Q: Is it okay to completely un-string a guitar for a few minutes in order to clean it? Is it always necessary to have tension on the guitar neck in order to avoid damaging it?

A: Yes, it is perfectly fine to take all the strings off.  At the Taylor factory service and repair shop, they take all the strings off at the same time. That is what they demonstrate in their video on changing guitar strings.  If that is how they do it, then it is certainly okay for you and me.  It will NOT harm a guitar for the neck to not have tension on it while you clean and oil the neck, polish the guitar, and install the new strings.  If you have no tension on the neck for a long time, it may take a couple of hours for the neck to settle after you re-string the guitar, but there will be no permanent damage. 

Q: Can I tune my guitar to D? I am a very amateur guitarist and mainly play just for myself and my kids’ benefit. I find that I am breaking the B and top E strings. If I just tune to D so that all the strings are under less tension, will that help?

A: Tuning your guitar to D won't hurt the guitar, and it will make strings break a little less easily.  But it will also mess up your action, make the strings buzz, make the guitar much quieter and muddier, etc.  If you are breaking strings, something else is wrong.  A better solution is to fix what's wrong.

1. Use quality name-brand strings, not cheap Chinese knock-offs you got for a bargain price on Ebay or whatever. Don't buy strings online at all, unless it's from juststrings.com, stringsandbeyond.com, or sweetwater.com. 
2. Install your strings correctly. LINK HERE to see how. Specifically, make sure the windings of the top three strings on the winding peg go down BELOW the bottom of the hole. 
3. Don’t tune your guitar up and down over and over, bending and unbending the strings where they wind around the pegs.
4. Use good pick technique.  Don't beat the heck out of the strings when you play.  Use some finesse; it's not a contest to see who can play the loudest, it's about good tone.  If you want a louder guitar, buy a bigger, louder guitar, don't manhandle a small guitar to make up for its small size.  Or buy an acoustic electric and plug it in. 
5. If those things don’t fix the problem and you are still breaking strings, then buy some strings that are known for not breaking easily, such as Ernie Ball Paradigms, or the newer varieties of d’Addario strings with NY Steel cores.

Q: Why do you need a DI box to safely connect a guitar or a bass to a mixer?

A: You DON’T need a DI box to safely connect a guitar or bass or keyboard (or microphone) to a mixer with a 1/4″ guitar cord. There is no danger to you, and no danger to the equipment. None at all. It is perfectly safe to plug a guitar cord directly into a mixer.

The only reason to use a DI box is to improve the sound. The 2-conductor TS 1/4″ phone jack guitar cord is what is called an “unbalanced” signal. The farther you run an unbalanced cord, the more tone quality is lost, especially in the treble. If your mixer is farther than 15 feet away, (especially if it is in the back of the hall, running through a snake), the sound will become noticeably softer, duller, and less clear as the length of the cord increases.

The function of the DI box is to convert the unbalanced 2-conductor signal to a balanced 3-conductor signal. A balanced signal (usually using XLR jacks) does not degrade nearly as badly with distance. You can run a balanced cord (microphone style cord with XLR jacks) more than 100 feet and not hear a drop in the quality of the tone. But if you are running an unbalanced signal through a 100 foot snake, for example, the signal will degrade noticeably.  Also, a balanced signal is better protected from RF noise and AC power noise.

What’s inside a DI box is a transformer that converts the unbalanced signal to balanced. So in case you are wondering, no, you can’t just solder an XLR jack onto the end of a guitar cord and get a balanced signal. You need a transformer.

Bottom line: if the mixer is on the stage and you can reach it with a 15′ guitar cord, there is no reason at all to use a DI box.  If the mixer is a farther distance than 15-20 feet, then using a DI box will make the guitar or bass sound better in the PA system.

(By the way, all microphones with XLR jacks are balanced. That’s why mics don’t usually need DI boxes.)

Q: Are capos bad for guitars?

A: Where have you heard that capos will harm your guitar? A good quality capo (IMHO the best affordable ones are Kyser and D’Addario) will not harm a guitar in any way with normal occasional use.

Capos can be very useful tools, and they can make life a lot easier. Despite this, some guitar purists detest their use, and make up stories to support their bias, claiming capos will damage your guitar. The taboo against capos is motivated by their egos, not by facts. They consider the use of capos to be “cheating” and take pride in thinking they are better than other players because they don’t use capos. They think every guitar player should always use barre chords to change key signatures, which is sheer nonsense, not only for beginner and intermediate players, but also for advanced players on occasion.

Don’t listen to the blowhards who claim it will damage your guitar. I own seven guitars, two of which are very expensive, and I use a capo for certain songs at every gig. There’s been NO damage to ANY of my guitars over many decades of playing. Be careful and gentle placing the capo on and removing it from the guitar’s neck, and learn how to do it without bending the strings sideways which creates intonation problems. Don’t store the guitar with the capo on, and never place the guitar in its case with the capo on.

Q: How high above the 7th and 8th frets should the guitar strings be to indicate a guitar needs a truss rod adjustment?

A: First, the truss rod is not the way to adjust the action. Nut and saddle height and even fret heights are more critical to ease of playing and lack of string buzz than the truss rod is. Take your guitar to a luthier for a setup, THEN adjust your truss rod.

Now to answer your question.  On a steel string guitar, the tension of the strings tries to bend the neck upward into a concave shape. The purpose of the truss rod is to offset the pull of the strings. In other words, the truss rod adjusts the amount of concave curve in the guitar neck. How much concave curve the neck has is called “neck relief.” A tiny bit of neck relief is necessary. The question is, how much?

There are many ways to measure neck relief. However, most people who actually know what they are doing measure neck relief this way: place a capo between the nut and fret 1, then, while fretting fret 14 (meaning holding down a finger between fret 13 and fret 14), measure the distance between string 6 (low E) and fret 6 (not fret 7 or 8).

Too little neck relief makes the strings buzz, while too much neck relief makes the guitar harder to play. Thus, the ideal amount of neck relief is just enough to avoid string buzz. This “ideal” amount of neck relief varies quite a bit between players, playing styles, string gauge, and the type of alloy the strings are made of. And it especially varies depending on how the guitar has been “set up” (meaning how high the nut slots are, the neck mount angle, how high the bridge/saddle is, and how consistent the fret heights are.)

Thus, the correct answer to your question is: No one can tell you how much relief you need. Only you can do that. The way to find your ideal amount is to experiment by reducing relief until you hear buzz when playing loudly, then gradually increase relief until the buzzing stops.

Adjusting the truss rod is easy! Neck relief is decreased by turning the truss rod adjuster clockwise (tighter). It is increased by turning counterclockwise (looser). In other words, turn clockwise to lower the strings to make it easier to play, and turn counterclockwise to get rid of buzzing.

A little bit goes a long way. It’s a good idea to only go 1/6th of a turn at a time.  Each time you make an adjustment, be sure to retune the guitar before testing for string buzz. This is critical! Also, don’t just check for buzz using open strings. Play various chords and scales.

A good average starting point for neck relief is .010” (0.25mm) — measured with the capo and finger as described above — which is about the thickness of two sheets of regular 20# paper. (A standard business card is about .015″.) When you tap the string with your finger above the 6th fret, a .010” gap makes a tiny “tick” sound when the string hits the fret. For more accuracy, you can measure with a feeler gauge (an inexpensive tool you can buy at an automobile parts store). That way, after you find the amount of neck relief that is ideal for you and your guitar, you can get an exact measurement for future reference.

Unfortunately, this is not a one-time adjustment. Many things, including aging of the wood, different string gauges, alternate tunings, and seasonal humidity swings, will affect the neck relief. If you are picky about action and tone, it’s a good idea to check the relief periodically. If not, then adjust your relief a tiny bit higher than ideal, and forget about it unless the strings start buzzing or if the guitar seems harder to play, or if you change to a different type or gauge of strings.

Q: Will Vegas heat fry your guitar?

A: Bottom line: for acoustic guitars, either keep them between 60 and 80 degrees F and between 45 and 55% humidity, or just buy a Lava Me 2 solid carbon fiber guitar. They are good from -4 to 190 degrees F and from 10% to 90% humidity.

LINK HERE for information about temperature and humidity with acoustic guitars.

Q: What is the most common cause to investigate when an acoustic guitar’s action becomes suddenly too high, making the guitar harder to play?

A: It depends on your definition of the word “suddenly.”  If suddenly means it was fine for a long time but over the course the last month or so it got worse and worse, in my experience, the most common reason is changes in humidity. In low humidity, the bridge lowers and the strings start buzzing on the high frets and sometimes fretting a string on several different frets results in a single note sounding. In high humidity, the bridge raises, raising the strings up and making the guitar difficult to play. If that is the problem, try some D’Addario Humidipaks to control the humidity in your guitar case.

If “suddenly” means overnight, the cause is structural changes to the guitar. If yesterday it was fine and today it's way too high, it may be the bridge separating from the sound board, or sound board bracing failure, or the sound board itself distorting, or neck joint failure.  If the problem is structural changes, there is no simple fix. If the guitar is worth the cost, take it to a luthier to see what can be done. If not, either live with it or start saving for a new guitar.

Q: No matter how many times I tune my guitar, it goes off tune in a very short time. I have changed strings too. How can I fix this problem?

A: The first possible cause is friction between the nut and the strings, which causes the string tension between the nut and the saddle (the part of the string you use) to be different from the string tension between the nut and the tuning peg (the part of the string you don't use).  In other words, if your nut slots are too tight on the strings, or not smooth, then while you are tuning the string gets stuck in the nut slot, so when you tighten or loosen the string it jumps instead of changing pitch smoothly.  Then, as soon as you strum it, that pulls the string that was hung up on the nut through the friction point, the tension evens out, and the pitch drops or raises.

This is caused by the slot being too narrow for the string, or an incorrect angle at the bottom of the slot, or by a rough spot in the slot.  An inexpensive home solution to this problem is to loosen each string, pull it out of the nut slot, and lightly run some 400-600 grit sandpaper through it, rubbing it lightly against the sides and bottom of each nut slot to smooth it out and polish it up.  If that doesn’t work, take the guitar to a luthier to file the slots or make a new nut for you.  Another thing that helps with a sticky nut is a product called Superglide Nut Evolution (Super-Vee.com).  It seems expensive for a tiny amount, but you only need a tiny drop of it under the string on the nut and it will make your tuning super smooth.  (Just loosen the offending string about 5 or 6 half turns, pull the string out of the nut slot, dip the end of a sharp wooden toothpick 1mm into the product to get a tiny drop of the lube onto the end of the toothpick, transfer it into the nut slot, put the string back into the slot, and retune.)

The second cause is using an improper technique to tune your guitar.  It is VERY very important to NEVER TUNE FROM SHARP DOWN TO THE PITCH.  Instead, ALWAYS TUNE FROM FLAT UP TO THE PITCH.  When you are tuning your guitar, if you strike a string and the tuner reads flat, then very gradually turn the peg, very slowly, until the tuner is green.  Never go past the green.  If your tuner is reading sharp, then turn the peg to loosen the string and go PAST the green, then turn it the other direction to bring the pitch up to the green.  I won't get into the reasons why this helps, I'll just say trust me, it REALLY helps a lot with tuning stability!

If the nut slots are good and you are tuning correctly, then the third possible reason your guitar might be not staying in tune is that the strings are getting looser while you play the guitar.  This can be caused by three things:

First, did you stretch the new strings when you changed them?  You have to stretch new strings or they will go out of tune every time you play the guitar, for weeks!

Second, did you string the guitar properly?  This includes wrapping the correct rotational direction (outward away from the center of the headstock), and also the wraps going down, not up.  It also includes not having too many or too few wraps around the tuner post.  Also, are the balls on the ends of the strings securely seated in the peg holes?

Third, are the tuning machines tight?  This includes snugging up (not too tight!) the 10mm nut on the top; there should not be a lot of slop back and forth when you wiggle a tuning peg that has no string on it.  It also includes making sure the tuning gears are not slipping or stripped. 

All of these things are addressed in this video by Taylor Guitars on how to change strings properly.  (No, you don’t need locking tuners, and no, you don’t need to wrap the wires over themselves when installing them to get them to not slip.  All you have to do is wrap them correctly.)

The fourth possible reason would be humidity and temperature changes, which can cause the wood and the metal in the strings to expand and shrink, which will always cause tuning issues (as well as damage to the guitar.)  Make sure you keep the guitar at between 40-60% humidity and between 60 and 80 degrees F.

The last possible cause would be that something is moving in a way that it should not be moving.  This can be as simple as a tilted or loose saddle or a loose nut.  Or it can be a major problem such as a broken or stripped truss rod, a loose neck joint, a split soundboard, separated bracing, a bridge that is pulling up, and many other structural things can cause tuning problems.  So if the tuning problem persists after addressing the first four causes, take it to a luthier to look for structural problems.  If cost of the repair is reasonable, get it fixed.  If the guitar isn’t worth enough to justify the cost of the repair, just shop for a new guitar, and recycle the old one through the fireplace.

Q: How can I make playing a six-string guitar easier when I have short fingers?

A: I disagree with most of the answers to this question (on Quora) that are basically telling you to buck up, tough it out, and play with pain and difficulty until you stretch your fingers and develop more finger strength and become better at playing guitar. Nonsense! Here is the correct answer to your question:

1.    Go buy yourself a smaller guitar with a shorter, thinner, and narrower neck and a smaller body. One of the best is the Taylor GS Mini, which is one of the best selling acoustic guitars in the world, and that’s one of the reasons. It is considered a 7/8 size guitar, but it has a nice, full sound. Women and young teens and others with short fingers love it.

2.    Use thinner strings that require less pressure to press. For example, the GS Mini comes with 13–56 strings. Use 12–53 strings instead. If you can’t afford a GS Mini and are using a full sized guitar, it probably came with 12-53 strings.  Try using 11–51 strings. Thinner strings don’t sound as loud or as rich, but they are a lot easier to press. In a few years, when you get better at playing guitar, then you can move back to the thicker strings.

3.    After you decide what guitar fits your hands best, and what strings work best for you, then take your guitar to a professional luthier to file the nut slots to lower the action where it matters most (frets 1–3), and to adjust the truss rod to fit your strings and playing style. All acoustic guitars (including expensive ones!) come from the factory with a nut that is way too high for beginners, and most also come with truss rods that are not correctly adjusted, both of which make playing the guitar much harder than it needs to be.

If you do these three things, you’ll be smiling from ear to ear because of how much easier it is to reach and play the chords.

Q: How often is it recommended that one take their guitar into the repair shop for the set-up to be tweaked, if the instrument is played on a regular basis?

A: Never. If a quality acoustic guitar is humidified properly at 40–60% humidity and kept at 60–80 degree temperatures, once it is set up it should never need tweaking. At most a simple truss rod adjustment may be needed if changing brands or gauges of strings or for seasonal humidity changes if you fail to humidify your guitar.

I suppose "never" is a slight exaggeration, for eventually frets will wear, and over many years the wood can "settle", but for all practical purposes for most players, unless strings are buzzing or the action is getting noticeably higher, after you’ve gotten a luthier to set your guitar up properly, from then on don’t worry about it.  Just play it until you notice either string buzzing or that the guitar is getting harder to play.  If that happens, don't take it back to the luthier, just adjust the truss rod. That is something every player should learn to do themselves.