care of guitar

Terry Payne

Okay, so I have my nice, new, expensive guitar, and I want to take good care of it.
1) Hanging. My last guitar I hung on a wall for thirty years with no adverse affects that I can tell. Well, the neck is underset, and I don't know whether it was always that way or if hanging it made it that way. People seem to be pretty divided on the issue of whether or not hanging a guitar is bad for it, but anyone out there know that they know that they have the definitive answer?
2) In the case. I don't mind keeping it in the case. But if I lay it flat the cats will jump on it constantly. Keeping the case on its side between two things keeps it cat safe. Does anyone think there might be any long-term adverse effects of with keeping the guitar in the case on its side?

HotTinRoof

Depending on where you live and if you need to control humidity (or care to) a case can be a nice little controllable environment during the dry winter months.

With my electrics I believe a guitar is meant to be played and experienced. If you want it out leave it out. Hang it, lay it, prop it up in a corner. Just make sure it gets PLAYED and receives a good setup when it needs it. 8) However, these are different guitars - a baseball bat attached to a cutting board - some call them telecasters.

I'd be curious how you guys take care of your gypsy guitars too. I'm sure they can take quite a lot of abuse but they are just so light that I equate that main difference with fragility.

sfishman59

Terry,

I'll preface this by saying I do not know as much about the technical elements of a guitar (so if Bob Holo responds to this thread forget everything I say) but I think the expensive nature of these guitars tends to get us more worried than we need to be about the condition of them. There is legitimate concern about humidity and storage outside of the case, but I think it is tempting to get caught up in worrying about things that are almost trivial (whether the guitar is on its side or its back while in the case) when looking at a playable lifespan of a guitar (not hundreds of years). I could be wrong, but I think that when it comes down to such small changes as those it doesn't really matter because the difference is negligible in the decades you'll be using the instrument.

If this sounds like rubbish by all means ignore it, I only seek to ease your worries about taking care of your new guitar.

B25Gib

.....Good Topic and responses!

.....I would think a vertical storage of a guitar would be best via a cord/suspension that holds a 90 degree center of gravity to the floor level or upright in case as CLOSE to 90 degrees to the floor as possible. There would be no compression on the neck or into the body.
.....I wouldn't lay one down in the case in an unheated back bedroom for a few years!
.....Rocky

Bob Holo

Haha, don't let me stop you from posting!

Just saw this.. Well, the long & short of it is that "normal" temp & humidity fluctuation change the action of a guitar a bit without harming it. However, rapid changes can stress glue lines and crack wood and finish. Also, chronic under/over humidity conditions can really mess with a guitar. If you live in a place where it gets cold in the winter and you're running a Forced Gas Air heater - you could easily get down under 20% humidity in your house during cold snaps and that will almost certainly damage your guitar.

So - put the hanger on an inside wall (they change less, and less rapidly than outside walls) and then go get a temp/humidity gauge and put it next to the guitar. You'll know in a couple of days if the swings are +/- 10 (degrees & percent) or if they are +/- 30 (degrees & percent). Then you'll know what to do.

The big risks are Forced Gas Air heaters - and winter gigs. I've had a lot of guys crack guitars gigging in the winter... from hot houses.... to cold cars... to hot pubs.... so I always say... get a well insulated case (those new soft-hard styrofoam types seem made for that purpose... they're literally made of insulation) and put the guitar in the car with you but don't shove it down by the heat vent... and then when you get to the gig - put the guitar case somewhere you can be sure people won't mess with it - and crack it open an inch or so with a paperback book or something... and go get a beer. Let the guitar take a little time to adjust to the room's temperature. Even if the guitar gets 8 or 9 minutes to come to the temperature of the pub... that's better than 8 or 9 seconds. Wood is resilient, but if you stress it constantly, or stress it rapidly, it will eventually crack.

HotTinRoof

Appreciate your time Bob, thank you!

pinkgary

Hiscox cases are really good for that. They're essentially made of insulation with a bit of carbon fibre stuff outside, but they're totally sealed when closed as well. I've actually felt a cold guitar in a hot pub an hour later when i come to open my case to play....

So maybe too good.

But if you take it from a warm house, it won't get cold by the time you have driven there, i guess.

Jeff Moore

I think nobodies saying much about what position you hang or lay your guitar, because it doesn't matter. Some case lids try to push your bridge into your guitar. Don't use it if so.
Buy a humidistat. Local Hdwe ~ $9. I get mine at Ace Hdwe. Doesn't matter if its different or digital, get one!
Mine have no batteries or nothing to plug or fix or anything - has a 4" clock face with one red hand. Hang it on the wall near guitar. When the weather changes, you'll quickly see the humidity change at a glance. Keep it within 10 degrees of 40% humitidy (40 on the dial). Changes greater than this are ok but not for more than a few days. I'm giving you the conservative view, but without a doubt humidity is the issue you must address. Depending on where you live it'll be easy or not. As Bob noted - forced air heat is wicked but manageable. Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers that'll do a whole room, as opposed to a small closet will run $80 or more each. It limits the rooms you can keep your guitar in, but this range is also good for us humans. If the rest of the house is dry as a bone or dripping, you'll have to keep the door shut to "the" room. If you have a upstairs and a basement and depending on your location, you'll find there's some variation in humidity just in altitude. If so, Get three humidistats and you'll see what's up in your pad quick, but get used to glancing at them and do something when the humidity goes way off in either direction.
You may need to humidify in winter and dehumidify in summer. Do it or learn what humidity does to playability.

If you don't do this you'll likely notice the guitar doesn't play as well as it did. The wood (top, neck, etc.) is warping.
Even if you've never heard this stuff before, this is the most common problem you must solve for any wood instrument. Its no joke, not a guess, or old wives story. Wood is a kind of sponge. Think how sponges act when in different states of wetness. Yeah, you can't wring out a wet guitar, but that doesn't mean it isn't wet.

Terry Payne

Thanks everybody! Especially Jeff and Bob.
To summarize, hanging is okay. As vertically as possible is best, but basically, questions about what position to keep a guitar in, etc. are pretty insignificant in comparison to the question of temperature and humidity -- especially humidity. Humidity either which is outside the 30 to 50 zone or which fluctuates a lot is bad. 10 + or - fluctuation is okay. 30 + or - would be a lot. Actually even those conditions will have a trivial effect as long as they're not sudden or for more than a few days or frequent over a long period.
I live in Southern California, where we don't have extreme weather, I don't have a forced air furnace and I hang my guitar on an inside wall, so I think I'm okay. But I'll get a humidistat and check it out.
Terry

Jeff Moore

In So Cal, you'll have few problems, but after my experience in Minnesota, I've come to be comforted by the humidistat and I give it a glance all the time, and no problems since.
I've got guitars hung, in cases, and laying about. No problems.

Jeff Moore

Think I told you wrong. I went looking around the web for the magic mid point for humidity.
50% humidity seems more what others are after. In my clime, 40 is hard to get some days.
Sorry