Trying guitars in stores, or indeed anywhere - hygiene/covid/sanitise

guitars4you

Just seen this promo from our trade press about trying guitars in shops and the shop keeping them clean/sanitised - https://www.mia.org.uk/2020/06/musical-instrument-hygiene-cleaning-guitars/ - It will mean customers picking up any guitar on a willy nilly basis in a busy store very awkward, as hard for staff to know which has been touched, if handling guitars is not controlled

I've posted it under the GG appointment only section as well as such a process will be harder to control if you have a free for all trying section in a busier shop

Whitecat

A couple dealers seem to be on top of this... Sound Affects is requiring you  to "pre-book" guitars you want to try out, and you can only try the ones you request. Absolute is running a "museum"-like operation - everything roped off, no touching anything without asking first...

I agree Guitarguitar on the other hand are going to have trouble. To paraphrase something someone wise said in the GG appointment thread, "what would GG be without a mountain of B-stock dinged up by careless students and dreamers with no money". Have seen Andertons absolutely heaving too at the weekends - but I do expect a lot of people are just going to stay away. I love a good music shop browse, but if I'm too fearful to wanna try anything then it's gonna be hard, let alone the fact that if anyone even so much as clears their throat let alone coughs or sneezes it will be like pulling a fire alarm.

jpttaylor

In all the madness of the last few months, I hadn't actually thought about the process of buying a guitar in store. With the money I'm saving by not commuting to work, I'd thought about buying a new Gretsch and was sort of waiting until shops opened up again to try a few out, but obviously that's not really going to work.

It'll still make economic sense for shops to open up again but this will put a lot of stress on staff there I imagine - people in the supermarkets seem to have forgotten what 2 metres is, so I'm wary of how many will remember not to touch unless it's plastered everywhere on the walls. 

oh_pollo

I'm clueless about these sort of things but is it possible that repeated sensitisation could affect some guitar finishes?

maltingsaudio

Just try shopping for bagpipes!

skunkwerx

Pmt advertise hand sanitation is mandatory on entrance and exit.. 

Tbh. Im working from home so I’d rather just order online I think and at least I know its a few days old in the post and if its not up to scratch just return the bad boy that way too. 

Cols

Realistically, any infectious particles which might have been on the guitars before lockdown will be long dead.  

It’s spread by respiratory droplets - either directly inhaled or by touching contaminated surfaces and then subsequently touching mouth, nose or eyes - so sensible precautions would be to have customers wash their hands before and after trying guitars, and to wear a face covering to stop them coughing over the guitars.

DulcetJones

skunkwerx said:

Pmt advertise hand sanitation is mandatory on entrance and exit.. 

One "smallish" store near me has the above arrangement and they're only allowing 5 customers in at a time so staff can personally take care of each customer.  If any guitars are played staff wipes it down before hanging it back up.  Not sure how bigger stores are going to manage this, time will tell.

prowla

I bought a guitar over the weekend.

The seller handed it over to me and I gave it a quick look over, then gave it back to the seller.

I sanitised my hands, then opened gig bag and he put it in.

I gave him the cash.

I assume he had his own sanitation routine.

I took it home.

Took it out of gig bag, washed hands.

Moved it a couple of times and washed hands after.

Left it for a couple of days before playing it.

guitars4you

I'm lucky as a small one man operation so easy to handle such a situation for shop visits - But the issue for a larger/busy shop is 2/3 mates walking in together and treating the guitars on display as a free for all try as and when they want to - I agree with @Whitecat 's comments above that a number of shops are full of B2 stock by the nature of a free for all to try

On that video I never thought about wiping/washing forearms first - I'd have just thought hands, but logical to 'wash' all touching parts

Even a guitar I prepare for mail order needs to be 'cleaned' down before I post it after giving it  a final check over - ditto for any guitar repair guys like @FelineGuitars ; and @SteveRobinson before handing it back

More to this than what we think if we abide by all requirements

english_bob

DulcetJones said:

If any guitars are played staff wipes it down before hanging it back up. 

A couple of weeks ago I watched the designated "doorman" at my local Co-op "wiping down" baskets that had been returned by customers leaving the store.

He was by no means thorough. In fact, judging by the parts he chose to wipe and which ones he didn't I'm not sure he knew what baskets were, or what they were for.

So yeah, I'm not entirely convinced that this is going to work any better in guitar shops.

guitars4you said:

On that video I never thought about wiping/washing forearms first - I'd have just thought hands, but logical to 'wash' all touching parts

This is the problem. We're asking entire industries to suddenly become experts in this stuff, and we all think we know what we're doing. If frontline NHS staff, trained and regularly re-trained about PPE and hygiene, have been getting COVID, the Saturday boy at GuitarGuitar hasn't got a hope.

Philly_Q

All these disposable wipes and gloves can't be great for the environment.  A year ago single-use plastics were the number one topic on all the news discussion programmes.

RaymondLin

They should sanitiser everyone’s hands on arrival.
Clean all guitars that they touched when they leave.
Clean all chairs and surfaces in the room that they went into.
Personally I would expect to be wearing a mask too for everyone inside, much like in Asia.

Fez

Some hand sanitisers irritate my wife's skin I am sure she won't be alone in suffering from that. I guess you have to carry your own if you have a concern in that regard.

skunkwerx

Pain in the ass innit. 

I was reading up as usually anything I’ve been buying or using (car etc), I’ll leave for 3 days before handling it as ‘safe’. But experts now saying certain materials can harbour it for a week or more? 

Why do I get the feeling though the numbers will drop and deaths lower and people get used to face masks, gloves and cleaning everything 24/7 that the search for a vaccine will be even longer in the making.. 

maltingsaudio

On a more serious note, as I see it, the trading of guitars and passing one guitar to another is not a very high risk situation, the proximity  to another or several  human beings is and basic hygiene is a must. I also wonder how much damage to guitar finishes is going to occur if they are wiped down with a disinfectant cloth each time someone plays it. 

As an extra worry if we are going down this route, when will the first cases of I got Covid 19 in your store because you didn’t clean it properly appear and is that covered by public liability?

RaymondLin

In theory, if you disinfect people’s hands immediately after they play then they wouldn’t be at risk from contamination from the guitar. Unless they stop mid playing and pick their nose or something. If they are wearing a mask then they won’t.

In Asia, in places like McDonald’s, they disinfect the self-service screen every 15mins.

guitars4you

maltingsaudio said:

On a more serious note, as I see it, the trading of guitars and passing one guitar to another is not a very high risk situation, the proximity  to another or several  human beings is and basic hygiene is a must. I also wonder how much damage to guitar finishes is going to occur if they are wiped down with a disinfectant cloth each time someone plays it. 

As an extra worry if we are going down this route, when will the first cases of I got Covid 19 in your store because you didn’t clean it properly appear and is that covered by public liability?

I can't find it now, but an article within the trade from a USA source, about cleaning guitars and other instruments - It listed a host of instruments and how to clean/sanitise etc - When it came to the topic of guitars with a nitro finish it stated 'well get back to you' - So whilst they had specific points to make on say a trumpet mouthpiece, they did not know what to say/do about a nitro finish 

skunkwerx

maltingsaudio said:

On a more serious note, as I see it, the trading of guitars and passing one guitar to another is not a very high risk situation, the proximity  to another or several  human beings is and basic hygiene is a must. I also wonder how much damage to guitar finishes is going to occur if they are wiped down with a disinfectant cloth each time someone plays it. 

As an extra worry if we are going down this route, when will the first cases of I got Covid 19 in your store because you didn’t clean it properly appear and is that covered by public liability?

Interesting point I haven't explored yet... 
We insure driving school instructors vehicles and many are still working.. 

I know we dont cover deep cleaning if the virus is found in a property/motor but its made me think.. what if the pupil contracts it and claims
its from the tutors vehicle not being cleaned.. 

Almost 100% wouldnt cover it and anyone would have a hard time proving they got it from xx place even if said place was tested and found positive I guess. 

SteveRobinson

guitars4you said:

Even a guitar I prepare for mail order needs to be 'cleaned' down before I post it after giving it  a final check over - ditto for any guitar repair guys like @FelineGuitars ;; and @SteveRobinson before handing it back

It's certainly tricky being a repair guy with Covid-19 in the community.

For safety's sake I shut up shop in March (before the official lockdown) and don't know when or how I'll be able to reopen for business.

SRich

I think it was Sound Affects who had a youtube video about the re-opening. I liked the fact that a guitar that was handled / played was then placed back on the grab hangar face to the wall......simple yet effective.

As BJ would have it though:

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun
Step into the light