Acoustic guitar - better left in case or on stand?

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I think about it this way....C-A-S-E... Climate And Safety Enclosure. At least thats how I explain it to my beginner students. A good case and the habit of keeping a guitar in it when you aren't playing it are essential and will preserve both the beauty and integrity of the instrument.
 
I used to leave my favorite guitar out, but it got some mysterious scratches on it. Musta been those cats of 'my2cents'. ;) Now I keep one on a stand for quick playing, but not 'THE ONE'. ;)
 
It's ironic, but the more you spend for a guitar, especially an acoustic, the more susceptible it is to damage from climate extremes. This is due to exotic solid woods, lacquer finishes and higher end adhesives designed to transmit sound better. Here are a few guidelines: 1)If you have forced air heat or radiant heat, get a soundhole humidifier 2)DON'T leave your guitar in the car unattended...EVER!!! If it doesn't get stolen it will sustain damage from heat which will result in the need for a neck reset, or extreme cold which will cause checking in a lacquer or similar type finish and condensation damage. 3)If exposed to extreme temperatures, allow the guitar to acclimate to it's surroundings before removing it from the case. Un-latch the case but don't open it. 4) If it must be in the basement, keep it well off the floor and have a dehumidifier running. 5) Keep in the case if possible and finally 6)Play it frequently and enjoy...Oh, hats off to the monkey for putting the guitar back on it's stand. Well done!
 
gbdweller said:
It's ironic, but the more you spend for a guitar, especially an acoustic, the more susceptible it is to damage from climate extremes. This is due to exotic solid woods, lacquer finishes and higher end adhesives designed to transmit sound better. Here are a few guidelines: 1)If you have forced air heat or radiant heat, get a soundhole humidifier 2)DON'T leave your guitar in the car unattended...EVER!!! If it doesn't get stolen it will sustain damage from heat which will result in the need for a neck reset, or extreme cold which will cause checking in a lacquer or similar type finish and condensation damage. 3)If exposed to extreme temperatures, allow the guitar to acclimate to it's surroundings before removing it from the case. Un-latch the case but don't open it. 4) If it must be in the basement, keep it well off the floor and have a dehumidifier running. 5) Keep in the case if possible and finally 6)Play it frequently and enjoy...Oh, hats off to the monkey for putting the guitar back on it's stand. Well done!
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Good, except for two things. First NEVER unlatch the case until you are ready to take the guitar out. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard that started, "I picked up my case, and the latches weren't closed..." Bad idea. Very bad idea. But you DO want to let the guitar aclimatise if it has gotten too cold. It is NOT, in fact, the cold which causes weather checking, but a too rapid warming up after it has been cold which is the problem. The lacquer does not expand as quickly as the wood, and so it cracks. People have told stories about opening up there cases and just watching all those fine lines spread out like spiderwebs.

Second, a dehumidifier is probably NOT a good idea for your guitars. It is probably good for your house, but your guitars want high humidity, and being in the basement durring heating season will not help. When the heat is on, even basements get dry.

Oh, and there is nothing high tech about the glue used on most high end acoustics. The two most common are alphetic resin (such as Tightbond, although most people use a version LMI puts out which is essentially Tightbond without the yellow coloring) and hide glue, which has been in use since the time of the pyramids. But Hide glue DOES dry harder, which is why it is prefered by so many of us. Some guys use epoxy, but that is by far the LEAST suseptable to, well, anything.

Now, the hot car thing ... Alphetic resin starts to soften at about 110 degrees fahrenheight. A car in direct sunlight on a warm day can get to 115 in ten minutes, and 130 in 20 minutes. Follow this rule; if you wouldn't leave your baby or your dog in the car, don't leave your guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
case always. that goes for my pedal steels, lap steels, banjos, mandolin and acoustics. (i dont own electrics) id be horrified if one of my guitars was left out. :eek: :mad:
 
Light said:
Good, except for two things. First NEVER unlatch the case until you are ready to take the guitar out. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard that started, "I picked up my case, and the latches weren't closed..." Bad idea. Very bad idea. But you DO want to let the guitar aclimatise if it has gotten too cold. It is NOT, in fact, the cold which causes weather checking, but a too rapid warming up after it has been cold which is the problem. The lacquer does not expand as quickly as the wood, and so it cracks. People have told stories about opening up there cases and just watching all those fine lines spread out like spiderwebs.

Second, a dehumidifier is probably NOT a good idea for your guitars. It is probably good for your house, but your guitars want high humidity, and being in the basement durring heating season will not help. When the heat is on, even basements get dry.

Oh, and there is nothing high tech about the glue used on most high end acoustics. The two most common are alphetic resin (such as Tightbond, although most people use a version LMI puts out which is essentially Tightbond without the yellow coloring) and hide glue, which has been in use since the time of the pyramids. But Hide glue DOES dry harder, which is why it is prefered by so many of us. Some guys use epoxy, but that is by far the LEAST suseptable to, well, anything.

Now, the hot car thing ... Alphetic resin starts to soften at about 110 degrees fahrenheight. A car in direct sunlight on a warm day can get to 115 in ten minutes, and 130 in 20 minutes. Follow this rule; if you wouldn't leave your baby or your dog in the car, don't leave your guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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I guess I need to do this even though I don't want to. Aliphatic resin (not alphetic) and hide glues are used in higher end guitars as adhesives but I don't think most players reading this thread care about that. They just want to know why their guitars are susceptible to temperature extremes. The LMI version of aliphatic resin is a higher end adhesive than Titebond and that is why it is used by luthiers building or repairing quality instruments. Cheaper guitars are made with epoxy, superglue (cyanoacrylate) and even contact cement. Not to knock superglue because it has many uses in the luthiers shop. To address the basement question; I have a hygrometer (humidity measuring device for those who care) in my shop which happens to be in a basement. I have never seen the relative humidity drop below 40-45% (ideal) in the winter but have seen it soar above 65% (very bad) in the summer when my dehumidifier was off due to power failure. As most, if not all dehumidifiers don't work when the temperature falls below 65 and the relative humidity is 50% or lower, I think your guitar will be much safer with the dehumidifier on. I also think that most of us reading this thread are wise enough to check your latches before you pick the case up! I've been playing for 26 years and have yet to pick up my case without first making sure that the latches are closed. My advise was given assuming that your intention was to take the guitar out and play it. All that being said, the single most hated enemy of a good guitar, or any guitar for that matter, is not playing it. Take that guitar out and play it! The wood will stay 'alive' and so will your soul! Enjoy!!! :D
 
gbdweller said:
I guess I need to do this even though I don't want to. Aliphatic resin (not alphetic) and hide glues are used in higher end guitars as adhesives but I don't think most players reading this thread care about that. They just want to know why their guitars are susceptible to temperature extremes. The LMI version of aliphatic resin is a higher end adhesive than Titebond and that is why it is used by luthiers building or repairing quality instruments. Cheaper guitars are made with epoxy, superglue (cyanoacrylate) and even contact cement. Not to knock superglue because it has many uses in the luthiers shop. To address the basement question; I have a hygrometer (humidity measuring device for those who care) in my shop which happens to be in a basement. I have never seen the relative humidity drop below 40-45% (ideal) in the winter but have seen it soar above 65% (very bad) in the summer when my dehumidifier was off due to power failure. As most, if not all dehumidifiers don't work when the temperature falls below 65 and the relative humidity is 50% or lower, I think your guitar will be much safer with the dehumidifier on. I also think that most of us reading this thread are wise enough to check your latches before you pick the case up! I've been playing for 26 years and have yet to pick up my case without first making sure that the latches are closed. My advise was given assuming that your intention was to take the guitar out and play it. All that being said, the single most hated enemy of a good guitar, or any guitar for that matter, is not playing it. Take that guitar out and play it! The wood will stay 'alive' and so will your soul! Enjoy!!! :D
Click to expand...

Dude, I use the LMI stuff all the time. I know all about it. And you know what, epoxy has many places in high end guitar building, at least on the electric side, though you don't want to use it for anything that even MIGHT need to come apart (I, for instance, use it for glueing tops on my electrics, or laminating necks, but NEVER for gluing on fingerboards).

As for latches, it has nothing to do with wisdom or intellegence, or anything like that. Mistakes happen. There is no way around it. You're running late for a gig, and you realize you forgot one of your guitars, you run in to grab it, you turn around and all of a sudden your guitar is flying across the room. There is just no reason to risk it. At the very least, always close ONE latch every time you close the lid. I always close on latch on a customers guitar case even if I am just closing it so I can write up a repair ticket on the case. I've just seen to many of the things that happen when you don't close the case properly.

Now, I have all of my guitars in my basement. If my humidifier runs out of water on a really cold day, it could get down to about 5-10% down there. Now, I have a humidifier on the furnace, so it never has gotten that low, thank god, but I have come back after being gone for a couple of days and seen it down at about 20%, even with the house humidifier going. Granted that we don't keep the house humidifier running very high most of the time (the rest of the house is stick framed, and we don't want to rot the framing or the window sills). But really, anytime you heat air significantly, the air can get dangerously dry.

But I think the real issue is that you and I probably live in very different climates. Where I live, in Minnesota, with the dry cold air outside getting heated to even drier warm air, even basements get dry. Other parts of the country have different issues. That is why it is so important to talk to a good local guitar repair person to find out what kind of issues are common for your area. Every region is different, and the fact that I see hundreds of guitars a year with serious cracks informs my views on humidity. It's different elsewhere.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
"I also think that most of us reading this thread are wise enough to check your latches before you pick the case up! I've been playing for 26 years and have yet to pick up my case without first making sure that the latches are closed."

And that's exactly how those accidents happen; experienced players who 'always' latch their cases assuming they are always latched, then, there you are at a friends' house or a party, you get distracted, there's no stand like there usually is, you place the guitar in its case with the lid open. Then, someone else comes along and closes the lid to protect the instrument and you later come by and pick it up....because you always latch the case.
 
I usually keep my geets in cases, but I keep a cheap knock around on a stand, within easy reach if I just want to noodle, or play Blackbird for the 6,000,000th time....
 
Light brings up a great point about climate differences. Florida would have different concerns than Minnesota or Southern California etc etc. Low humidity is without question, much more of an enemy than high humidity. Point taken on the case latches. Accidents do happen. I guess I've been lucky. I knew a guy who traveled without a case. He placed his LP in the back seat and it slid over just as he slammed the door. Yep, you guessed it...decapitation. Ouch. I know I'm getting off the point with the next tip, but, if you do live in an area with a distinct summer and winter, have your local repair guy make you two saddles for your acoustic, one for winter when the top shrinks and the bridge is lower and one for summer when the top swells and the action gets too high.
 
IN THE CASE! There was a good thread about this recently, but I can't find it.
 
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