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Christmas at Rhapsody Music!

Huge Announcement!

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! If you bring in your student ID to Rhapsody Music you'll get 10% off ALL drum, bass, guitar, and piano accessories. No joke! Starts today, goes till forever. Any and all valid student IDs will work!

Caring for your guitar

Whether you are a professional musician or a person who likes to sit around the house and play, taking care of your guitar is very important. Guitar manufacturers today take great care in building their products, and they actually handpick different types of wood to craft an instrument which is visually appealing.  This also provides a resonance that can be unique to the particular type of guitar. This is true of electric guitars, as well as acoustic guitars. My review will deal with the care of an electric guitar, but many of the points that I raise will apply to the acoustic guitar also.

A guitar player should maintain his instrument with two things in mind: first, to preserve the beauty that is inherent in a well-crafted guitar that was built from quality woods, and second, to keep the instrument in the best possible playing condition.

Here are my suggestions for caring for your guitar:

• Clean and polish the top, sides and back of your guitar regularly. You can use a top-of-the line furniture polish to apply to your guitar, or your can buy any number of polishes offered by guitar companies specifically for the guitar application. If you establish a regular clean and polish regimen, your guitar will always look good. The beauty of the woods will be enhanced, and if you should ever decide to part with your guitar, it will bring a premium price because of your efforts.
  
  
• Dress the frets every time you change strings. If you play often, a lot of dirt, grime and oils from your hands can build up on the fret board. This isn't good for the strings and probably affects the sound also. I use a very soft-bristled toothbrush and a little soapy water, and I make sure to wipe the fret dry after cleaning. Use this routine when your change strings and your fret board won't ever have that "soft" feel.
  
  
• Wipe down the neck with a dry cloth after every use to protect your fret board and to prolong string life. Sweat, oils, dirt and grime can accumulate very quickly, and if you wipe the fret board frequently, you can make dressing the frets a much simpler task. You will also prolong string life by removing some of the elements that cause strings to deteriorate.
  
  
• Never expose your instrument to excessive heat or cold for prolonged periods of time. Heat and sunlight can cause premature finish checking, and can make the finely crafted woods in your guitar look old and faded almost overnight. Cold weather might not affect the finish so much, but it can cause damage to binding, inlays and the neck, often requiring unnecessary work with the truss rod. Guitars need a cool, dry environment, so try to keep your guitar in that type of setting.
  
  
• Protect your guitar when it's stored in the case. I'm talking about humidity here, and it can be one of the most insidious enemies to the health of your guitar. You can buy a capsule from your local guitar store that will stabilize the humidity in the case; just put it in your case and it will provide the protection that you need.
  
  
• Regularly check and tighten all screws, strap-pins and tuning machines. This just makes good sense, because you don't want any unneeded rattling or jingling when you're playing your instrument, either at a gig or at home for your own pleasure.
  
  
• Make it a point to regularly clean all metal parts of your guitar with a good metal cleaning compound. Chrome and nickel are notorious for corrosion and tarnish, particularly in certain environments, so setting up a regimen to clean your pickup covers, bridge, and tuning buttons will help in maintaining the visual appeal of your instrument.
  
  
• Avoid things that can cause scratches, dings and other scars on your instrument. Don't wear a belt with a buckle when you have your guitar strapped on; I have seen many beautiful vintage instruments which have been ruined by belt-buckle scratches on the back. Also, buy a stand! Never leave your guitar propped up against the wall or your amplifier-I've seen irreparable damage done to some quality instruments because they fell from being propped up. Spend the money and buy a stand--consider it an investment.
  
  
• At least once a year, carry your instrument to your local guitar technician for a complete look-over.  No matter how well you take care of your instrument, the truss rod will need adjusting regularly, and the intonation screws on the pickups will need to be adjusted to ensure that your are getting the balanced sound that you want from your guitar. Your guitar may need bridge adjustments also, so it's always good to take it in annually to let the expert make the fine adjustments that will give you the maximum in playability.
  
  
• My last tip-PLAY YOUR GUITAR!!! There is no better way to keep your guitar in tip-top shape than to play it every day. I have always been dismayed to see how they "go down" from lack of use. Play your guitar, take care of it, and it will take care of you.

Santa Anonymous & Area Food Shle Benefit Concert

Know Your Humidity
For proper guitar maintenance, control the temperature and humidity whenever possible.
Purchase a hygrometer/thermometer and keep it in your case. If you afford it, purchase two. Put the second one in the room where you typically store your guitar.
Keep the temperature and humidity at recommended levels. Check your product manual. If you have no product literature, the most common recommendations I've seen are for 68-77 degrees Fahrenheit and 45-55% relative humidity.
If the area is too dry, use a humidifier to raise the moisture level in the room. You can use a guitar humidifier, such as the one made by Dampit, or a room or house humidifier.
If you use a Dampit, or other small humidifier, make sure you wipe any excess water off before inserting it into your instrument's sound hole, or the case. If you use a room or house humidifier, never allow the moist air to blow directly on your guitar. If the area is too wet, use a dehumidifier to lower the moisture level. Never allow a heating or cooling vent to blow directly on your guitar!
To minimize the affect of changes in temperature and humidity levels, keep your guitar in its case. Also, never store it in the direct path of a vent or against an outside wall where temperature and humidity can be significantly different from the rest of the room and can change rapidly.

We are now carrying the new DBZ Guitars!!! Come down to get a taste and register to win a DBZ Royale ST!!
A little history about the electric guitar...In 1937, the first patent for the electric guitar was issued.
Early electric guitars resemble modern electric guitars very little, other than in the concept of electrifying the signal and amplifying it remains. Interestingly, a trend in electric-acoustic guitars to pick up the sound with piezoelectric transducer type pickups is similar to the way the first electric guitars made were amplified. In essence, the vibrations of the wood (bridge) were “picked up” from transducers and transferred electronically to an amplifier to produce the amplified sound. However, the technology to take the sound from the (then) hollow body electric guitar would soon change to include solid body electric guitars. The advent of the magnet/coil pickup would open up guitar design possibilities never before seen in guitar design.
From those early beginnings, the sound of the electric guitar evolved from an experiment, to the art, and billion-dollar industry that it is today. Guitars and equally as important, electric guitar pickups became better as the years went by. By the late 1950’s a pickup that addressed ambient noise, known as the 60-cyle hum was patented, and introduced as the “hum bucker”.
For nearly twenty years following the late 1950’s, the guitar industry plodded along, catering to customers of these original designs.
Today DBZ Guitars is breaking new ground with concepts that are new, even in 2012. DBZ Guitars employs modern techniques using technology (like CNC machines, to expertly create the most intricate and precise cuts & carves), along with traditional craftsmanship, to offer guitars mated with hand-detailed necks, custom tone circuitry and custom wound pickups that look & sound like no other...