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Guitar: Electric, Acoustic and Bass Guitars, Baldwin Pianos. Smooth Frettin' : Fretboard Clean & Polish You can wipe down your strings and the neck of your guitar every time you play it. And you can change your strings every few days. But sooner or later, you're going to notice a funky, gunky feeling on the fretboard that won't go away no matter how much you wipe it down or change strings.

The fretboard needs cleaning and the frets need polishing. It's one of the easiest do-it-yourself jobs in the guitar maintenance/repair handbook -- as long as you have the right tools and supplies. The following process applies to an open-grain type of fretboard, such as rosewood or ebony. Remove the strings. Begin polishing the frets with 400 grit sandpaper. Repeat Step 4 using 600 grit paper this time. Clean the fretboard with steel wool, rubbing across the board parallel to the frets.

Using the rubber sanding block with 600 grit sandpaper, sand the tops of the frets over the entire board. Cut two pieces of cotton cloth to fit the rubber sanding block. Guitar: Electric, Acoustic and Bass Guitars, Baldwin Pianos. Why do some guitars seem to just play themselves? In many cases it's simply a matter of "setup" -- getting the neck, the string height and the string length just right for your individual playing style. Here's a step-by-step procedure for easy, do-it-yourself guitar setup: Tools needed: Nut driver, 1/4" or 5/16".

You'll probably need one specially made for guitar truss rods. Purchasing info is at the end of this article. Check for fret buzz. For further reference: Parts, tools and repair books: Visit Stewart McDonald's website at www.stewmac.com to order a catalog and browse through repair columns by Dan Erlewine. Books and videos on guitar setup and repair: Stewart McDonald, www.stewmac.com Elderly Instruments, www.elderly.com JK Lutherie: www.jklutherie.com Truss rod nut driver/wrench: Many Gibsons came with a wrench-type nut drive, with a small arm mounted at a 90-degree angle from the truss rod.

Guitar: Electric, Acoustic and Bass Guitars, Baldwin Pianos. Stomp Box Basics: How 10 Essential Pedals Work. Ever since Jimi Hendrix conjured up “Purple Haze” with an octave pedal, a distortion box and his wiry imagination – and made one of the most eloquent anti-war statements with the pure sonics of “Machine Gun” – electric guitars and effects pedals have been kissin’ cousins. If you’re new to the world of effects or if you stepped away for a few years of the post-Y2K boutique pedal revolution, the available array of tone-coloring and tone-bending devices can be overwhelming.

Some shops that cater to creative guitarists have cases stocked with literally hundreds of brightly colored boxes, all begging for a place on players’ pedal boards. But cutting through the maze of candy-colored stomp boxes is a direct path that can take you to a place where the sounds on most classic and not-so-classic recordings can be duplicated or approximated. And the stepping-stones of that path are the 10 essential pedal functions that comprise the fundamental tone-tweaking tools.

Tuner Distortion Tremolo Wah-Wah Chorus. Better Guitar - Guitar Songs You Should Learn. There are certain songs that every guitar player should try to learn. Either they are commonly requested or they have cool guitar parts that will expand your playing skills. I am going to list songs in several styles of music and explain why I think they should be add to your “play list.” While most are electric guitar songs, there are some acoustic songs also.

Obviously, this type of list won’t ever be comprehensive, and no doubt, many will disagree with my choices — and find many ommissions. This is a huge list and will take most players years to complete (if ever.) Johnny B.