Wipe the rosin off the body and strings with a soft, dry cloth after playing
Never use water or cleaning products on the instrument
TUNING
Remember, pegs are friction fit and must be pushed in as you turn, or they will not stay. A little goes a long way when tuning with the pegs; only turn a little bit at at a time, as over-tightening may result in breaking a string.
Use pegs at the scroll for major adjustments.
Check to make sure the bridge is not leaning forward while tuning
Use the fine tuners on tailpiece for minor adjustments
STORAGE
Always avoid sudden or drastic changes in temperature or humidity as this could lead to the instrument cracking, For example:
Do not leave in a vehicle during hot or cold weather
Do not store by heat register, furnace, chimney, window, shower, fountain etc.
HANDLING
Avoid any action that puts pressure on the bridge or neck of the instrument.
Never put the instrument face-down.
BOW
Never touch the horse hair; try to keep the hair as clean as possible.
Avoid putting the bow hair-down or any action causing the hair to get dirty.
Rosin entire surface of hair from tip to frog
When applying rosin, use long sweeping srokes to avoid clumping
To play, tighten bow by turning the screw clockwise.
Do not over-tighten bow; at playing tension, the stick should still be slightly bowed and about a pencil-width away from the hair at its narrowest point.
Always loosen the bow when you are done playing.
If a hair breaks, snip the ends with scissors rather than pulling them out.
A well-maintained instrument will always perform better
