Learning how to clean a guitar is a vital skill that every guitar player should know. Spring-cleaning the guitar is one of the most significant aspects of proper guitar maintenance.
Over time, with regular practice, the guitar will naturally gather dust, sweat, and grime. If not properly cleaned, this can harmfully affect the guitar’s overall performance. If one wants their guitar to last a lifetime, then they must clean it properly to ensure longevity.
The procedures for cleaning the guitar’s electronics (pickups) are very different from those used to clean and polish the body and neck. Cleaning regarding controls, in particular, means internal cleansing, and it’s something that has to be done just right, with the right product. However, it’s still something one can very quickly do themself, usually as an easy fix for scratchy-sounding or stiff-feeling controls.
How to clean between the pickups without removing the strings? To clean between the pickups without removing the strings, just follow these things: It’s best to wipe between the pickup with a soft cloth that has suitable fibers, using only a very slight guitar polish. Insert it using a pencil. The polish can help remove any dirt, while the cloth’s delicate fibers will bring the luster back. One can use a duster (the flat one) or even q-tip, it can easily go in between the pickups. A small toothbrush is also a good option as it can reach smaller areas.
Just make sure to leave no polish scum on the hardware, as this could corrode the metal slightly. Hard to scope areas can be cleaned using a cotton bud – great for removing dust.
Before going deep into the process of cleaning pickups, let’s get some ideas about Guitar pickups.
What are Guitar Pickups?
The pickup(s) in the guitar is what allows the instrument to be heard. They’re just as important as the wood the guitar is made from, the strings, and the amp, and they deserve an equivalent amount of consideration. Nevertheless, pickups come in different shapes and sizes. Pickups also work towards diverse purposes.
A pickup is a magnet with wire enfolded around it that transforms the strings’ vibration into an electronic signal. Pickups are used on electric as well as acoustic instruments.
The sound of a guitar twitches with its strings. That’s because of the way the strings vibrate determines what the pickups produce “sound.” Clarity and attack are the most distinct characteristics of new strings.
That’s because their high frequencies are not reduced by the present oil and debris. If the string is discouraged, the pickups will reproduce the same dampened characteristic. To get that sound back, one needs to clean the residue off of each string.
Cleaning between the pickups can be done in two ways, either one eradicates the strings, or just put a cloth under strings carefully. Cleaning by removing the strings is a pretty tough job to do, and I think the guitar can sustain damage without professional help. It’s better to clean without removing strings.
The player can clean between the pickups without removing the strings by using soft cloth very carefully. The easy way is to clean without removing strings as it saves lots of efforts and time. Plus, it prevents the guitar from getting damaged.
Here are the steps to clean between the guitar pickups without removing strings with fewer efforts.
Step 01. Prepare Your Guitar for Cleaning:
Before starting cleaning the guitar, there are few things one needs to do in preparation. Start by choosing an area where one will place the guitar. Preferably, choose a well-lit location to effortlessly spot the areas that need the most attention as well as all the imperfections. Players can select to place the guitar on a desk, workbench, or even on their lap.
When working on the guitar, it’s best to have the neck sustained at an angle at the nut. This makes it much laid-back to access the tuning pegs and other parts of the guitar. It just makes the guitar a lot cooler to handle.
I would also commend resting the guitar on a padded work mat to ensure that no damage occurs to the finish. When working with a guitar, they’ll likely be lifting, flipping over, and handling it a lot, so it’s essential to make sure they don’t leave any scuffs or scratches.
Step 02. Organize Your Workspace:
Cleaning the guitar helps to have ample room to move and neatly organize the tools and cleaning supplies. One should not want to worry about the guitar sliding, falling, or bang into anything. So, clear the work desk or bench, clean off all the dust and gunk and then place the guitar on the table. Position all other supplies right next to it.
Things the player will be needing:
- A soft cloth
- Glass cleaner
- Water
- Guitar polish that contains pure carnauba wax
- White distilled vinegar (for heavy-duty cleaning)
Safeguard that the area is clean by dusting it. After that, wash hands before handling the guitar.
Step 03. Clean In Between Pickups Cautiously:
Pickups are situated on the body of an electric or acoustic guitar. If the pickups on the guitar look slightly soiled, a damp cloth will do a great job of wiping it clean. But if one notices some rusty spots in between the pickups, it is crucial that they carefully remove them. The best option is to use a dry, smooth cloth.
Fit a dry cloth under the strings and grip it from both sides and go back and forth. If one needs more pressure, they can put a pencil on top of the cloth. Use a small toothbrush for hard to reach areas.
Clean with a rust liquifying solution or a white pencil eraser. Once the player has cleared all the rust spots, wipe them with a dry cloth and confirm that there is no solution left to prevent rusting.
Cleaning Guitar Hardware:
Cleaning the hardware on the guitar is somewhat; one also has to be reasonably careful. Metals are susceptible to corrosion, and the salts in sweat and skin oils can cause rust to develop over time.
The most predisposed to pieces of hardware on the guitar is the pickups. Most guitarists rest their preference hand on the bridge, so dried out sweat can develop on the saddles. The same smears to pickups with open coils and rust can start appearing if one doesn’t pay attention to these areas.
Notes: must read:
01. Never Use Household Cleaners:
Under no conditions should household cleaners like bleach or soap be used to clean a guitar. The components are more than likely not intended for the instrument and could damage the finish or discolor hardware. The inappropriate application can especially dry out unfinished fretboards. Use name brand guitar cleaner and microfiber towels to get the most consistent results.
02. Avoid Fluids:
Fluids of any kind that leak into the pickups can shorten the coil’s windings, lead to corrosion, or permanently damage them in some other way, so this should be avoided. Moisture is equally harmful to volume controls, tone controls, and switches, keeping fluids away from these at all costs. This goes double for spilled beer, water, excessive sweat, or whatever else may want to seep in there.
Related Questions:
What is the significant difference between Active and Passive Pickups?
Traditional guitar pickups are passive. They require no outside electricity to function (although they will need to be plugged into an electronic amplifier to be audible). Active pickups, on the other hand, utilize active circuitry to boost their overall output. An active pickup set requires an external source of power—typically a 9-volt battery—to achieve their higher output.
Most music genres sound best on passive pickups, but certain forms of funk, fusion, and (most notably) heavy metal benefit from the high-output properties of an active pickup system.
Do Acoustic Guitars Need Pickups?
Acoustic guitars don’t need pickups to be perceived in a small or mid-sized room. But many of today’s models comprise pickups so they can be heard on more significant stages.
Acoustic guitar pickups incline not to work on electromagnetic induction. Instead, the most popular styles are:
- Piezo pickups lie below the saddle of the acoustic guitar and are noted for producing strong midrange.
- Transducer pickups, which effectively amplify the soundboard of the instrument.
- Some acoustic guitars do use electric-style magnetic pickups, but these tend to dull the character of the acoustic instrument and are less popular.
Some acoustic players sacrifice pickups altogether: they simply play their instrument into a microphone.
What are the different types of Electric Guitar Pickups?
Electric guitar pickups are roughly divided into single-coil pickups and double-coil pickups (or humbuckers). Both these pickup types are prevalent throughout popular music.
The original type of electric guitar pickups is single-coil pickups. Single coil pickups are known for producing bright, treble focused sounds that easily cut through a mix. They are very sensitive to subtleties in a player’s technique, and many amplifiers are designed to bring out these single-coil subtleties.
Humbucker pickups are built from a pair of single-coil pickups that are wound in reverse polarity. This cancels out the natural 60 Hz hum produced by many single-coil pickups and gives double-coil pickups their “humbucker” namesake.
Like their single-coil cousins, humbuckers sound good in nearly every genre, but they mainly shine in jazz and heavy rock, due to their ability to produce more energetic bass frequencies than single-coils.
Conclusion:
A clean guitar purely looks and feels better than a dirty, grubby instrument. It’s imperious to keep the guitar clean if one wants it to last and prevent substituting any of its parts in limited years. Remember this: look after the guitar and the guitar will look after you.
Keeping the guitar clean is a significant aspect of maintaining the guitar that most people tend to overlook. It affects how the guitar feels, sounds, and looks. Properly cleaning the guitar twice a year will ensure that it lasts as long as it possibly can.
It may seem like a routine, but next time one goes to change their strings, just clean the rest of the guitar. One will be glad that they did!