fortyearspickn

NGD ! Congrats !! In '68 I joined the Navy. Left my guitar and girl friend, Ann (she preferred to be called 'Mona'), behind for 4 years. Guitar waited for me.

Yeppers.... A Zombie Thread about Zombie Strings. Of course, simply being on the guitar doesn't get them to that aged, vintage sound. They have to be played on. I shoot for 3 years. Partly because I detail by guitar when I change the strings and hate to let that process go too long. Only time the fretboard gets cleaned and oiled and the rest gets a coat of polish.

Grilling a $21 steak for my better half today. Hope it’s not 101 on thee porch like yesterday.

I went through a Tropical Fish phase 25 years ago. Had a really big tank with full grown Angelfish I'd gotten when they were as big as a dime. They were mating and fighting, so I sold a mated pair to a Mom & Pop Tropical Fish store. Told them absolutely not to break them up. The axe holds did anyway. When I happened by a couple of weeks later - one was still there in the tank. When (s)he saw me (s)he went absolutely crazy. So, while I don't think fish are smart - I think they are more trustworthy than lawyers and politicians. Especially Russian ones.

Working at the Car Wash Blues - Jim Croce (written while he was actually working at a car wash) Well I had just got out from the county prison Doin' 90 days for non-support Tried to find me an executive position But no matter how smooth I talked They wouldn't listen to the fact that I was genius The man said "We got all that we can use."

Yes, the unfinished fretboard wood will expand when it goes from dry to wet, how much probably depends how dry and how wet. I think it's completely un-noticeable except for the fret ends. If you never had rough fret ends, I'd guess you should be able get it back to where it was. If you think they are especially exposed IE the wood super dry, you could get a BARELY damp cloth and wipe it down to give it a reprieve until you get a humidifier. Of course, that wouldn't address the rest of the guitar and your strings might get rusty... Maybe stick them back in their cases with some kind of damp thingy - until you get a humidifier going strong. Note: on a neck with trim on the ends of the fret boards, the fret ends usually have a dab of paint or something to blend in with the trim. That could be part of what you're feeling. I assume you haven't had your frets re-finished? Leveled ? Oh - and your desire for a 'quiet' humidifier. Many are specifically designed to provide ambient 'white' noise for a sleep room, so you have to check on that feature as you narrow down your selection

G-FL, Thanks. I do have a separate electronic hygrometer/thermometer I keep inside the glass paned door so I can check it easily. Probably my Walmart model is not as accurate as the Oasis one. I'll save the link for when I have to replace my humidifier - which will be soon - for one that is more sensitive and accurate.

here we go again ... and I'm fresh out of popcorn !

In her defense (no pun intended) Amber Heard may be a Hot Mess, but I know some guys who would consider a few weeks with her. Maybe agree upon a 'Safe Word'. Not the kind of girl you'd bring home to mother.

Lars, I'm surprised you got away without some type of humidifier for this long. I live in South Texas - low humidity in the summer, exacerbated by the heating system for a couple of winter months. So, I need a humidifier running around 4 or 5 months of the year. Have needed a room sized one for my music room - about the same size as yours - so I can keep my 3 acoustic hanging on the wall. I' don't recall seeing any on the internet that had settings based on an integrated hygrometer. Just a dial - "Hi, Lo, Med." And an automatic shut-off when they run out of water. There are 2 types as I recall - one that basically uses a fan blowing on a wick to distribute evaporated moist air and a second ultrasonic type with a vibrating metal diaphragm that creates a mist for the fan. I think the latter might be better. Either way - you have a certain amount of maintenance upkeep - bacteria and solids in the water you use have to be dealt with and/or avoided, etc. I go through approx. a gallon of distilled water a week. Remember, when your room is dried out - that means your furniture, walls, flooring AND guitars. They'll all compete for the moisture. So, just having the air humidified doesn't mean your guitar automatically is. I'd guess you need to keep the air humid for at least a week in order for the guitar to get back to 'normal'. G'Luck.

Aaaaah... Sierra Ferrel. I thought I recognized that voice.

Guy's got a couple of nice jugs if he want to start up a Jug Band. Can probably play in three octaves in two keys..... C sharp and B flatulent.

Agree - I was raised to feel guilty about things like this! The key, as you pointed out, is he didn't know the value at the time. If I were me, and if the sellers looked like they were not well off (whatever that means today) considering they weren't planning on selling it, but thought they were doing the buyer a good turn - I'd consider going back and giving them another $100 because you later found out it was worth more. You'd still be over $2K to the good and you doubled what it was worth to them.

Darwin's Law - I guess life endangering behavior wasn't covered at any of those schools. When stupid people play stupid games like this - they blame the gun. Maybe instead of teaching kindergartners about gender identity - the schools should teach them about the dangers of guns. RBSinToronto = Yep. My wife has two good friends like that. One a Ph.d and the other a school teacher. Some people think - the higher your education, the lower your common sense.

WOW !!! Talk about drinking the Kool-Aid. Obviously laced with Stoli. Thanks for another great insight into what's going on over there. Only read the first two chapters. More like a book than an article. It sounded like the extensive interviews and research produced insights that could be very comparable to what the Germans were 'feeling' in the 1930s. Very scary a former super-power has convinced it's citizens it's ok to re-take territories that should be "Soviet", and take pre-emptive strikes against 'our brothers who hate us and we have to hate in return.' Especially enjoyed the interview of the gentleman shopping at the mall who suddenly fell he was being goaded and took down the investigative journalists information from his "Press Pass Badge". Sounded like something that could happen here. Lots of 'cognitive dissonance' after apparently a decade of full scale 'propaganda'. They have loved ones in Ukraine - but have cut off all communication with them because 'they are so negative'. Divisiveness on Steroids !

A true Closet Queen - looks brand new ! But with that original cardboard case - I had one - you don't know how well it was protected from extremes in temperature and/or humidity in its 65 year life. Like Dhanner wrote - I'd get an expert to look at it at some point. I assume the shops at least confirmed the neck is OK. No crazing, if they say it's in near mint condition. It would appear the value is on the upper end of the 'excellent' examples in DaveF's list. Reminiscent of stories on the "Antique Roadshow" show. Congrats !!

Yep. I agree, there is no ramping on Dave F's drawing. My point was that I would not cut a channel or slot into the bridge for ramping, nor would I cut a channel or slot or slit into it and the face and the bridge plate for the string between the ball ends and where the turn for the saddle starts, either in a ramp channel or at the 90 degree edge of the bridge. I tend to accept what the maker designed - like you, my three Bozemen's have slight 'ramps'. More like notches I'd say - to keep the string in the correct spot. Like 1/16" maybe, half the diameter of the string. I was mostly just commenting on the point by the OP that he had his Bozeman J45's notch increased in size to a ramp so he'd have a better break angle, which to me is very different than a placement notch, as you said - a long, angled string slot. As I wrote, I may be in the minority - but unless there is a problem like you've had on your older guitars, caused by decades of wear - I'm not going to cut anything - channels, slots, ramps, slits or reams into my bridge, face or bridge plate . But then - I'm also in the segment that doesn't see the merit in drilling into the heel for a strap button, so that's where I'm coming from. Risk averse ! Years back we'd had posts on here from folks who modified (shaved) their bracing to tweak the tone - I guess I would just buy a different guitar.

I find the tone of that Chinese piano to be offensive. (Is that racist?)

Our daughter has a really nice Taylor (Koa mini ?) - she let me have her last issue of their magazine. It had a good, in depth article on Tone Wood which caught my eye. Their point is that they understand the nuances of the tone you get from the nine most common types of tone wood - and that they use that understanding as a canvas upon which to design the structural parts of the acoustic: body shape, bracing, etc. More on that later. Rosewood seems to be their go-to wood for back & sides, but their review includes Koa, Maple, Mahogany, Sapele, Urban Ash, Ovangkol, Blackwood and Walnut. The basis of their analyses and insight into these woods is the 4 criteria they used to grade them: Frequency Range, Overtone Profile, Reflectivity and Touch Sensitivity. The first appears measurable with the remaining three more subjective. For example: "Reflectivity - This spectrum indicates the degree to which the wood is inclined to take on the character of the player and/or guitar design versus asserting its own sonic character." Wow! They have the 4 criteria graphed for each of the 9 tone woods. After a close reading of this article and SteveFord's comment - I think Steve is putting out 'information' and the other is closer to 'mis-information'. Or, as Merciful Evans suggested - 'a fact yet to be proven."

Great picture - I guess I'm in the minority, I'd never cut slots into my bridge to change the break angle. I just obsess over making sure the ball end is snug against the bridge plate. Rather have a slot in the pin than cut one in the bridge, and I suppose the face and the bridge plate. Since I'm not good at fixing things - my motto has always been - "If it's not broken ...."

I had confidence in our members that a thread titled "Hand Strength" would turn weird within a few days.

“Did JOIN ME IN SAYING get the boot? Yeah. Another one bites the dust. Second one in less than a week. I preferred it back when they just Froze the thread from any new comments , so you could see who it was that got it shut down.

Also wondering if this beauty had a case? Yeah, it’s a ladder braced guitar. So many feel it’s less desirable than the X braced ones. But it has a unique sound and ladder braced are as scarce as hens teeth. They’ve been appreciating faster then the overall market way before the current economic funny business.

Desperate, unhappy men with nothing to lose - can be very dangerous. Especially if we let them have nukes for toys.

No - of course I'm not saying that your guitar will sound different when it's snowing or foggy out. I'm saying sound doesn't carry as far - like across a football field - picking up where Question Mark left off in his first line referring to amps and outdoor gigs. But I'd not bring a good guitar out in a snowstorm.