Questions tagged [maintenance]
For questions about keeping an instrument or related gear in playable condition.
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Grand piano positioning to compromise between acoustic and good piano care
After owning a digital then an upright piano, I am now considering the possibility of acquiring a baby grand piano (166 cm / 5'5" according to the manufacturer's website). But since a grand is, ...
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Electric guitar ground wire
I recently bought an old electric guitar (an SG copy) on eBay, as a little restoration project. I have some basic experience with electronics from university, but that was 15 years ago and I've never ...
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How often should I change tom heads (batters and resonants)?
I have had my current tom heads on since February.
I only play on my kit for an average of once a week, and not long when I do.
Should I replace them all, batter and resonant heads? I feel like I ...
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Safe to remove ball from end of ball end string?
I (sort of) recently got a new violin and as the tailpiece does not match my earlier rental I now have a mismatched ball end E string from my extra set. Looking at the string it definitely seems like ...
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Using friction pegs with standard classical guitar headstock
Would it be reasonable to use guitar friction pegs with a regular classical headstock? I've never seen that, all friction peg versions of flamenco guitars have a different headstock design.
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Intonation problem with guitar
I have a Fender Model CD-60 NAT, which is having some intonation problems. I fully intend to take it to a professional, but would like to understand the problem and the most likely fix beforehand.
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French horn - clicky/noisy keys
More of a practical question here.
I've had clicky keys (on the French horn) for a while now and I plan to get them fixed soon. But does anyone know a temporary fix to the problem? I can't seem to ...
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Is there a way to prevent a wooden guitar from picking up ambient smells?
I played a show last night with my acoustic guitar in an environment that was thick with the smell of fried food, and as a result this morning my guitar smelled like fryer oil. This certainly isn't a ...
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I dropped my violin! Is it OK? What should I do? [closed]
Okay, the unthinkable has happened. I dropped my violin (or viola or cello), or something fell on it, or someone knocked it over. What should I check? Can I correct any problems myself? Should I take ...
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How to replace string on Donner standard series
My son just got his first guitar. I know NOTHING about guitars. One of the strings broke and we can’t figure out how to replace it. The videos I’ve found on YouTube make it look easy and spend about 5 ...
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Preserving the pitch of Tabla by keeping it in a dry cabinet
I have purchased a dry cabinet to store my camera lenses. I also found out in its manual that you can use it to store instruments and scientific materials as well.
I wanted to know if using a dry ...
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How to clean the bathtub after cleaning brass instruments
Every few months I clean my French horn in an enamel bathtub filled with warm water and added dishwasher liquid. The oil and grease residues that attach to the detergent float to the water surface and ...
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Would it be frowned upon to change the color of a 170 year old square grand Knabe piano?
I recently acquired a square grand Knabe Piano from the 1850’s. It was restored about 30 years ago and now has some chips in the finish and I don’t really care for the color or fact that it has brush ...
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How can I improve the sound of my trumpet?
I have two student trumpets at home. The first trumpet I bought over 20 years ago for $80 USD and it's been in my mother's attic since then mostly. The second trumpet is a student rental from a local ...
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Is it Ok to leave a guitar with a broken string?
Just broke the high E on my guitar and won't be able to get new strings for about 2 weeks. will leaving it as it is damage the guitar at all?
the guitar is an Ibanez rga42fm with a fixed bridge
All ...
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Upright piano's keys feel heavier than they did when tested in the showroom
I bought a refurbished upright piano (Yamaha U1D). The keys feel a bit stiff, and sometimes if I hit a key softly it doesn't make any sound at all. It didn't have this problem when I tested it in ...
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Drawing on Classical Guitar with Open Pore Finish
this might be a somewhat naive question, but I am curious if using some type of permanent marker to draw on a classical guitar with an open pore finish will cause any issues? I'd like to give it a go, ...
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Recently bought upright piano has at least one key ever so slightly deeper than the others. Is it detrimental to learning?
So, I bought my very first upright piano nearly 3 months ago after the numerous helpful replies I received to my questions here.
I've been playing it a bit now and then. Sometimes, while I was slowly ...
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Violin fingerboard issue
I know something is wrong with my fingerboard and I'm attaching a photo here. The fingerboard is too low with no projection at all.
I don't know if this is the right place to ask. I had given my ...
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Is it safe to use a mouldy case for an electric guitar?
My guitar hard case (Stagg Vintage-style series gold tweed deluxe hardshell case for electric guitar) has changed color to green and dark red on the some parts of the outside, and it seems that the ...
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Acoustic Guitar: Remove gloss coating from an inexpensive acoustic
I have just bought an inexpensive acoustic guitar. The guitar has a gloss coat on over the wood like most higher end ones, and I'm not the biggest fan of the shine. If this was a higher end guitar I'd ...
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Are these type of "Horizonal" wall mounts safe for hanging a guitar with a gigbag
I did read this thread Storing guitar in a gig bag and hanging from a wall hook. It concluded with a "don't hang with a gigbag, it becomes a big barrier between playing the guitar often and ...
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Normal fret wear or particularly low-quality fret wire?
I've been playing a cheap guitar for maybe an hour every day for the past two years. At first I was very happy with the way it played, the frets were perfectly level and I was able to set it up ...
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How do you stop gunk from building up on guitar strings?
On a steel-string acoustic guitar, how do you prevent gunk from building up on the strings? Every time I play, the strings, particularly the B and E strings, will literally (okay maybe not literally) ...
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I have a Skywin oud, 11 strings. Do the pegs need to be in a certain order, like in length?
So I'm not sure if my oud came strung correctly,they look a bit worn but it came with 6 pairs of replacement strings and one 11th string.
What if while restringing, I took all the pegs out without ...
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2
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Fixing loose strap button screw in solid-body guitar [duplicate]
I have a strap button screw in my Squier Affinity Strat that I have to re-fasten every week or so, and I'd like to carry out a more permanent repair. There is no visible damage to the screw hole or ...
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What are the different maintenances a piano should receive during its lifetime?
For the past three months, I have been doing extensive search prior to buying my acoustic piano about how to keep the piano in good shape.
Most of the information I found online was about the things I ...
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How do I stop hearing a radio station through my Marshall MG15DFX? [duplicate]
I just purchased a used but in good condition Marshall MG15DFX combo amp for practice in my room. Almost immediately I started hearing a local radio station through the amp even when there is no ...
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Tool that can turn this kind of particular screw in upright piano?
I tried to search in piano anatomy and glossaries but couldn't find any result. I also tried google search with image and it incorrectly identified my picture as "webbing". Can anyone help ...
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Will about 10 loose hairs in a violin bow make any difference when I use it?
It's something like the image above, just less loose hairss. While I was looking at it, I tried playing the violin, and some hairs got loose.
Do I just cut them off or yank them off? This little book ...
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Lower strings buzz after switching from 0.010" to 0.009" gauge, should I raise the saddles to fix it?
I replaced the strings on my low end Stagg electric guitar. I changed from 0.010" to 0.009" to make it a little more comfortable to play. After replacing the strings I notice the A and low E ...
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What are the direct consequences of exposing an acoustic piano to environment hazard?
From what I gathered, the following should be done to keep the piano in good condition:
No direct exposure to sun light, moon light, heat source nor air conditioner.
An average temperature of 20°C, ...
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What are the dangers of extreme temperature for an acoustic piano?
I am planning to buy an upright acoustic piano in the future. But before I do, there are some points I need to clarify.
I initially did not want to buy an acoustic piano, because I was afraid of all ...
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Guitar strings feel electrified
When my electric guitar is connected to the amp it's fine but when I connect it to my mult fx Zoom g1on and then to the amp, the strings and the bridge feel electrified. Like there's friction when I ...
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How long--does it take for humidity to affect acoustic guitar?
We know that high or low levels of humidity affect acoustic guitar, but how long does it actually take before a guitar starts to get affected by humidity? Furthermore, what do you think are the ...
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How does temperature affect acoustic guitar?
We understand that an acoustic guitar must be kept in around 40%-60% humidity levels. As lower humidity levels cause the guitar wood to dry out and shrink, which can lead to cracks in the guitar. Also,...
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Chromatic harmonica slider becomes less smooth after playing for about 30min
I have a Suzuki Chromatix SCX64 16-hole chromatic harmonica. Recently I find that the slider becomes less smooth (or even gets stuck somehow) after I play for about 30 minutes. I tried disassembling ...
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Fret Wear on 2016 PRS CE24
When changing my strings and cleaning the fretboard and frets a couple of days ago, I recognized that my frets seem to be really flat already.
I have attached some images. The guitar is round about ...
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Which way do I put the violin blanket?
I was wondering which way do I put the violin blanket in a violin case because there are two sides, one that is soft and one that is hard(ish) made out of plastic (or whatever material it is). I want ...
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What range of violin bow hair tension is generally accepted?
I am trying to learn violin using online resources only. After about 80 hours of practice I destroyed a bow eyelet. My guess is that I applied too much tension on bow hair and/or bow quality was low. ...
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Why is there fret buzz on an acoustic after not playing it for a year?
I gave my brother’s girlfriend an acoustic guitar and stand over a year ago. I was over at their place the other day and I thought I would play the guitar. Of course it was out of tune, but I was ...
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Does dust hurt acoustic guitar?
I usually play guitar regularly, and I always put it on its stand but sometimes due to college work I can't play for a few weeks in between. And what happens is a layer of dust accumulates on my ...
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Electric guitar intonation flat above 12th fret, no luck with usual methods
My Floyd Rose equipped electric guitar has mostly spot-on intonation across the fretboard minus the high e string above the 12th fret, where it is pretty consistently flat (1-2 red LEDs from the ...
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Cleaning porous rosewood fretboard
I have a Fender Stratocaster with a rosewood fretboard. The wood is fairly porous, and over time I have had something like dirt, dust, or possibly wax build up in the pores of the wood grain. The ...
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Questions on Guitar Maintenance & New Gear
I am a beginner guitar player, I started playing 9 months ago. I got a second-hand strat copy (the headstock reads Thunder) as my first instrument. I also bought an ultra cheap ($30) amp which does ...
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Saxophone alto: are the levers under G# key on any use except comfort?
I am wondering what is the utility of the two small levers under the G# key of an alto saxophone (hightlighted in picture, pressed by the little finger of the left hand).
It does not seem to have any ...
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Sticky Key on Piano Keyboard
I have had a keyboard for a while and it has not given me any problems. However, recently, the middle C# on my Yamaha P-155 is sticky. It stays down until I lift it up. When I play the note again, it ...
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Why do people in tutorials destroy/cut their old strings when restringing?
I'd like do try out different gauges on an electric and an acoustic guitar, but if I don't like them I would like to put the old strings back on. Is that even possible or are they ruined after ...
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Grand Piano Cracked Soft Pedal, Possible Missing Parts for Soft and Sustain Pedals
I have a 1912 Symphonic baby grand piano and I noticed two problems. This question is a two-parter:
I noticed at the top of the beam for the soft pedal, the wooden piece is cracked. We thought of zip-...
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Are classic electronic instruments doomed to exist only virtually?
I saw a Farfisa combo organ at a guitar store two months ago and was blasted by its low price. I plugged it into an amp and was in great awe, up until I heard the first note. It was like meeting your ...
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