Guitars are finely-made decorative instruments. We enjoy looking at them as much as we do playing them. Some guitarists like to leave their guitars out of their cases, on a stand when they’re not playing them; others prefer to keep them in their cases. Keeping your guitars in their cases (and keeping your cases off of the floor or away from a cold, damp wall) is certainly the best way to store and safeguard your expensive investment.
If you want to leave your guitar out, we suggest the following:
- Keep the sun away from your vintage guitar. The sun’s strong rays can be very harmful to the paint and finish over time. For example, look at a hardwood floor, drape, or a piece of furniture that is located near a window and you will see fading and streaking.
- Keep the temperature of the room around 65-80 degrees Farenheit.
- Keep the guitar away from heat sources like fireplaces, furnaces, or space heaters.
- Keep the kids, pets, and visitors away from your fine instruments. It doesn’t take much to inadvertently knock over a guitar and quickly cause expensive damage.
- Dust your guitars periodically.
Direct sunlight can soften the glues in your acoustic guitar, which will weaken and eventually destroy the joints, and destroy the guitar. When you finish playing your guitar, wipe off the topside and underside of your strings to clean them of the oils and dirt that your fingers deposited. This will prolong the life of your strings. Before putting it back in the case and storing your acoustic guitar, remove any neck straps and place them in the case storage box or other place where it won’t scratch the finish on your guitar.
Hope this helps!
