One of the easiest and most overlooked guitar maintenance tips I know of is to simply wipe your guitar down each and every time you play it.
You see, your fingers have all sorts of interesting chemicals in them. Sweat, dirt and who knows what else quickly finds it’s way into your guitar’s pores during a jam session.
Depending on your body’s ph level, your sweat can actually be extremely harmful for the finish on your guitar, not to mention the strings!
So, in order to prevent undue wear and tear, simply keep a clean, soft cloth in your guitar case at all times, and make sure you wipe the guitar down each time you play it.
Make sure you get the body, the headstock, the neck, around the pickups, and then fold the cloth and slide it up underneath the strings (start down near the bridge where you have more clearance). You can slide the cloth all the way up the fretboard in this fashion, which will really help to clean the dirt and sweat off your strings and fretboard, extending the life of your guitar.
Oh – and the easiest of all… did I mention to wash your hands before you play? Always, always, always…
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