Do electric guitars mature with age?

mbe

When you think about it, they are on the receiving end of the vibes from a player and much stronger vibes from drums and amps in a band context.

I would hazard a yes to a degree, depending on the type of tonewoods used for the neck and body.

ICBM

Don't start with the t-word again .

Yes, I think they do, although I would say 'change' rather than 'mature' to be accurate. Old guitars do generally sound different from new ones - not always better, although some can. Some just sound old and still not good.

I'm not sure whether it's to do with vibration or climatic effects over the long term. Or whether the wood they were made from was grown differently or dried and processed differently.

Old plywood guitars also sound different from new ones, despite the standard belief that plywood does not 'mature'.

crunchman

Yes

Tone is partly dependent on wood.  Wood ages and changes - you can hear that on an acoustic guitar.  The effects aren't likely to be as large on an electric guitar.

Over a long period of time, pickup magnets might degauss (get weaker) slightly as well.

Let's see how many pages this thread runs to.

stimpsonslostson

Not sure about the guitars, but the players certainly don't. 

amarok1971

yes, they have to get used to being a vibrating instrument and not a tree 

steer

I'm not convinced. Not sure how you would go about testing this. 

ESBlonde

There are guitars that seem to improve with playing, indeed if certain instruments are left in a case for a couple of years they can then improve rapidly with playing. Other guitars not so much, but there is little science to back that up.
The older is better argument used to have some basis in that 70s guitars were knocked out on mass, and using more timber that was arguably not as select as we might like. Also the fact that guitars made in the first half of the 20the Century would have used slow growth timber which is almost imposible to find these days in quantities that would please the guitar manufacturing business.
So do guitars improve with age? Maybe a little( see above), however the chances are that an old guitar might have passed through several owners and at some stage a knowledgable craftsman has done the setup right making the guitar a peach to play. Knocking the sharp edges off the fingerboard and fret ends can make a guitar 'feel' better to some players and perhaps knowing that a guitar has been used for a long time to make a lot of music gives the player a certain confidence.
As is often said play the guitar and judge it on its merits before parting with your dole money.

skaguitar

I don't know if this link will work but there is or was a belief that artificially vibrating an acoustic guitar to simulate years of use improved the tone 

http://www.savartjournal.org/index.php/sj/article/viewFile/22/pdf

WezV

if you look at some old acoustics you can see the wood becomes more translucent and almost plasticised.   This is a natural part of wood ageing.  It becomes harder and more brittle. 

That's obviously a much slower process on electric guitars.  I don't think any have existed long enough to test it properly but the theory is the wood on a well played guitar will age into a structure that suits its purpose, and may sound better for it.  although its obviously hard to tell if it was well played because it always sounded better...and a well played  guitar is more likely to see a tech every so often 


The wood will have become less hygroscopic.  It looses its ability to gain/lose moisture in line  with humidity.  That, in theory, makes it more stable.  Again its a slow process so hard to judge in the relatively short life of the electric guitar


Glues, plastics and finishes can all break down and  may affect the structure of the guitar.  The thinning of nitro lacquer is one of the most observable changes

Magnets and potting materials in pickups can degrade and change the sound.  In a static environment AlNiCo has a half life measurable in the hundreds of years, so again a slow process.  But AlNiCO can be affected by knocks and other magnetic fields so in theory a pickup on a well played guitar may get a weaker magnetic field from being put through the stresses of every day life.  


So yes, changes will happen.  Not all of them will be positive, not all of them will be quick

guitars4you

sometimes hard to equate why but yes there is something about a 'played in' guitar - others have touched above on maybe  a more scientific' reason but there is something there - can't always put a finger on the reasoning behind it

WezV

Also worth remembering that the classic guitar tones were created on relatively new instruments.

jeztone2

Yes I think the longer the raw components are an actual instrument does mean a change of tone. I think that's part of the appeal of vintage guitars. 

guitars4you

WezV said:

Also worth remembering that the classic guitar tones were created on relatively new instruments.

correct - Beano album and the LP was only 6 years old - and most of Hendrix tracks  were recorded on new guitars - Fleetwood Mac and we are talking about an LP that wasn't 10 years old - can go and add far more to that listing

AlexC

The oldest guitar I own I bought new in 2000.  Maple neck. Rosewood finger board. Alder body. Now, I have no explanation as to why, but it sounds better than when I got it. It also plays better - for which there are obvious reasons. It's gigged. it's travelled. It's been played by others. So I would say 'yes', some guitars improve with age.

Unorthodox

Yamaha Revstars are vibrated for this reason.

Yamaha Marketing Blurb:

IRA(Initial Response Acceleration)

If you've ever played another guitarist's instrument and not been able to get the same sound, it's probably because you are playing a different style than what the guitar is used to. After playing the same guitar for years, the guitar adapts to the guitarist's playing style. It takes time for a new guitar to adapt to your own way of playing. Stress found between parts like finish, woods, body, neck, fingerboard, nut, bridge, etc., must be released before all of the parts can resonate together as an instrument. It takes time and a lot of playing for this to happen. Using IRA technology, stresses like those between the finish and wood are release by applying specific vibrations to the completed guitars. Once this treatment is complete, the guitar responds accurately to the guitarist's performance, and produces sound more easily. It also shortens the time needed for the guitar to adapt to your playing style. And it delivers excellent sustain (RSP20CR)

I'd imagine there is a difference, but how much would you notice, I don't know.

rossi

No their players just get deafer

scrumhalf

Guitars mature in proportion to the guitarist's increase in immaturity.

WezV

Unorthodox said:

Yamaha Revstars are vibrated for this reason.

Yamaha Marketing Blurb:

IRA(Initial Response Acceleration)

If you've ever played another guitarist's instrument and not been able to get the same sound, it's probably because you are playing a different style than what the guitar is used to. After playing the same guitar for years, the guitar adapts to the guitarist's playing style. It takes time for a new guitar to adapt to your own way of playing. Stress found between parts like finish, woods, body, neck, fingerboard, nut, bridge, etc., must be released before all of the parts can resonate together as an instrument. It takes time and a lot of playing for this to happen. Using IRA technology, stresses like those between the finish and wood are release by applying specific vibrations to the completed guitars. Once this treatment is complete, the guitar responds accurately to the guitarist's performance, and produces sound more easily. It also shortens the time needed for the guitar to adapt to your playing style. And it delivers excellent sustain (RSP20CR)

I'd imagine there is a difference, but how much would you notice, I don't know.

I think its important to separate the initial change from the long term changes with this subject.  The yamaha blurb is mixing the two

Acoustics go through a very noticeably change in the first few months.  Less so with electrics, but there is still a noticeable bedding in period.  

Bridgehouse

I'm going to just come out and say it.

After all the tonewood, vintage, age, titanium bridge screws, blah blah etc threads I have drawn one conclusion:


It matters not one jot. What matters is how it plays and sounds. New or old, chipboard or Honduran dried mahogany, brass or steel, when you play it, how does it sound to you?

Does it sound good? Does it play well? Excellent. Get it bought and make some music then.

slacker

Bridgehouse said:

I'm going to just come out and say it.

After all the tonewood, vintage, age, titanium bridge screws, blah blah etc threads I have drawn one conclusion:


It matters not one jot. What matters is how it plays and sounds. New or old, chipboard or Honduran dried mahogany, brass or steel, when you play it, how does it sound to you?

Does it sound good? Does it play well? Excellent. Get it bought and make some music then.

wisdom here, if you buy a great guitar and it doesn't mature with age its still great. If it does get better, win all round.

richardhomer

Says a man with a ‘64 P bass @Bridgehouse