Now that Spring is here (supposedly) we can expect to see a bit of drier weather and a lessening of the relative humidity.
Humidity can affect your instrument in many ways. As we get closer to summer and the relative humidity (we’ll use the term RH from here on) drops, your guitar’s wood will start to dry out. In practical terms this means the wood will shrink a little, and it will affect the action of your guitar. No big deal, just bring it in to us here at Freya Guitars (or a good repair shop) and we can adjust it back to normal for you at a very reasonable cost.
The opposite can also happen, here in Ireland we have wet winters, and we have very high RH. this causes the wood to expand, again
upsetting your guitar’s action. A little adjustment is usually all that’s needed to make things right once again.
Of course, if you have a Freya guitar we perform this service free of charge for you for as long as you own your guitar……….
We would always recommend having a qualified person do this work for you. Yes, you can do it yourself, but you run the risk of ruining your guitar. Sometimes the salespeople in music shops will “have a go”, but most of these people are not qualified and lack the experience to do a proper job. Of course we can’t say “all”, I know of a few that are very good and would trust, but chances are that if they were qualified to do this work they wouldn’t be working on the sales counter………..
Other things to be wary of:
Never leave your guitar near a radiator or heater.
Never leave your guitar where the sun can shine on it for long periods (especially in summer).
Never leave your guitar in your car for long periods, overnight, or in the boot/trunk (again, especially in summer).
Change your strings often – most manufacturers suggest 10 hours playing time maximum.
Wipe your strings down after playing. This helps them last longer (don’t forget underneath).
Remember – never leave your guitar somewhere you would not be comfortable yourself.
The biggest guitar-killer we see on an ongoing basis here is excessive heat from a guitar being left in a car during a hot summers day. Deadly for acoustics as it can loosen the glues and pull it apart. When it cools it’s not going back to where it started, and you wind up with a guitar that’s unplayable, and most of the time, uneconomical to repair. We saw a very expensive T******E
turned into a wall ornament last summer. This can affect electrics too, though to a lesser extent.
Keep your baby happy and it will reward you with a lifetime of pleasure……….
