onewilyfool Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I'm not sure if the guitar warms up, the ears warm up, or the strings warm up……but it always takes a while for my guitar to "warm up" when I start to play. Some take 5 minutes, some take 30 minutes…but they really hit their stride when they warm up. OR…they don't sound as good right out of the case…... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The theory I believe the most is a combination of two unproven theories. One the vibrations working the pours in the wood and opening things up a bit, (which may explain why laminate top guitars always seem to sound the same tome) and 2 and the ears acclimating. I don't know which one I believe for sure, but I definitely agree with what you're saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 100 % certain the ears change, , , and quickly adapt to new sound, both quality, flavour and volume wise. Put on a less good recorded album just after a superb production and your ears will accept the new level rather fast as long as there's no direct distortion, over-steering etc. But the guitars themselves, , , I'd like to think they warm up and actually believe they do, but how much is a question not many people talk about. Yet it should be pretty easy to measure this - it's just to press the button on the tape-machine with a 20 minutes interval. Why shouldn't the various wooden components need a little time to get vibe goin', it sounds reasonable. Perhaps the strings too. . Still the ears as loyal servants for our brains do the main job. Just my few Yen - would like to hear others on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I think most is in the brain, most likely both the ears and one's hands relaxing a bit and playing a bit differently. OTOH, if one looks at how an acoustic is held, there's little question that one's body heat is transferred to the instrument - in different amounts depending on the individual, the guitar and the "hold" on the instrument. Now, how much difference that may or may not make is likely up to individual circumstances, weather, etc. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 OTOH, if one looks at how an acoustic is held, there's little question that one's body heat is transferred to the instrument - Aha, , , so the temperature of the wood plays a role regarding ability to transmit sound/vibes. Warm - more flex Cold - stiff , , , like a REAL body. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 One might look scientifically at the process. Moving strings and vibrating wood involve kinetic energy which, as we all know, produces sound. This energy may also serve to generate a not so discernable amount of heat, or at least, warmth. Same with your hands except it is noticeable. Ears, not so much, I think, though I may be wrong, as they seem to heat up more when one is being talked about. (as the old saying goes) ϵβ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Here is how I warm up my $99 Frankenstien guitar. It knows that if it does not play acceptably well, it could easily become kindling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyd Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Yet it should be pretty easy to measure this - it's just to press the button on the tape-machine with a 20 minutes interval. That's a good idea. Record your playing and make a note of when you think the guitar "warmed up". Then come back a couple days later, listen to the recording and see if you still feel the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Maybe I didn't make myself clear…..when I said "warming up" I meant sound wise, not temperature wise (although the guitar may warm up that way too!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Actually, especially with archtops and flattops, I think the temperature "warming up" may have more to do with things than picking on strings per se. That plus the player's hands and "ear" warming up. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 A close issue is tuning.... From the first guitar lesson, we are told to tune the guitar as we take it out of the case - in the early days this huge involved thing with a tuning fork...all designed to destroy any creative flow waiting to fly......... But guitars don't really want to be tuned until they are.....warmed up! I need to go back a few years - one band I was in, I was the only one that OWNED a tuner! These days in the era of the Snark, tuners are everywhere - great gifts too! Most of my guitars are professionally setup and thus seem to hold their tuning very well, and most times they are fairly well in tune when I pull them out of the case. So these days I do a quick check of the tuning by playing open E chords and unless awfully out of tune, I do my warm up runs and exercises and play a ditty or 2, THEN when the guitar feels 'warmed up', I tune into properly! The guitars seem to stay in tune better for longer that way. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hey, I still have my first tuner... <chortle> A pitch pipe for a 6-string. Got it with my first guitar, summer of '63. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hey, I still have my first tuner... <chortle> A pitch pipe for a 6-string. Got it with my first guitar, summer of '63. m eeeks!!!!! A pitch-pipe - I probably have a bag in a drawer with mine in it somewhere! Same year - '63.... I think they were designed by piano teachers to show how stupid guitar players could be.... 'Here ...Woof this and make your geetar sound like it!' Huh? I soon moved to the craftsman forged A tuning fork....incredible fun ON my Telecaster pickup and the amp flat out at (early years)band practice! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I believe that the guitar warms up physically from being close to my body. I also believe that it "warms up" figuratively as it is being played. My J-50 takes about 30 minutes to reach its ready-to-play-with-others optimum point. As for it happening in my head, well, it ALL is only happening in my head for me. And it's ALL happening in your head for you. Quantification of phenomena is only part of the story but not the entire story. There is still more that we don't know than we do know and I suspect it will always be that way. But, you believe what you want to believe. That's OK with me so long as you let me believe what I want to believe. Love Dan's pic of his guitar warming up before the fire! Made me wonder if he turns it to cook the other side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 . Richard Feynman famously placed an O-ring into a glass of ice water to demonstrate how easily it broke when cold. Get a guitar nice and cold and see how it affects the vibrational qualities and sound. . What's your guess? . Big difference from warm? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fp Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I've noticed this to be true more with the Gibson's I've owned then my other guitars. I have one of the JT copies, 1 of 50 SJ's made in 2013 that this is so true about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The "hold" on a guitar also can make a difference, as well as one's overall playing technique as it 'warms up.' We're talking about an art here. There have been comments in past, too, about an acoustic (classical in this case) guitar having really nice tone played by one person and mediocre tone by another. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 eeeks!!!!! A pitch-pipe - I probably have a bag in a drawer with mine in it somewhere! Same year - '63.... I soon moved to the craftsman forged A tuning fork....! BluesKing777. My pitch-pipe is long gone, but I still have an A tuning fork. Electronic tuners may have made me a bit lazy, but my guitars are better-tuned as a result. No more starting a set with that endless song called "Tuning". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 My pitch-pipe is long gone, but I still have an A tuning fork. Electronic tuners may have made me a bit lazy, but my guitars are better-tuned as a result. No more starting a set with that endless song called "Tuning". My god , if i hear another guy telling that japanese folk song called 'tu ning' one more time I'll cry. Wasnt even funny the first time i heard it ! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 My god , if i hear another guy telling that japanese folk song called 'tu ning' one more time I'll cry. Wasnt even funny the first time i heard it ! :D So, you've never gone in front of a mic having tuned your guitar perfectly five minutes before, strummed a chord, and then discovered that it's now out of tune? Some say it's changes in the environment, but in my case, it was always nerves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Along the lines of this thread, I saw a program on TV a couple of weeks ago about Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati violins in the Strad museum in Cremona. Although these violins are kept in glass cases in a totally controlled environment, the museum curator said they have designated violinists come in on a schedule to play them in regular rotation, or they start to lose their tonal character. No word on whether the violins rebel at playing any music written after 1800. Maybe I should get a Tonerite...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 So, you've never gone in front of a mic having tuned your guitar perfectly five minutes before, strummed a chord, and then discovered that it's now out of tune? Some say it's changes in the environment, but in my case, it was always nerves. Heehee. Of course i have. I understand the joke and why it's said. Pay no mind to me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Pay no mind to me :) I'm just pulling your leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I'm just pulling your leg. Id like to think so ... I'd dangled it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR GIBS Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I play guitar since 1976. 90% of this time I have played metalstring acoustic guitar. 95% of the time I play unplugged. Here is my confession (experience): 1. Acoustic guitars need to be warmed up before playing. Warmed up acoustic guitars play better. Some of them are warmed up faster than others. 2. Tonerite is a great invention - this invention works the way its producer describes. 3. Acoustic guitars warm up faster when it is warm. 0 degrees Celsium is not a guitar-warming up temperature. My Gibson acoustics play well on 25 degrees Celsium. Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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