Guitar Maintenance

[beeper]

What maintenance do guitars require? My son has a Majesty. He was getting it restrung at Guitar Center and the tech recomemned that we let him do a more thourough check. He adjusted and checked a bunch of stuff and oiled the fretboard. He also completely cleaned it.

How often should this type of thing be done, if ever?

 

[mikeller]

Generally speaking and not knowing where you live - usually when seasons or climates change the neck MAY need a truss rod adjustment to maintain proper relief. Any changes in strings, and in particular with gauge or manufacture change, the truss may also need adjusted as well as the intonation and possibly the bridge saddles adjusted. Its a good idea to at least check it with each string change.

The Majesty has a ebony fingerboard which is a marvelous wood to play on. Ebony however is also prone to stress cracking if it gets dried out so its a great idea to "oil" it several times a year. I am not sure what product Guitar Center uses, but Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes Fretboard Conditioner work very well.

I would avoid regular guitar waxes on the Majesty finish as they can buff out the matte finish. I prefer to wipe mine with a soft clean guitar cloth after I am playing and occassional use a Matte Finish cleaner if needed.

Hope this helps.

 

[xjbebop]

I highly recommend learning to do basic maintainence yourself. It's not difficult at all, and there is tons of good information available to learn from. Just go slow & easy.
If you must let someone else do it, be very careful about who you let touch your nice guitars... there are a lot of hacks out there that get by calling themselves 'techs'.
...especially at the big box stores....

 

[beeper]

Thanks, all. Live in a semi arid place, so the oil is a good idea. We've discussed him learning to do it himself, but with such an expensive instrument he is a bit hesitant.

 

[DrKev]

As I always say, It's just a guitar, not rocket science.

Some people prefer to get a good setup done by a tech that they trust. Some prefer to do it themselves. Some do it twice or more each year, some once a year, some almost never.

 

[LesPaul]

Generally speaking and not knowing where you live - usually when seasons or climates change the neck MAY need a truss rod adjustment to maintain proper relief. Any changes in strings, and in particular with gauge or manufacture change, the truss may also need adjusted as well as the intonation and possibly the bridge saddles adjusted. Its a good idea to at least check it with each string change.

The Majesty has a ebony fingerboard which is a marvelous wood to play on. Ebony however is also prone to stress cracking if it gets dried out so its a great idea to "oil" it several times a year. I am not sure what product Guitar Center uses, but Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes Fretboard Conditioner work very well.

I would avoid regular guitar waxes on the Majesty finish as they can buff out the matte finish. I prefer to wipe mine with a soft clean guitar cloth after I am playing and occassional use a Matte Finish cleaner if needed.

Hope this helps.

This is good info. I'm going to use the EB fretboard conditioner on my Artisan Majesty. I'm curious about your comment about the matte finish. Are wonder wipes ok to use on the Artisan Majesty, or should I stick to a plain micro fiber cloth?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[mikeller]

This is good info. I'm going to use the EB fretboard conditioner on my Artisan Majesty. I'm curious about your comment about the matte finish. Are wonder wipes ok to use on the Artisan Majesty, or should I stick to a plain micro fiber cloth?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Since the Artisans also have a Matte finish, I'd stick to a soft microfiber cloth without polish. When I first got my Majesty, MM Customer Support said they use FLATZ Matte Protector (made by Custom Shop) at the factory to clean the finish. I found some on the internet but it has since become unavailable. There is a product called Flitz Matte Finish Cleaner readily available - you might check with Music Man customer service to see if that is good to use.

 

[KevTN]

I need to learn how to do some of this...is there a good resource on adjusting the neck?