Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ukuleles- Caring for Your Ukulele

By Scott E. Hutton


As all musicians know, instruments require normal care and maintenance. Weather and other environmental factors have an effect on the condition of a Ukulele. Since they are produced of wood humidity affects the condition of the instrument as it loses or absorbs moisture.

Too dry along with the wood may crack or shrivel. Too moist and also the wood may swell or warp. For this reason, the instrument needs cleaned and inspected often. Often this indicates keeping them in a case with a humidifier or taking them out to dry. Modifications in weather may also impact tuning and cause the neck to warp.

Cleaning and caring for your instrument will be the exact same as caring for a guitar. Clean and care for your Ukulele regularly. The same brand of polishes, cleaners and fret board oils employed for guitars may also be employed to clean a uke. The body as well as the fret board are produced of differing materials and demand diverse sort of cleaners. Never ever use the same 1 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 about dings, blemishes, cracks or dents. If cleaning fluid gets into them, it may possibly cause the wood to swell and make those blemishes worse. If the ukulele shows some small scratches or surface marks, it is possible to use a clear nail polish to seal them. This technique calls for the use of a tiny brush and a steady hand. Wax is good to use for sealing cracks inside the wood. You'll be able to use a guitar wax as it will also maintain moisture out. One method to stop scratches when cleaning could be the use of a microfiber towel.

Never use ammonia based cleaners on your instrument. These types 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 products like furniture oils are not very good cleaning merchandise also. They leave a residue that attracts dirt and dust allowing it to collect on the instrument. In no way use straight lemon oil to clean the fret board as it's a solvent. Nonetheless, there are fret board oils that contain lemon oil, but not at a high sufficient concentration to hurt the instrument.




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