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so just make sure you always take your wood from a tree that had its roots set deep into the earth mantle rather than just sitting on the crust...
actually if your guitar has a glossy paint or varnish finish, i'm not sure how it can dry out much. unless it goes crackly or cracky.
re old wood, it's some and some, in my experience.
for example, necks warping used to be a big thing to look out for when i first started playing and was looking at inexpensive 1960s/1970s guitars (1990s).
but used inexpensive guitars now (since 2000) never seem to have warped necks, even the budget makes. maybe better regulated (humidity/triage) stock preparation or technological advances part of that. but warped necks don't happen so much it seems.
@ICBM re vibration, i resist superstition but wonder about that. could the vibration be doing something weird like compressing/compacting the silica in the sap/resin etc?
or it could just be voodoo and good/bad vibes. have you ever owned a guitar that you thought was possessed? did you get it exorcised, or attempt to sell it on hoping no one would notice?
as guitar buyers you have it easy. Just buy the ones you like and don’t worry about all the other stuff.
but do you want your guitar builders to ignore all the multitude of factors that make the difference between a good guitar and a bad guitar?
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duality of womankind, sir.
Just look in most “vintage” dealers...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
As a player you don’t need to understand what makes a guitar good or bad, you can just play them till you find the one you like. Many get by fine with very little understanding of the differences. Of course, if you want a better understanding that’s fine too.
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Partially correct. There is a slow trend towards drier as the wood looses its hygroscopic abilities.... but it is a very slow process after the initial equalisation process
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However, I agree that (in my anecdotal experience) that acoustic guitars improve with age and by being played. Playing a guitar that is old but has been in a case for a couple of years really does open out the sound after a few weeks of playing. Electrics also feel like they improve, but I suspect that's just because they get "worn in" and feel better to me as a result.
I’ll,admit to being in my sixties and my experience is that some guitars just feel and sound right in my hands. It’s not dependent on age or perceived value or brand or model. It just happens.
Do I know what makes one particular guitar meet those criteria? No, unfortunately, or else I would be a billionaire. We just have to accept what our hands and ears tell us when we pick up an instrument and not be swayed by abstract concepts. If it feels and sounds good, then it is good and we should run, not walk, to the nearest checkout and pay the man!
Seriously, ignore the reviews, ignore the bling factor, ignore your mate’s disparaging remarks. Choose the instrument that brings out your inner musicality and you’ll never regret your purchase.
cork sniffing is all well and good but it won’t get you gigs or a recording contract (if that’s your goal or desire). If all you want is to to slavishly follow the crowd then by all mean buy that gleaming PRS or Gibson but don’t complain when you can’t even get a simple tune from it!
OK, rant over. Take it or leave it, that’s my advice on guitar buying. I couldn’t care less how other guitarists perceive the value or attractiveness of my guitars and care even less about how they are received in 50 years as I won’t be around to take umbrage if some twit thinks it has the wrong colour pickguard.
Keep on playing
Well, the blue light was my baby, and the red light was my mind.”
Robert Johnson
Also, as you become a better player, your first guitar will sound better and better as YOU age.
If like me you build your first guitar as a slab Les Paul back in the 90's out of a piece of very very old Honduras mahogany that you think will be very dry and stable it sat in the house for 2 years before it got made but I did not seal the pickup cavities you find even after all the time drying out this wood was imported to the UK in the early 1950's. That guitar was stripped down recently with the thoughts of redoing it as it was pretty bodged first build attempt. Only to find that the single piece body had warped out on both sides of the pickup routs in a 3mm arc and the slab body was no longer flat.
I am sure some old guitars are simply drier and resins and sugars have slowly solidified over time but certainly not all.
I think drying out is also more prevalent on acoustics.
Having a good few guitars 10/15 at the last count that get played in a mood-based random order I invested in one of those vibrating Tonerite gadgets a couple of years ago with the view some of the things that ended up on low rotation might benefit.
I used it on the Cort Adirondak ooo and it made a huge difference in getting the thing to open up in fact that gets a dose quite often as the top takes some getting going. You can clearly hear the difference after you have used it.
The 345 again has had a large initial dose as much as it's a lovely thing it cumbersome to play sitting in the lounge chair and again that is where most practice gets done unless I take it up to the back room for recording. It certainly seemed to make a difference to the 345 but not as pronounced as to the acoustic.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein