Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ukuleles- Caring for Your Ukulele

By Scott E. Hutton


As all musicians know, instruments call for standard care and maintenance. Weather as well as other environmental factors impact the condition of a Ukulele. Given that they are created of wood humidity affects the condition of the instrument as it loses or absorbs moisture.

Too dry and the wood might crack or shrivel. Too moist and the wood could swell or warp. For this reason, the instrument wants cleaned and inspected regularly. Often this means keeping them in a case with a humidifier or taking them out to dry. Modifications in weather can also affect tuning and cause the neck to warp.

Cleaning and caring for your instrument may be the identical as caring for a guitar. Clean and care for your Ukulele regularly. Exactly the same brand of polishes, cleaners and fret board oils utilized for guitars may also be utilized to clean a uke. The body and also the fret board are made of differing supplies and require different kind of cleaners. Never ever use the same one on each surfaces. Cleaning and polishing protects the instrument against the sweat and salt produced by the player's skin. Sweat can deteriorate the wood finish and corrode the fret wires. It also collects on the wood surface causing it to hold on to dirt and dust.

Take care when cleaning around dings, blemishes, cracks or dents. If cleaning fluid gets into them, it may cause the wood to swell and make those blemishes worse. If the ukulele shows some little scratches or surface marks, it is possible to use a clear nail polish to seal them. This technique needs the use of a modest brush as well as a steady hand. Wax is excellent to make use of for sealing cracks within the wood. It is possible to use a guitar wax as it's going to also keep moisture out. One strategy to prevent scratches when cleaning could be the use of a microfiber towel.

In no way use ammonia based cleaners on your instrument. These sorts of cleaners are not produced for wood and dry the surface out causing it to warp or crack. Ammonia will also deteriorate strings and dull the ukulele's finish. Household cleaning goods like furniture oils are not good cleaning merchandise as well. They leave a residue that attracts dirt and dust allowing it to collect on the instrument. Never ever use straight lemon oil to clean the fret board as it is a solvent. Even so, there are fret board oils that contain lemon oil, but not at a high enough concentration to hurt the instrument.




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