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January 2003
WEATHERPROOFING YOUR INSTRUMENT
Hello, all, and welcome to the revived Stringlife 'Guitar Life'
newsletter. My name is Mike Gebhardt, and I've volunteered to write
this month's newsletter. I'll start with a little information about
what I do, and myself then we'll jump right into the meat and potatoes
stuff.
First of all, I'm 45 years old, and I've been playing since I was 10
or so. I'm currently gainfully employed in the real world, and I'm
also working as a part time studio guitarist, and I'm also the guitar
tech for John Ford (Strawbs/Hudson Ford/Monks/High Society). I've even
got a few guitar credits on his last CD. So, the guitar has been a
large part of my life for quite a while now. Heaven knows I've got a
bunch of them hanging around the house here. It's getting hard to move
around without tripping over a guitar case, or an amp, or something.
You all know how it is.
Since I'm in New York, I thought I'd start this round of newsletters
by going through some of the things we should all be doing to take
care of those pieces of wood and lacquer (or polyurethane) that we
call musical instruments, especially in the winter. It's a big issue
here on the east coast where we are subject to wild temperature and
humidity changes as the seasons roll by. We go from hot and humid to
cold and dry, from air conditioning to the heating season, and all
these changes have effects on what we play.
So, what do we do about it? All it takes is a few simple precautions,
maybe an adjustment here and there, and everyone can keep their
favorite ax(es) in tiptop playing condition without too much hassle.
Remember that most guitar repairs and adjustments are most certainly
not rocket science, and all it takes is a little common sense, a
gentle hand, and a couple of basic tools to keep your instruments
humming along with a minimum of buzzes and rattles. Let's start with
where we live. Home heating systems can wreak havoc with wooden
musical instruments of any kind. Especially forced air systems. They
suck all the humidity out of the air, which is very, very bad for
instruments like guitars that are made of wood. If you have a forced
air heating system, make sure it's equipped with a humidifier, and
make sure it's working. I keep mine at a steady 45 percent in the
winter. The heating guys recommend 40, but I bump it up that extra 5
percent just for the guitars I've got laying around the house. If
you've got an acoustic, you might also consider one of those
humidifier devices that lives in the guitar case, since the tops of
acoustics are far more sensitive to humidity changes than a solidbody.
Either way, try to avoid the wild extremes of temperature and humidity
that come along with the changes of the seasons.
As the seasons and temperatures change, remember too, that all
instruments will require minor truss rod adjustments to keep the necks
straight. This is normal. If you work slowly and carefully, a truss
rod adjustment is no big deal. The key words here are slowly and
carefully. Don't just go jamming that truss rod wrench in the socket
and crank away. I know guitar repair guys who HATE the fact that
guitars are shipped with truss rod adjustment wrenches, because most
owners tend to butcher the hex nuts when they try to do an adjustment
themselves. Go slow and sight down the neck at each minor turn of the
wrench. I do mine in 1/8 turn increments. That's usually all it takes.
If you gig in the winter, you open a whole can of worms. Temperature
changes as a guitar is put in and taken out of a guitar case or a car
are the major cause of the phenomenon that is known as 'finish
checking'. You know, those hairline cracks that show up in guitar
finishes, especially in older instruments that are finished in
nitrocellulose lacquer. Never, Never, Never (do I really have to say
this) store or transport a guitar in a car trunk. Put it inside. When
you get to your gig, don't just take it out of the case and start
wanging away. Get there EARLY. Give the instrument an hour or 2 to
acclimate to the temperature in the room. Cold to hot will kill a
nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Checking may look nice to some people,
but it can be avoided by a little care and planning.
Newer instruments that are finished in polyurethane, or the newer
stabilized nitrocellulose lacquer finishes are not as prone to
checking as older instruments. The improvements in lacquer finishes in
the past years have been pretty amazing. But don't take that vintage
Les Paul out of a cold car into a hot bar and take it out of the case
without warming it up first, or you'll experience finish checking
first hand.
Well, that's all for now. If you have questions or comments just
forward them along to Stringlife and I'll be happy to answer you. Keep
on picking, and of course use StringLife regularly. I personally use
it on all my instruments, and I love the stuff...
Play More! with StringLife
Michael B. Gebhardt
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