The 4 Essential Acoustic Guitar Accessories

Simple acoustic guitar accessories can prolong the life of your instrument and keep it sounding and looking great; read on…

Guitar Accessories Are Essential

I don’t know how many times one friend or another has complained about the action and tone of his acoustic guitar. One look and the problem is obvious: he refuses to spend $15 to buy a humidifier. Duh!? You would think he would get it, but for some reason, refuses.

You need to know how to find the best acoustic guitar accessories to ensure that your guitar gives you many years of enjoyment. Think about it: you are spending all this time and money learning how to practice and play acoustic guitar, it only makes sense to take care of it.

Spend a little to save a lot

Here is a simple 4 step plan you can use to treat your guitar rightâ€”you will be glad you did!

1. Invest in a hard shell case. This took me years to actually do because I was cheap. I was also rather stupid. It took some big cracks in the body to get my attention and a very persistent friend before I sprung the $75 to buy a case. My nice Washburn Special Edition acoustic guitar is well worth the small investment in a case!

True, a gig bag is helpful, but they also give a false sense of security. They protect the instrument from quite a bit of damage, but do very little when it comes to more dramatic things like dropped objects, somebody stepping on it, or packing in a car.

Where do you keep your guitar?

My daughter used to have a bad habit of leaving her Baby Taylor acoustic guitar lying around on the floor. Talk about inviting disaster! She has had it repaired a number of times for the damage of drying out in the winter as well, but that is a different topic!

2. Spend the money on a guitar humidifier. This is probably the most overlooked acoustic guitar accessory to keep your instrument in good condition, despite the fact they only cost about $15! You do have to periodically add water, but that takes about one minute.

A lot of bad things can happen if you do not use a humidifier in your case. Your neck will bow and it will go out of tune. The frets up the neck will also be out of tune, giving a dissonant sound to your playing.

Rcommended: Oasis Guitar Humidifier

Worse yet, the sides will separate from the top and bottom, the back or top will crack, or the bridge will come right off the body. Your acoustic strings are stretched very tightly, which puts a lot of stress on the wood and glue that holds the thing together. When it dries out, you can be sure something bad will happen, sooner or later.

Recommended Guitar Brands

Ibanez	Ovation
Taylor	Fender
Epiphone	Martin
Takamine	Guild
Gibson	Washburn

Tip Number 3

3. Pay attention to where you keep it: temperature changes are almost as bad as drying out. Never store your instrument near a heater or wood stove. I used to hang my guitar on a hook on the wall, but this just didn’t work out at all. The wood stove dried it out and the wall next to it was quite cold at night.

Do not lean your guitar up against the wall, as if it were balanced there. You can be sure that somebody will bump it and it will crash to the floor, while you look on in guilty horror! A guitar stand is one of the best good acoustic guitar accessories.

Whatever you do, do not leave it lying on the floor. Sooner or later, most likely sooner, it will get stepped on. It’s pretty hard to learn to play guitar if your instrument is in pieces!

4. Take a beater guitar to the beach or camping, not your good one. It might be tempting to take your favorite one along, but you will be much more comfortable using the old beater. It may not sound as good and might be harder to play, but that’s why it is a beater!

I used to have a nice Epiphone guitar that developed a huge crack down the back because I took it in and out during the winter-without a case. You can always get a beginner guitar for bumming around use.

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