Housing prices are insane (at least where I live).
Groceries cost a lot more than they used to.
Insurance rates and co-pays are going up.
Unless you’re independently wealthy, you’ve been forced to tighten your belt a little bit more than usual this year. You’ve probably even had to forego some discretionary spending.
That means saving money is more important now than ever.
And luckily for you, over the years, I’ve become somewhat of an expert at saving money on guitars.
(My only other option was to not buy guitars — and you know that ain’t happening.)
You don’t have to run to a guitar tech for every last repair or fix.
But I’ve also found ways to be frugal when it comes to maintaining and updating those guitars.
And what I’ve learned is you don’t have to run to a guitar tech for every last repair or fix. There are a lot of things you can do yourself to keep your guitar playing and looking great.
Here are five of them.
Clean your strings!
Let’s start with something so basic but so easy to forget.
When you play your guitar, you’re constantly leaving dirt, oils, and sweat on it. That’s a bad combination if you want to keep your instrument looking and playing nice.
Dirt gunks up your fretboard. Oils and sweat corrode your strings. It gets nasty.
Spend 10 seconds wiping down your guitar strings with a rag after you’re done playing. You will be amazed at how much longer they last.
The usual remedy is to change your strings more often and complain about how things don’t last as long as they used to.
My friends, there is a better way.
The simplest solution is to spend 10 seconds wiping down your guitar strings with a rag after you’re done playing. (For good measure, clean the back of the neck and anywhere the guitar has touched your arm while you’re at it.)
If you commit to cleaning your strings before you put your guitar away, you will be amazed at how much longer they last. I haven’t done any scientific testing, but I estimate it triples the lifetime of the strings on my guitars.
And while strings aren’t terribly expensive, they aren’t free either. Saving any amount of money by implementing something so quick and easy makes this a no-brainer.
Use a locking strap
I dropped my guitar on stage once.
It slipped off the strap and…ca-chunk.
I got extremely lucky; all that happened was the volume knob cracked (the pot was fine). One Amazon order and $5 of formed plastic later, and I was back in business.
But it could have been worse. A lot worse.
And that scare was enough for me to institute a new personal rule: “All thine guitars shalt have strap locks.”
Yes, there is a small investment involved here (under $20). But the ROI is knowing that your precious axe won’t slip or fall while you’re playing.
That was enough for me to institute a new personal rule: “All thine guitars shalt have strap locks.”
That means no dings, no gouges, no snapped necks, and no broken headstocks — all of which are costly, headache-inducing repairs.
(Don’t know where to start with strap locks? Here’s a great option that doesn’t require any modifications to your guitar.)
Get a can of contact cleaner
How many times have you been frustrated with guitar electronics?
Maybe the volume knob crackles. Or the pickup selector switch is intermittent.
If your first thought when this happens is crap, I gotta take this in for repair, I have good news.
For about $15 on Amazon, you can pick up a can of electrical contact cleaner — and it will last you the rest of your natural life.
More often than not, this is something you can fix yourself.
For about $15 on Amazon, you can pick up a can of electrical contact cleaner—and it will last you the rest of your natural life.
Using it is simple. Just spray a bit of solution in the knob or switch that’s giving you the issue (pro tip: use the spray straw it comes with) and work it in by twisting/moving the component back and forth for about 30 seconds.
Congrats! You’re one step closer to being your own guitar tech.
Learn the basics of guitar setup
Speaking of being your own tech, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Setting up an electric guitar is not difficult. At all.
There are actually only a few things you have to do to set up a guitar, and unless there is a major issue, you can absolutely learn to do it yourself.
That means saving $75 or more every time you buy a new axe.
Setting up an electric guitar is not difficult. At all.
I’m going to drop a few videos explaining the process below — including one that shows how you can literally get everything you need to do the job from Dollar Tree.
Assemble a dedicated toolbox
This last money-saving guitar maintenance tip admittedly requires more of an up-front investment.
But the savings over time will start to accumulate.
It’s a smart move to assemble your own guitar maintenance toolkit.
Even purchasing all of these items at once is worth it if you can avoid just one trip to the guitar doctor.
Not only will a well-stocked toolbox unlock new repairs you can do at home, but it will make regular maintenance like string changes and setups much easier.
Here are some of the supplies it pays to have on hand in a dedicated toolbox:
- Rags
- Guitar mat
- Neck holder
- Extra strings
- Fretboard oil
- Painter’s tape
- Contact cleaner
- String winder/clipper
- Phillips head screwdrivers
None of these things is expensive, and you probably have a fair amount of it lying around your house already (check your junk drawer, trust me). But even purchasing all of these items at once is worth it if you can avoid just one trip to the guitar doctor.
TLDR: Guitar TLC doesn’t have to be expensive
Guitars are many things:
- They are tools.
- They are investments.
- They are extensions of our personalities.
As such, they deserve to be cared for. And with a little bit of knowledge and planning, you can love on them and save money.
And until prices fall or wages rise, saving money will continue to be the name of the game.