Acoustic's and staying in tune.

[Del Nilppeznaf]

Yeah... these are some of the replies / reactions I was hoping for.

 

My main thought was reading, over time, quite a few people saying maybe Gibsons are not so good at staying in tune..esp' overnight/ extended periods. This just makes no sense to me.... a good instrument should be quite stable in my opinion, when it is in regards to tuning.

Obviously swings in temp' and humidity are going to affect the tuning, but if a well made guitar is left over night in a room with a pretty stable environment, I would expect it to still be in tune in the morning.

 

Most other acoustics I own seem to be very stable..even the not very expensive ones. So my thoughts where..why should my Gibson be any different?

 

There are many stories and opinions on how in the past guitarists had no real idea, or care for, humidity and temperature issues. Many stories of how musicians would travel the country with their Gibsons in cloth or cardboard cases... in the boots of old cars...on roof racks..in trains..Playing in the outdoors...sweaty juke joints..and honky tonks ect'.. and it has seemed to have no real bad affect on these guitars up to the present day.

 

And of course you should treat your instrument with respect. I'm sure the good examples of old guitars have been well looked after in many respects... but maybe not as worried over and again mollycoddled as folk seem to treat guitars nowadays?

 

My HB seems to be settling down nicely..and is more stable than she was when I was handling her with kid gloves.... I just spent 45 mins giving her a clean..still have to give another layer of Virtuoso Polish and new strings yet, so I hope you can see she is well looked after.

[Spot]

This thread has involved into an interesting thread about how "roughly", or not,... we should all treat out Gibsons. It's an issue I personally struggle with every year just before going on Summer vacation.

 

Should I just chill out and grab my '63 CW or '64 J-50, throw her in a padded gig back, pack her in the back of the hatchback for the long drive 13 hour drive to France? Or,..... should I just buy another Beater for £200, take that instead and not worry leaving the guitar in the sun or outside.....?

 

One side of the argument, my thinking is:-

 

".....The vintage Gibson's have lasted this long and most probabley have seen a lot worse and can take a bit of abuse. Just take it you bloody wimp!!!!"

or....

."You will be a long time dead so what's the bloody point in owning such a nice guitar if you don't play and enjoy it???"

 

On the other side :-

 

"...These bloody guitars cost you a lot of money so why take a stupid risk???"

 

or

"My Gibsons are old vintage guitars which have had structural movement in there life,...not the newer sturdier made modern Gibsons so treat these old boys with care!"

 

This year I'm leaning again towards getting a beater.....I know what you are thinking: I'm a bloody wimp!!!!!

 

[stein]

I am a firm believer that the guitar must follow the musician...not the other way around.

 

If it checks, cracks, changes color, whatever. It can always be fixed. You don't WANT to have to fix it, but if it keeps you from using it, it is just the cost of playing.

 

If a guy has a roomfull of guitars in a humidified room to try and keep them as pristine as possible with the possibility of resale, than that is the guys environment. Nothing wrong with that. In that case, it would be kind of stupid to take them out to extremes just to see what happens. But if another guy often plays in extremes and has bought them to play in those extremes, that isn't mistreating a guitar, that is using it.

 

So this is a cool idea for a thread. The only way to know what guitars will do and sound like in extremes is to get ideas and experiences from those that have them in such environments. This "thoery" that direct sunlight has an effect of toughening them up, or making them sound better might have some truth to it?

 

I know that extreme changes in temperature changes tuning. Such as taking a guitar that is cold from being in the trunk into a club...it contunues to change until the temperature of the guitar settles to the room.

 

Oddly, my L-7 can spend time in the case and it is the guitar that is most likely to be in tune when I take it out, compared to my Strats. It amazes me that way.

 

I have a hog flat-top that does have a yearly action change from the top going up and down in winter vs summer. But separate from that, I know that metals expand and contract quite a bit with temperature. I am sure that has an effect on string tension and tuning.

[Tarrr]

+1 stein

I've caught myself after buying a new git, vexing over the investment. I bought it at retail and now it is worth wholesale is the reality. If I had bought the same git used, what's to fret about you don't have much to loose. Day 2, the new git is used and you have already taken the loss.... oh but I've got a warranty. Play em hard, its just the cost of doing business.