In the spirit of time wasting I thought I would share a few cheap and dirty hacks that you may or may not find useful
DIY humidifier
As Bob recently pointed out, if you have a solid-top acoustic guitar and you live in Joburg then you need a humidifier
Since they go for around R150 at reputable music shops I decided to save some cash and build my own
If you want to do the same you will need: a sponge, a plastic bag and a skewer stick
Cut the sponge to size
Use the skewer stick to poke holes in the bag then break off the sharp end
Put the sponge in the bag and use the skewer to dangle it at the appropriate height for your guitar
Moist !
Strap washer
If you are prone to stage acrobatics you have probably felt that sinking feeling when your strap loses grip with the strap button and your guitar pitches forward into the void
You can buy an expensive locking system to make sure this never happens or if you are a cheapskate like me you can just make a washer out of a yoghurt tub lid
Cut a disc about the size of a R5 coin out of the yoghurt lid (or any suitably thick soft plastic)
Cut/drill a hole in the middle so it fits tightly around the strap button
When I took my guitar for a setup recently the tech spent about 2 minutes trying to rip the strap off before I explained that you need to remove the washers before the strap will come off
Stop strap buckle scratches with Sugru
Plenty of guitar straps come with hard plastic buckles that can scratch your guitar's finish
Sugru is air curing rubber http://sugru.com/about which means it sticks to almost anything, you can mould it like plasticine and it dries in 24 hours to softish rubber
I used about 10 grams of Sugru to soften the edges of the strap buckle and save the finish on my guitar
I wanted a rough finish, but have to admit plastering skills are lacking
DIY humidifier
As Bob recently pointed out, if you have a solid-top acoustic guitar and you live in Joburg then you need a humidifier
Since they go for around R150 at reputable music shops I decided to save some cash and build my own
If you want to do the same you will need: a sponge, a plastic bag and a skewer stick
Cut the sponge to size
Use the skewer stick to poke holes in the bag then break off the sharp end
Put the sponge in the bag and use the skewer to dangle it at the appropriate height for your guitar
Moist !
Strap washer
If you are prone to stage acrobatics you have probably felt that sinking feeling when your strap loses grip with the strap button and your guitar pitches forward into the void
You can buy an expensive locking system to make sure this never happens or if you are a cheapskate like me you can just make a washer out of a yoghurt tub lid
Cut a disc about the size of a R5 coin out of the yoghurt lid (or any suitably thick soft plastic)
Cut/drill a hole in the middle so it fits tightly around the strap button
When I took my guitar for a setup recently the tech spent about 2 minutes trying to rip the strap off before I explained that you need to remove the washers before the strap will come off
Stop strap buckle scratches with Sugru
Plenty of guitar straps come with hard plastic buckles that can scratch your guitar's finish
Sugru is air curing rubber http://sugru.com/about which means it sticks to almost anything, you can mould it like plasticine and it dries in 24 hours to softish rubber
I used about 10 grams of Sugru to soften the edges of the strap buckle and save the finish on my guitar
I wanted a rough finish, but have to admit plastering skills are lacking
