***How to Care for your Guitar***

[Grachi]

I think wait checkii was saying ( i think sorry if it was someone else ) about changing them once they look/sound bad is the best way. No reason to buy them come a new month if u havent been playing that much for instance. Like maybe you only played a handful of times that month they will still be like new at the end of the month

[Kahn]

Welp, here in Florida where humidity is 99% everyday, strings dont last as long.

[Wife Soup]

I'm driving to school Friday, and it is about a 3 hour drive. Anything I should do to my guitar so it'll be ok?

[Kahn]

I'm driving to school Friday, and it is about a 3 hour drive. Anything I should do to my guitar so it'll be ok?

DONT PUT IT IN YOUR TRUNK

thats about it

[dmb66]

I'm driving to school Friday, and it is about a 3 hour drive. Anything I should do to my guitar so it'll be ok?

DONT PUT IT IN YOUR TRUNK

thats about it

and keep it out of direct sunlight. make sure it's stable too, having it bounce around the back seat sounds like trouble to me.

-Nick

[Machtimus]

Haha. I just stick my guitars in the back seat in my convertible all the time.

[T714]

I posted this in another thread, but I've added a lot to it since then.

Summer
Actually, you shouldn't keep a guitar in it's case during the summertime. In the summer (at least in the states where it gets pretty warm) you should keep your guitar on a stand away from a window. You should, however, case up your axe in the winter. Also, in places like Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma where it get humid, a humidifier is a waste of time and money. Especially if the guitar is new. Excess moisture causes the top of the guitar to belly, pushing the bridge, and the strings upward. This makes the area between the nut and the saddle concave. But, if your guitar is indoors, you should have no problem. Exposure to bright sunlight for a period of time can also cause the top of your guitar to prematurley yellow. Also, never ever leave your guitar in the trunk of your car if you don't have to. Thats murder on wood. In places where the temp can exceed 150 degrees F (like your trunk) can cause the glue joints to loosen. Spruce tops contain miniscule pockets not visible to the naked eye. When temp is dramatically high, it causes the resins in the wood to attempt to escape from these pockets. This is not hard to repair. A luthier can sand and polish this away. However, proper care of your guitar will prevent this.

Winter
Winter is a real villian to guitars. Guitars are built with the back and top slightly arched. Excessive dryness can cause the wood to become flat or even concave. Finish will also distort, as the finish that fills the pores of the wood will pop up as the wood shrinks around it., causing small lumps to appear. Th only real need for a humidifier is in the winter months in dry states. Where I live, it stays humid all year, but a humidifier for your guitar room is much more effective than a little soundhole one. DO NOT hang your guitar on the wall in the winter, keep it in its case, and allow your guitar to warm up SLOWLY if it is cold.

Shipping
Never ship your guitar only in its case. Go to a music shop and ask for an empty cardboard shipping carton, they have plenty of them. packing should be crumpled newspaper stuffed very loosley around the case. It is dangerous to wedge the case in to tight. You should not take tension off the strings while shipping. Because the peghead with the machine heads are the heaviest part of the guitar, the string tension balances this stress along with the rest of the guitar. Without this tension, one good jar to the guitar (even with the most careful packing) and the guitar might arrive at its destination with the peghead sheared off at the nut! Inspect your guitar carefully while still at the airport, and make sure it has fragile stickers on it. That way if anything is damaged, it will have never left the arrival place and there will be no question as to whether or not it was damaged in the carrier's custody.

Summer Checklist
What to watch for:

-Swelling or distortion of the top
-Glue joints becoming more noticeable
-Finish that appears to be sinking
-High action
-Loss of sound quality

Winter Checklist
What to watch for:

-Sinking of top
-Flattening of back
-Finish roughness
-Protruding frets
-Gaps between wood and inlay
-Buzzing, excessivley low action



If your guitar has any of these symptoms, take it to a luthier immediatley.

I disagree with your "summer" advice. In essence, you are telling musicians to leave their guitars out of their cases, yet you make reference to "watching out" for swelling of the top, high action, etc. These two statements, undoubtedly, cast contradiction to one another.

Whether it's summer or winter, the best place for a guitar is in its case, preferably a hardshell. Although winter and dryness associated with RH levels can be dangerous to a guitar, excess humidity and high HEAT can be just as dangerous. Leaving a guitar on a stand in the summer time poses a greater risk at having the guitars finish (whether is a catalyzed or UV cured) interact with a stand or have the threat of the sun baking it underneath a window. Also, and quite simply, a guitar has a greater risk of damage associated with leaving it out on a stand and not in a case (knocking it over, pets, kids, etc. are dangerous things).

I also disagree with your shipping advice. A guitar with no tension on the strings is a DANGEROUS guitar. YOU MUST slack (or de-tune) before shipping! I have shipped hundreds of guitars and have never had a breakage. When I would receive guitars, those that were damaged did not have the strings de-tuned prior to shipping (I'd find this out afterwards). Guitar being shipped are subjected to a lot of crap. Namely, they MUST avoid the "whiplash" effect. That is, the ability to withstand a blow falling backward. Having the strings at full tension accelerates the motion, and therefore, breakage is more likely to occur.

I also disagree with your "airport" advice. When I fly with one of my guitars, I NEVER check it at baggage. In fact, even in post 9/11 days, I have been allowed to carry it onboard the aircraft. No matter how well you pack the guitar, checking it at baggage is a death trap.


I give these "counterpoints" as another source of reference and NOT to be argumentative. What may be simplistic or "common sense" to you may be a different world for others...especially beginners. This is why so much success has been attained by places like frets.com, since it provides a wealth of knowledge from novice to expert. I surface these points, again, as another source of reference and a differing opinion.

Just my .02 cents

[Kahn]

Those are all direct quotes from Jean Larrivee in my post. I think HE knows what he is talking about.

[T714]

Those are all direct quotes from Jean Larrivee in my post. I think HE knows what he is talking about.

Sure, but CF Martin or Bill Collings have a different view on things and i can reference them as well...and THEY know what they are talking about.

Again, apples to apples.

[Machtimus]

If you want to ship a guitar, you throw it on the plane/truck and just pray. That's all guys!

[checkii]

Those are all direct quotes from Jean Larrivee in my post. I think HE knows what he is talking about.

Sure, but CF Martin or Bill Collings have a different view on things and i can reference them as well...and THEY know what they are talking about.

Again, apples to apples.

Haven't guitars as well as shipping methods and care methods changed since the late 1700's and early 1800's when CF Martin was alive?

[dmb66]

Those are all direct quotes from Jean Larrivee in my post. I think HE knows what he is talking about.

Sure, but CF Martin or Bill Collings have a different view on things and i can reference them as well...and THEY know what they are talking about.

Again, apples to apples.

Haven't guitars as well as shipping methods and care methods changed since the late 1700's and early 1800's when CF Martin was alive?

While this is all up to debate (I have the Larrivee handbook Kahn used as a reference and I trust it) Others have other opinions based on experience as well.

In regards to critiques of shipping methods, do you who are bashing C.F. Martin's advice honestly think that the original poster was referring to Martin's original founder and not his second son or whatever he is? You're just being purposely naive for the sake of argument if you answered yes.

[Machtimus]

In regards to critiques of shipping methods, do you who are bashing C.F. Martin's advice honestly think that the original poster was referring to Martin's original founder and not his second son or whatever he is? You're just being purposely naive for the sake of argument if you answered yes.

Dude, just chill. It's a thread about throwing wood in a car, not a exploitation of ignorance and showboating arrogance.

[checkii]

and yes, I did think he was referign to CF Martin since thats what he posted and I am uneducated as to the family tree that followed.
and i think macht is right, no need to get the panties in a bunch.

[T714]

Those are all direct quotes from Jean Larrivee in my post. I think HE knows what he is talking about.

Sure, but CF Martin or Bill Collings have a different view on things and i can reference them as well...and THEY know what they are talking about.

Again, apples to apples.

Haven't guitars as well as shipping methods and care methods changed since the late 1700's and early 1800's when CF Martin was alive?

While this is all up to debate (I have the Larrivee handbook Kahn used as a reference and I trust it) Others have other opinions based on experience as well.

In regards to critiques of shipping methods, do you who are bashing C.F. Martin's advice honestly think that the original poster was referring to Martin's original founder and not his second son or whatever he is? You're just being purposely naive for the sake of argument if you answered yes.

I have absolutely no clue what you are talking about since when you say, "do you who are", it makes no sense whatsoever. I also have no clue what your gripe is.

Anyways, regarding my post, you can substitute James Goodall, Michael Baskin, Trevor Kronbauer, whoever for CF Martin. All have different ways of doing things...and so as I made my post, I was drawing upon a plethora of luthiers and builders, etc., that do things differently. Does it really matter? Nope. Will each tell me how to change my strings differently? Yup. Will each recommend a different polish? Yep. Does each ship their guitars differently...YOU BETCHA.

Again, as I stated, my post was to offer more insight and a differing opinion. I clearly stated that I was not being argumentative, but somehow you turned it that way. So, who is the naive one?

And for the record, anyone who says CF Martins are outdated are pretty naive as well. Or, at least they have never heard of a dreadnought, a truss rod, an X-brace, a transverse brace, a bridge plate, scalloped bracing, etc. etc. etc. These were ideas and terms coined and/or invented in the 1800's.

Shows the maturity of this board, it's like buying beers for 10 year olds and having them storm out of DMB shows because they didn't play something on the radio.