Ask the Expert: What’s the Deal with Nylon Strings?
Guitar repair expert Martin Keith explains the differences between steel and nylon guitar strings and shares some useful terminology.
Finding and Fixing Rattles and Buzzes on Acoustic Guitars
Here is an end-to-end approach for for finding and fixing those annoying rattles and buzzes on your acoustic guitar.
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How to Best Take Care of Your Guitars—When They’re Not in Your Hands
With a little thought into how you store and display your guitars, you can keep them in optimal shape, ready to receive your ideas when inspiration strikes.
Try This Simple Trick to Restring Your Acoustic Guitar with Ease
All guitarists have one thing in common: we eventually need to change our strings. Here's how to restring an acoustic guitar.
Ask the Expert: How to Cure Your Guitar’s Wintertime Humidity Blues
Maintaining your guitar’s humidity level is key in avoiding lots of headaches, from a fluctuating setup to potentially expensive structural repairs.
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Can Bridge Pins Enhance Your Acoustic Guitar’s Tone?
There are so many different materials for acoustic guitar bridge pins, but how much difference do they make in your guitar tone?
Ask the Expert: Why Is the Action Suddenly High on My Guitar?
Action (string height) plays a big role in how comfortable it is to play your guitar. High action could be due to a lot of different reasons—some are easy fixes.
Acoustic Guitar Truss Rods: Correcting an Adjustment Gone Wrong
Truss rod adjustments can make a big difference in an acoustic guitar's playability. However, even the most straightforward adjustments can have their pitfalls.
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Ask the Expert: Why Does My New Guitar Need a Setup?
It can be frustrating when a brand new acoustic guitar isn't set up for optimum playability. Here are some reasons your new axe may need setup work right out of the box.
How to Avoid String Tension Problems on Vintage Parlor Guitars
Should you be concerned about string tension on parlor guitars from the early 1900s? Considering that very few of these instruments have truss rods, it's a valid worry.
Ask the Expert: All About Celluloid Rot—and What to Do About It
Celluloid rot, the degrading of the plastic used for the binding on vintage guitars, is a common occurrence. Here we take a look at why this deterioration happens.
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Ask the Expert: How to Minimize String Breakage—and What to Do When it Happens
Is it safe for the guitar, the strings, and the player to switch back and forth between standard and open tunings? Ask the Expert!
How a Skilled Touchup Artist Can Make Your Guitar’s Dings and Scratches Disappear
Touchup is one of the real dark arts of instrument repair, and one that exists in an almost entirely different universe from structural and functional repairs.
Guitar Wall Mounts, Floor Stands, & More—How to Keep Your Instrument Safe at Home
Cases? Floor stands? Wall mounts? Here's how to keep your acoustic guitars safe and protected at home.
Why Does My Plugged-In Acoustic-Electric Guitar Sound So Uneven?
Piezo systems have evolved into a broad family of acoustic sensors that can be quite musical and robust-sounding—if they are properly installed
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Why Isn’t My Acoustic Guitar Intonating Well, and What Can I Do About It?
Here are some things to check if you notice something is outside of the reasonable range of intonation on your guitar and it’s off enough to bother the ear.
How to Fix Problems Caused by Incorrect Neck Angles on Acoustic Guitars
Neck angle is probably the single most crucial variable for the playability of a flattop guitar. Here's how to fix it if it's off.
Ask the Expert: Is There a Correct Way to Position a Saddle on an Acoustic Guitar?
Although guitar tuning is something that can be easily measured, there are many differences in saddle/bridge position and treatment between popular makes.
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Ask the Expert: Caring for Your Guitar Over the Long Haul
Guitar repair expert Mamie Minch gives a rundown of some basic things a guitar owner can do, and not do, to maintain the health of their guitar.
Ask the Expert: What can Torrefaction Do for Your Guitar?
Properly torrefied, properly selected wood used in conjunction with a well-engineered design, can produce guitars that are both great-sounding and durable.
Ask the Expert: Why Is My Guitar Buzzing?
Is your acoustic guitar making an unwanted buzzing sound? Here our resident expert offers some possible causes and solutions.
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Acoustic Guitar Maintenance 101: 4 Tips to Keep Your Instrument Playing, Sounding, and Looking Great
Here we give primers on acoustic guitar maintenance, including adjusting the truss rod and saddle height, fixing loose tuners, and properly cleaning the instrument
Ask the Expert: Vintage Guitars and Aging Plastic Parts
Hello, gentle readers. Lately, I’ve received lots of questions about issues stemming from aging plastics on old guitars. From curling pickguards to binding rot, it’s one of the things that people have to bear in mind when buying and playing older instruments. Q: I bought a Martin 0-18 from the…
Ask the Expert: All About Slotted Headstocks and Dead G Strings
Repair expert Martin Keith discusses acoustic guitar headstock design and how to maintain evenness and consistency of timbre on your classical guitar's thickest string.
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Ask the Expert: What’s the History Behind Solid Headstocks and Banjo Tuners on Guitars?
It is often said that early Martin guitars with 12-fret necks typically have slotted pegheads similar to classical guitars, while those with 14-fret necks only have solid pegheads. But this does not, in fact, correspond to the reality of Martin history.