The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    To me carved archtops (electric and acoustic) are the top of the guitar food chain. Sure, the market for electric solid and semi-hollow body guitars will always far exceed archtops, but for a jazz guitar player, nothing quite sounds or plays like a well built archtop. So many members here own beautiful hand made archtops, I've often wondered how you guys and gals care for them.

    This is not to exclude the many fine laminate archtops available, especially since many of us use these as our go-to gigging jazz box. The purpose of this thread is to gather insights from actual owners, on how to take care for these often expensive and wonderful instruments. Issues such as storage, humidity and overall maintenance are concerns of all owners. What are your thoughts?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I store in the case and try to keep the room 50% humidity. I can trace most storage issues to breakdown of either the humidification system or the de-humidification system. Just yesterday I got the repair parts for my house humidifier go get ready for the winter (needed an needs a new solenoid valve). Last winter I had to use a stand-alone system but it needed to be filled twice a day. Looking forward to getting the built-in system working again. Then two summers ago, the stand-alone de-humidifier quit. It still made noise but did nothing. Did not notice the problem until I saw mold on one of my guitar cases.

  4. #3

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    Play them a lot that allows one to check progress. Since I rarely ever play a gig I don’t do anything special. They are in the house and if I am not playing one it is in the case. I don’t leave them on stands.Generally the house stays between 62 degrees and up to mid 80’s. I have raunards syndrome so cold a lot. I never run a/c below 79 degrees. The guitars seem to not mind the environment and I do nothing else regarding environment. The guitars i have I have owned for 45-14 years. Depending on situation maybe once a year during a string change I use Maguires auto stuff I have to clean and polish the whole guitar. Depending on how much I play I might run some scotch pad at various grits across frets/fingerboard. Just cleans them I am pretty easy on frets. I have not tweaked a truss rod on my guitars in years. The old 37 D’angelico does not have one (rolled steel bar in neck). The 49 has a truss rod but I have never needed to make an adjustment on it. I have owned that guitar for 34 years. Action on it never changes through seasons. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. All in all nothing wild for sure but I am A not touring pro. I do though have to keep some touring pros guitars in order. They require at times some wild things to get in order. Last one was easy an L5 set up the neck was dead straight no relief. That can work but just a touch of relief, guitar sounded like the trusty L5 it is.

  5. #4

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    store it in the correct fitting case. clean and polish when needed, Use mineral oil on the fret board and Bridge when it starts dring out. Don't get it wet, don't leave it in sunlight long, Don't let it get hot for too long, when storeing for longer Times slack the strings.

  6. #5

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    I live in Minnesota. The house has radiator heat. Despite that, I don't do anything in particular for the guitars and never have. I have a 41-year-old flat top which was the first guitar I owned, an Ibanez GB 10 which I've had for 33 years, a Matt Cushman arch top I've had for 13 years, a Strat type Partocaster that I've owned for 30+ years, a couple of Telecasters, a classical, etc. Most of them stay in their cases/gig bags except for one Tele and the Cushman arch top, both of which live out where they're convenient to grab at a moments notice. I don't use a humidifier and that never seems to have bothered any of the instruments. I have never had finished checking, sunken tops, next going wonky, etc. I know that's not everybody's experience. I had one guitar that developed some fret sprout. I do have to make a slight bridge adjustment on the arch top in the winter and the spring, and once in a while I need to do a tiny truss rod adjustment but most years that's not necessary. The GB 10, on the other hand, has not had a truss rod adjustment in at least 30 years as that neck is amazingly stable.


    I change the strings when I feel like it, often that might be a year and sometimes more often if I just want to try something different. I usually give the fingerboard a quick rub with boiled linseed oil when I do that. I don't seem to have too much trouble with gunk building up on the frets or fingerboard. Heck, I usually don't even wipe off the strings before I put the guitar away after playing. Everybody's body chemistry is different and mine seems to be pretty easy on the strings and frets.


    It may also be that I am just less sensitive to seasonal changes in the instrument. I have a pretty light playing style so I might not be as likely to notice string buzz and things like that. I'm a whole, I prefer to not have to fuss with maintenance on the guitars very much. I know some people really enjoy doing that and getting a sense of satisfaction out of it; for me, the guitars just have to be good enough. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed working on guitar electronics and experimenting with different pickups, pots, capacitors, etc. to tweak tone.

  7. #6

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    Good advice here. Hygrothermal management is my biggest concern, especially hygro.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    I live in Minnesota. The house has radiator heat. Despite that, I don't do anything in particular for the guitars and never have. I have a 41-year-old flat top which was the first guitar I owned, an Ibanez GB 10 which I've had for 33 years, a Matt Cushman arch top I've had for 13 years, a Strat type Partocaster that I've owned for 30+ years, a couple of Telecasters, a classical, etc. Most of them stay in their cases/gig bags except for one Tele and the Cushman arch top, both of which live out where they're convenient to grab at a moments notice. I don't use a humidifier and that never seems to have bothered any of the instruments. I have never had finished checking, sunken tops, next going wonky, etc. I know that's not everybody's experience. I had one guitar that developed some fret sprout. I do have to make a slight bridge adjustment on the arch top in the winter and the spring, and once in a while I need to do a tiny truss rod adjustment but most years that's not necessary. The GB 10, on the other hand, has not had a truss rod adjustment in at least 30 years as that neck is amazingly stable.I change the strings when I feel like it, often that might be a year and sometimes more often if I just want to try something different. I usually give the fingerboard a quick rub with boiled linseed oil when I do that. I don't seem to have too much trouble with gunk building up on the frets or fingerboard. Heck, I usually don't even wipe off the strings before I put the guitar away after playing. Everybody's body chemistry is different and mine seems to be pretty easy on the strings and frets.It may also be that I am just less sensitive to seasonal changes in the instrument. I have a pretty light playing style so I might not be as likely to notice string buzz and things like that. I'm a whole, I prefer to not have to fuss with maintenance on the guitars very much. I know some people really enjoy doing that and getting a sense of satisfaction out of it; for me, the guitars just have to be good enough. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed working on guitar electronics and experimenting with different pickups, pots, capacitors, etc. to tweak tone.
    You have a Matt Cushman guitar those stay together much better I am sure. Matt has attention to detail.

  9. #8

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    I have a couple of solid wood archtops. I don't do anything beyond a little cleaning from time to time, and some mineral oil for the ebony bits. I do a quick wipe down after playing. Old habit. I think it helps string life... maybe. I'm fortunate to live in a very wood friendly climate and leave them hanging on the wall all year with nothing beyond heat in winter. It was a colder one last year. Had to turn some bridge wheels a bit. One went in for fret end filing. I figured let's get it now while the wood's as small as it's ever likely to be.

    I've owned guitars for a long time and I was on the road for the better part of a decade. I've never done anything more to any of my instruments after initial set-up, which was always done by the best guy I could find. These were mostly Gibson planks. Occasionally they went back in for fret filing if I owned them long enough.

    I will confess that I generally do not enjoy maintenance of any kind, which may have something to do with my happy-go-lucky ways.

  10. #9

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    I live on the Gulf coast, so low humidity is never a problem. I mostly keep mine hanging on the wall, within reach. I keep a lot of my guitars in the case, in a closet, because I have too many to hang, but those are mostly guitars I don't play much anyway. I do nothing special with the archtops, other than clean them when I change strings, sometimes in between if they need it. I have no devices to modify the humidity, either up or down. I just play the guitars in whatever conditions happen to exist. The a/c keeps the temperature within reason, and I don't play outside in the open air very often. In short, I do nothing different with my cared top instruments than I do with any other guitar.

  11. #10

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    Never feed them after midnight.

    Joking aside. Always use distilled water in the case humidifier. I was out in Colorado, summer very dry. I had no distilled water so I used tap water from the lodge we were staying. Less than a week later I opened the case to the smell of rotting fish. I ended up putting the humidifier in a coffee cup full of water putting it in the hotel microwave and boiling. Did this 6 times changing the water each time (bottled water this time). 2 years later there is still a faint smell of fish, could be my imagination.