blindboygrunt Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ok folks , please no one take this as confrontational in any way at all , i'm a live and let live kinda guy there have been a few threads i have read about guitar stands damaging finish . humidifiers needed ( obviously if you're in like arizona or the like then fine) ,put the guitar back in its case etc etc etc i have had acoustic guitars for 25 years . during that entire time i have kept the guitars sitting on a stand,various different makes , capos clipped on the headstock , and basically just never worried too much . now dont get me wrong , i have never abused guitars and they have usually cost me more than my cars that i drive has anyone actually got pictures of damage done by a stand ? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratch47 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 About two-thirds of the way down in this Frets.com article: http://www.frets.com/fretspages/musician/genmaint/finishintro/finishintro.html The Schneider Custom Guitar site also has some great tips for taking care of our gits: http://www.schneiderguitars.com/guitar_care.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 . You can play with the search tool and try to find them - I've seen several pics of Gibson guitars with damaged finishes from contact with nitro reactive foam/rubber. I frequent the Acoustic, LP, SG, Custom Shop ES and archtop guitars, and Lounge subforums, so I can't point you where to look. I've even seen a couple threads where a member used one of those soft/flexible clear-plastic "static stick" pickguards and unfortunately finding that when they lift off the guard, the finish is melted and stuck to the guard. Yep, pretty brutal. Stick around long enough and you'll probably run across some. Not to add additional worries, but there have also been posts about color leaching into nitro finishes, particularly white or light colored finishes. Typically a member posts about a red shirt leaching in pink, or blue jeans leaching in blue, or even an odd case lining color leaching in pigment. Here's the pic Scratch mentions - I've seen worse. Butt damage from stand reaction - Headstock damage from hanger reaction - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 hey BBG, how ya.. it was me that posted about the stand..and mentioned the hummidifier needed in very wet Ireland..like ya good self. I have learnt so much on this forum about alot of stuff.. nitrocellulose finishes being one of the things. Its funny because.. I had a nitro guitar that had been sitting on its stand for a month or so..in the corner of a room...covered with a sheet.. kinda forgotten about ( i was recording at the time and had instruments all over the place) Anyway I joined this forum and was led to research lots of stuff about guitars The frets.com site being excellent... I was reading about nitro and the reactions it can have with lots of material..and I thought ..hey my leccky guitar is nitro..and its on that stand there...I wonder. Sure enough when I checked, the stand had caused bad white clouding on the finish... I had never left it on a stand for so long before... soooooo ... yea.. seems you gotta be really careful with these finishes. ( the clouding has seemed to disappear after being put back in case.. apperently nitrocellulose can be very weird.. and this is why manufactures will not say their stands are suitable for nitro, different guitar makers use different formulas, so one may react when another won't ) And regarding humidifier.... I still haven't got one..cos it is so wet.. but as i said in previous post...and from reading all the advice here.... being cold outside, dry warm inside... traveling with guitar.. it seems like a good idea... cant harm to have one in the case when stored anyway. Maybe not needed,,, I have read so much on advice to do so tho... I still need to actually check what the humidity is in my cottage... but this can cause major problems if its too high or too low. All the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I have some unpleasant marks on both my SJ and SWD because i left it on a stand ....nitro and these things dont mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 hey BBG, how ya.. it was me that posted about the stand..and mentioned the hummidifier needed in very wet Ireland..like ya good self. I have learnt so much on this forum about alot of stuff.. nitrocellulose finishes being one of the things. Its funny because.. I had a nitro guitar that had been sitting on its stand for a month or so..in the corner of a room...covered with a sheet.. kinda forgotten about ( i was recording at the time and had instruments all over the place) Anyway I joined this forum and was led to research lots of stuff about guitars The frets.com site being excellent... I was reading about nitro and the reactions it can have with lots of material..and I thought ..hey my leccky guitar is nitro..and its on that stand there...I wonder. Sure enough when I checked, the stand had caused bad white clouding on the finish... I had never left it on a stand for so long before... soooooo ... yea.. seems you gotta be really careful with these finishes. ( the clouding has seemed to disappear after being put back in case.. apperently nitrocellulose can be very weird.. and this is why manufactures will not say their stands are suitable for nitro, different guitar makers use different formulas, so one may react when another won't ) And regarding humidifier.... I still haven't got one..cos it is so wet.. but as i said in previous post...and from reading all the advice here.... being cold outside, dry warm inside... traveling with guitar.. it seems like a good idea... cant harm to have one in the case when stored anyway. Maybe not needed,,, I have read so much on advice to do so tho... I still need to actually check what the humidity is in my cottage... but this can cause major problems if its too high or too low. All the best Definitely check before you humidify! I made sure I bought a humidifier at the same time as my Southern Jumbo, primarily because I've always experienced the heat here on the Great Plain of Hungary as far drier than back home in East Anglia. It's so dusty here that I assumed lower humidity, except when a storm is brewing. But having purchased an expensive guitar, this summer I borrowed a hygrometer and found out that actual humidity in our house is 60% pretty well the whole time during the summer. If I leave windows open all day and night, then things sometimes drop to about 55% and very occasionally to 50%. The last is pretty close to ideal for a Gibson, but not quite there. And most of the time things are way off that ideal mark. We're not only on the Plain, but next to the Danube, so clearly the river makes a significant difference. In winter we have gas central heating and a whopping tiled wood-burning stove. We only use the gas a bit in the morning and before the kids' bedtime. But we use the wood burner constantly. I feared that things would get pretty dry from the heating, especially given that we really rely on the wood burner so much, and wood fires are notorious dehumidifiers. But actually when the gas is off our humidity is pretty constant at 60% in the room where the SJ lives. When the central heating is on, then things can drop quite quickly to 55%, but thereafter it takes a relatively long time to register 50%, and the heating would have to be going on full for most of the day to reach 45%. So winter is not much drier here than summer. Clearly given the humidity, there is absolutely no need to use a humidifier in this climate. So, while I have opened mine to see how it works and to try it out as a dehumidifier (leaving the sponge dry and inserting - didn't work), the dehumidifier has actually stayed in its packet. Good to have one in case of freak weather or a move, but not really needed now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Definitely check before you humidify! I made sure I bought a humidifier at the same time as my Southern Jumbo, primarily because I've always experienced the heat here on the Great Plain of Hungary as far drier than back home in East Anglia. It's so dusty here that I assumed lower humidity, except when a storm is brewing. But having purchased an expensive guitar, this summer I borrowed a hygrometer and found out that actual humidity in our house is 60% pretty well the whole time during the summer. If I leave windows open all day and night, then things sometimes drop to about 55% and very occasionally to 50%. The last is pretty close to ideal for a Gibson, but not quite there. And most of the time things are way off that ideal mark. We're not only on the Plain, but next to the Danube, so clearly the river makes a significant difference. In winter we have gas central heating and a whopping tiled wood-burning stove. We only use the gas a bit in the morning and before the kids' bedtime. But we use the wood burner constantly. I feared that things would get pretty dry from the heating, especially given that we really rely on the wood burner so much, and wood fires are notorious dehumidifiers. But actually when the gas is off our humidity is pretty constant at 60% in the room where the SJ lives. When the central heating is on, then things can drop quite quickly to 55%, but thereafter it takes a relatively long time to register 50%, and the heating would have to be going on full for most of the day to reach 45%. So winter is not much drier here than summer. Clearly given the humidity, there is absolutely no need to use a humidifier in this climate. So, while I have opened mine to see how it works and to try it out as a dehumidifier (leaving the sponge dry and inserting - didn't work), the dehumidifier has actually stayed in its packet. Good to have one in case of freak weather or a move, but not really needed now. Mojo, Your heating system is a lot different from the forced hot air or forced hot water systems that can lower humidity rapidly. Those are the ones that seem to cause trouble. It is generally impractical to keep the humidity within a very narrow range unless you have a totally stable, climate-controlled space. As I understand it, Gibsons are built in an environment just over 40% humidity, and that is the baseline you don't really want to go below. At the upper end, it is frequently stated that you don't want to go higher than 55%. I live in Florida, which means that six months out of the year, the air conditioning is on, which keeps the humidity tightly controlled at 40-50%. We are having a somewhat odd winter, in the average humidity is abnormally high--in the high 60% range right now. What happens is that the wood expands, and all my guitars go sharp. As far as I can tell from input from others who live in high humidity part of the year (like ponty in BDA and others in the UK), the high humidity causes fewer serious problems than low humidity. I personally doubt that an average humidity of around 60% is going to cause serious problems, but maybe I'm just dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Any one remember the Pink lined cases staining the Finishes on guitars from the 90s? I hand a few Natural finished ones the turned pink through the clear.. as for stands... Neopreme Rubber and Nitro do not go good together for a long period of time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Maybe the pink lining is why my cherry red Howard Roberts still looks so red!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hello Nick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Mojo, Your heating system is a lot different from the forced hot air or forced hot water systems that can lower humidity rapidly. Those are the ones that seem to cause trouble. It is generally impractical to keep the humidity within a very narrow range unless you have a totally stable, climate-controlled space. As I understand it, Gibsons are built in an environment just over 40% humidity, and that is the baseline you don't really want to go below. At the upper end, it is frequently stated that you don't want to go higher than 55%. I live in Florida, which means that six months out of the year, the air conditioning is on, which keeps the humidity tightly controlled at 40-50%. We are having a somewhat odd winter, in the average humidity is abnormally high--in the high 60% range right now. What happens is that the wood expands, and all my guitars go sharp. As far as I can tell from input from others who live in high humidity part of the year (like ponty in BDA and others in the UK), the high humidity causes fewer serious problems than low humidity. I personally doubt that an average humidity of around 60% is going to cause serious problems, but maybe I'm just dumb. Aha, the rest of your post has appeared! Your posts never strike me as dumb, so I'm inclined to believe you in doubting that 60% will be catastrophic. So far the Woody hasn't fallen apart due to glue failure which is what I'm led to expect in extreme cases of high humidity. I've also noted what others from wettish bits of Europe have said and my limited experience has been the same as theirs - no major problem. I'm more worried about rapid changes when our central heating is on, but touch wood, so far no problem there either. But then the Woody lives in its case. I mainly wanted to warn against humidifying when unnecessary - there have been some posts saying that overhumidification is a regular problem (sort of in the league of humidifying a guitar just in case, despite a 60% ambient humidity). Given that humidity here is so constant, I've not noticed my guitar going sharp like yours, but for some reason it was higher this week than my beater, where it is usually lower. I just figured my hearing had been out when I'd tuned it previously! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 What about a guitar store though, very few I've ever been in have been humidity controlled, nor temperature controlled either, warm busy shop by day, cold open space by night, most likely air conditioning too, especially for places with a basement floor. Guitars can stay in there for months & years sometimes. Going hand-in-hand with the other complaint that big stores almost never have guitars which are in tune. That's fair enough for the guitars which are seldom chosen to play, but it stands to reason the popular floor models should, if they're being played more, they must be getting tuned more, even if by the people trying them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.