperature or humidity controlled isolation booth. No, these are slap your forehead, common sense things, where you say, “DUH!”
Extreme Cold = Bad. Extreme Heat = Very Very Bad
Any extreme temperature is bad for a guitar, but heat, especially from letting your guitar sit in direct sunlight for too long is really bad. I know a guy who was playing a gig in a park on a hot day and put his backup guitar – a Les Paul – on a stand behind him that was exposed to direct sunlight. It didn’t take long for the guitar to heat up so much that its neck warped. So avoid exposing your guitar to temperature extremes… Which bring me to the next point…
If You’re Not Using Your Guitar, Put It In Its Case – Preferably Its Hard Shell Case
I woke up one morning, padded to my kitchen to make some coffee and yelped in shock to see my acoustic guitar lying face-down on the floor. I guessed that it was my cat that knocked it over. But that was totally my bad for leaving it on its stand overnight. Lucky for me, the guitar was okay and got just a simple scratch. But it could have been much, much worse! From that point on, as soon as I finish playing a guitar, I put it back into its case. If I know I will be playing it soon, it goes into a padded gig bag, but if it’s going to sit for awhile, I put it back into its hard shell case. This goes for all my guitars, electric and acoustic.
Also, after I get home from a gig, I immediately transfer the guitars I use from their gig bags to their hard shell cases. Yeah, it’s a bit anal-retentive, but better than the alternative of having damaged instruments.
At Home, Stand Up Your Guitar(s) In Low-Traffic Areas
I had to learn this the hard way; especially when I still had little kids in the house. Now lucky for me, none of my kids ever knocked over one of my guitars, but they came close a few times; enough to make sure that when I put a guitar down on its stand – even though its temporary – it’s out of the way of traffic. If it means that I have to physically drag my ass out of my chair to place it, I will do it.
Climate Matters
I live in a fairly temperate climate in Northern California, but in areas where it’s extremely humid or extremely dry, you need to take measures to control the humidity. Here’s an excellent article from Premier Guitar that discusses this very subject. Other than Las Vegas, NV, I’ve never lived in an extreme climate. And even in Las Vegas, I always had the air conditioning on during the hot months, plus used a room humidifier to add some moisture. The tips given in that article are very useful, especially the in-case humidity control units.
Strap Locks. Hello?
After I dropped my Les Paul during a gig while I was jumping around on stage – luckily the body landed on my foot, so all I experienced was a severely bruised foot and not a dented or broken guitar – I went out the very next day and got strap locks for every one of my electric guitars. Strap locks are your friend. Get some.
There are definitely a lot of other things, but these are at the top of my list to help mitigate damage to my guitars; especially putting the guitars in their hard cases. These are difficult to follow, and in some cases are marginally inconvenient, but the safety they bring will help you avoid a lot of heartache!
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