Letting off neck tension

[Flight959]

After reading another post I noticed the comment about loosening the strings on your Les Paul if your not going to play it for a while...I have always been aware of this however how long are we talking about here? A week?, or a Month? I always choose my Studio to play so I hardly ever play my other two, yet they sit under my bed untouched/played for a considerable period of time..

 

Regards

Flight959

[Pink_Floyd]

Hmmm I know very little about the mechanics of guitars but surely if you did that there would need to be a corresponding change in neck relief?

[AXE®]

I leave everything tuned down a 1/2 step weather I'm playing them or not.

 

I left one under the bed for four years or so. No problem what so ever.

 

And it was almost tuned perfectly. All the strings were a little sharp and the b' was a little sharper.

[Flight959]

Is just another overrated thing then that guitarist should do? My first Guitar which is an old Washburn is in tune all the time. I haven't played it for six months, if I went and got her now she would be 98% in tune with no obvious problems.. I could see where this could become an issue with acoustics maybe..

 

Cheers guys

 

Flight959

[Col F]

Tuning down a semi-tone originates from and applies to acoustic guitars. It is recommended for long term storage (5 or 6 months or longer) to help avoid bellying up the top in front of the bridge (a problem that many older acoustics suffer).

 

Solid body guitars don't generally suffer any consequences from being stored at concert pitch.

[Buc McMaster]

Now here's a very misunderstood area of guitar preservation......long term storage. So the logic is to slack the strings if you plan to store/not play the instrument for an extended period of time. Okay. Why? You keep your everyday player tuned to pitch day after day, year after year with no ill effects. Does a stored guitar somehow know it's not being played, left alone in the dark tuned to concert pitch, and somehow decide to "go rogue" and do damage to it's top and/or neck? Or is it the strings, not feeling the caress of the master's fingers that decide they will not stand for being ignored and conspire to pull the guitar to destruction? Poppycock! Hogwash!

 

A guitar in storage is fine left tuned to pitch if it is stored in a satisfactory climate. Don't toss it in the attic or shelve it in the basement tuned to pitch - that is a recipe for disaster, as it would be if thats where you stuffed your everyday player at the end of the day. Under the bed in an occupied home is fine; in the closet of the spare bedroom or office, fine as well.......the temp and humidity will remain relatively constant and the guitar will be in no danger of damage. Don't stack it in your rented storage garage for the summer with all the other junk you could live without. Don't consign it to live in the old shed out back of the house. Assuming the guitar has no structural problems going in, a guitar stored while tuned to pitch should suffer no trouble if it's kept in a controlled environment.

[crgrissom]

I can't see how reducing the string tension if the guitar is not going to be played for a while will help anything. How is it OK to leave the strings at tension if you play it every day but not if you don't? I think the neck on a quality instrument is built to balance the tension of the strings, whether you are playing it or not. Slacking the strings would throw that balance off, and that would be bad for long-term storage. I would think it is more important to be sure the neck has no pressure on it from the case, etc. while storing it, because that would through off the designed tension balance and result in neck damage over time.

 

Chuck