Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ukuleles- Caring for Your Ukulele

By Scott E. Hutton


As all musicians know, instruments demand typical care and maintenance. Weather and other environmental aspects impact the condition of a Ukulele. Since they're produced of wood humidity affects the condition of the instrument as it loses or absorbs moisture.

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

Cleaning and caring for your instrument will be the identical as caring for a guitar. Clean and care for your Ukulele frequently. Exactly the same brand of polishes, cleaners and fret board oils utilized for guitars may also be utilised to clean a uke. The body as well as the fret board are produced of differing supplies and call for diverse type of cleaners. Never ever use exactly the same one on both 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 could trigger 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 method demands the use of a small brush plus a steady hand. Wax is good to use for sealing cracks inside the wood. You are able to use a guitar wax as it'll also keep moisture out. 1 way to prevent scratches when cleaning is the use of a microfiber towel.

Never use ammonia based cleaners on your instrument. These varieties of cleaners aren't made 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 items like furniture oils aren't very good cleaning merchandise also. They leave a residue that attracts dirt and dust permitting it to collect on the instrument. Never ever use straight lemon oil to clean the fret board as it really is a solvent. Nonetheless, you'll find fret board oils that contain lemon oil, but not at a high sufficient concentration to hurt the instrument.




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