How much maintenance do you do on your guitars?

[Jackson8090s]

A little trick I use for getting dust out of those hard to reach areas is a portable air compressor with a blower nozzle. Works great on fret boards, headstocks, around pups, trems etc...

Q-tips? Compressed air ..you lazy ass!

[Mudlark]

Q-Tips? Takes 30 seconds to do the whole guitar with a compressor. Life is short...time is precious.

[BenoA]

Q-Tips? Takes 30 seconds to do the whole guitar with a compressor. Life is short...time is precious.

+1 and more time for making noise!

[j2379]

I barely do anything. Oil necks twice a year and just play them. I do have some that haven't been in cases in years others that live in the case unless I'm playing it.

[markD]

I change my strings every year or so. I have 23 guitars and do all of them at the same time. I tend to rotate them for gigs. If one gets too yucky, I throw it in a case and grab a different one. My "metal" guitars I tend to keep cleaner than my "vintage" style guitars - which I never actually clean.

[Inazone]

In my old age, I've gotten pretty lazy. String changes are strictly as needed, at which time I usually clean and oil the fretboard. Like others with a lot of guitars, it really depends on which ones I'm playing regularly. I have a few that haven't seen new strings in years, but I don't play them much.

I run a dehumidifier, having seen what happens if I don't many years ago. Misery. Heartbreak. Unwanted expenditure of currency.

[eaeolian]

Since I gig a fair amount, and change strings before every show, yeah, I do work on them a lot. Most of my guitars' necks are lightly finished just oiled, so they tend move a bit more than some others, so truss rods at least twice a year. I change pickups, rewire things sometimes, replace pots that get ruined from having beer poured in them, etc. Ebony boards get oiled at least twice a year, rosewood at least one.

They sit out, too, but I generally need access to them for rehearsals and such.

[daisp]

Quite a bit being in the climate I'm in...but nothing major

[Twitch]

Sadly, and I should probably be beaten for this, none lately. All my guitars just hang on the tree, strings rusted, collecting dust and airborne dog hair. I have really no desire to play anymore and haven't in probably years now.

[Tetsuo]

Twitch I had the same thing happen to me for almost ten years. A few times a year I would go and play and when I did I was frustrated because my hands were weak my muscle memory was gone etc... So it was just depressing when I did. I totally get that. It comes back quick but there is a curve to get back to speed. It also kills the desire when you get frustrated imho.

[DonP]

Sadly, and I should probably be beaten for this, none lately. All my guitars just hang on the tree, strings rusted, collecting dust and airborne dog hair. I have really no desire to play anymore and haven't in probably years now.

Twitch nice seeing you back. It happens to all of us, you get into a rut, but then someday you climb out of it.

I haven't been doing much maintenance either. Mine aren't in bad shape, but I have some (a lot) of projects I need to finish. I just need to get off my lazy ass and do it.

I still play and have many guitars that I can just plug in and go, so I tend to that instead of finishing the projects.

[Twitch]

Donp! It's nice seeing all the common names still kickin it here.

[lefty]

My house is hot and humid in the summer; cold and dry in the winter. So I wind up
adjusting the truss rods on my regular players twice a year. If one guitar needs it, they
all do--and right around the same time for all of them...

Beyond that, I spot check the action on the regulars a couple times a year also. I'm lucky
that most of my guitars are old and the wood's pretty stable...