Will the single-sided guitar be easily affected by the weather?

Hello, I'm bar owners from Taobao Guitar Bar. The following is the relationship between humidity and guitar. If you have any questions, please contact me directly, Wangwang pp2yy 1957.

Your maintenance of the guitar will have a great influence on its appearance, sound and service life. Whether you are in Shanghai, Beijing, Europe or other places, the maintenance methods in each area are different from summer to winter.

Solid wood acoustic guitar is made of several thin boards (about 2.5mm). Because wood is thin and has a large surface area, it is easy to absorb water quickly and lose water easily.

Remember the following rules:

When wood loses moisture, it shrinks.

Wood expands when it absorbs water.

Use the following comparison table to see the change of guitar in the process of humidity change.

Relative humidity percentage

Short-term exposure (1~3 days) and long-term exposure (more than 3 days)

90%~ 100% extreme high humidity range

The piano body began to swell, the sound quality declined, and the playing feel became worse. The acoustic beam on the backboard may be degummed due to the expansion of wood, and the chord distance will become very high in a short time.

All the bonded parts will start to loosen, the sound columns of the front panel and the back panel will loosen, the bridge will be pulled down from the panel, and the guitar panel will swell before and after the bridge; If the glue is not firmly bonded, the guitar will not play; 14 on the fingerboard will increase; The inside of the guitar will be moldy, and the guitar may disintegrate by itself.

85%~90% high humidity range

The piano body began to swell, the sound quality declined slightly, the playing sense declined, and the chord distance became higher.

After a few weeks, the sound beam began to loosen, the front panel and back panel became very swollen, and the bridge became loose or separated from the front panel, which affected the performance. The fingerboard 14 began to bulge, and the inside of the guitar may start to be moldy.

70%~85% medium and high humidity range

The sound quality begins to decline, the panel begins to swell, and the chord distance may increase slightly; The panel and backboard swell, which affects the performance feel; Fingerboard 14 began to bulge. After a few months, the guitar began to smell moldy.

55%~70% safety range

Moderate exposure to this environment will not be a big problem.

The front and rear panels may be slightly convex than normal. Playing feel will be affected.

42%~55% safety range

There won't be any problems in this environment.

35%~42% moderate humidity range

Moderate exposure to this environment will not be a big problem.

The edge of the product may feel sharp, the panel may be slightly raised, the chord distance may be reduced, the sides of the bridge may be sunken, and the guitar may be hit.

25%~35% low humidity range

The edge of the needle wire begins to become sharp, and the panel may start to sag slightly.

The edge of the product feels sharp, the front panel and the back panel will flatten or sag, and the chord distance will feel lower. Guitar will probably be beaten, and the sides of the bridge will start to sag. In a few months, the bridge will be pulled up or broken.

Low humidity range of 20%~25%

Pinsi feels sharp, the panel begins to sag, the chord distance will be reduced quickly, and the guitar will play.

The edge of the fret will feel very sharp, the panel and backboard will flatten or sag, the last six frets of the fingerboard may fall into the range of human sound holes, the chord distance will be lower, the guitar will be hit, the sides of the bridge will sag, the cracks on the panel will extend to the end of the guitar, and the bridge may be pulled down.

10%~20% extremely low humidity range

Pinsi feels very sharp, the front panel and the back panel gradually droop, the chord distance will decrease rapidly, and the guitar will gradually play. The panel began to crack from the bridge to the tail, and the bridge began to degum.

The edge of the product feels sharp, and both the front panel and the back panel are concave. The last six products may fall into the range of human sound holes, the chord distance will be lower, the guitar will be hit, there will be depressions on both sides of the bridge, there will be big cracks in the panel, extending to the end of the guitar, and the bridge will be degummed and pulled down. The sound hole ring will be significantly raised.

0%~ 10% ultra-low humidity range

Pinsi felt sharp, the panel and backboard were sunken, the chord distance decreased rapidly, the guitar began to play, and the panel began to crack, especially when the bridge came to the bottom of the panel, and the bridge fell off.

The edge of the product feels sharp, and both the front panel and the back panel are concave. The last six frets may fall into the range of human voice holes, and the chord distance will be extremely low. The fingerboard will be hit up and down, there will be depressions on both sides of the bridge, there will be big cracks in the panel, the cracks will extend to the end of the panel, and the bridge will be pulled down. The sound hole decoration ring rose obviously. There is no separated sound beam extruded from the edge of the guitar, and the place where the guitar panel rises is the position of the sound beam.

As you can see, humidity has a great influence on guitar, so it is necessary to take the following measures.

Many people think that expensive guitars will not be affected by the fluctuation of relative humidity. In fact, high-end guitars are more sensitive to humidity than ordinary guitars. High-end guitars use thinner wood and paint, and are more susceptible to weather changes than plywood guitars.

Summer maintenance

Our custom guitar factory buys a variety of musical instrument wood from all over the world every year and dries it naturally. The material of our customized guitar is tangent wood that has been air-dried for 3~5 years. After the guitar is made by hand or factory, too much moisture will make the guitar swell, unless it is specially maintained, your guitar will be damaged.

The humidity of our handmade and factory guitars is strictly controlled between 40% and 45%. The temperature is relatively around 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit). When the relative humidity exceeds 60%, the guitar will begin to swell. When the guitar you bought has the following swelling symptoms, you should pay attention:

Most commonly, the panel will start to bulge (or swell) and the surface of the panel will start to distort, which is especially obvious in guitar models with missing corners. In this case, the backboard will also bulge (expand) and twist, as evidenced by the depressions before and after the backboard. The higher the relative humidity, the more obvious the distortion.

Another visible change caused by excessive humidity is that all bonding parts (such as the bonding place between the panel and the rear panel) will become more and more conspicuous, especially around the inlay. Pearls are not affected by humidity, but the wood inlaid with pearls is soft and easy to expand under relatively high humidity. When the wood expands, you can find a gap around the inlay, through which moisture enters the wood.

When the guitar is exposed to high humidity, the chord distance will increase. The more moisture, the more obvious the chord distance increases. This problem is particularly serious in humid areas such as Florida or Japan.

There are many reasons for changing the chord distance: high humidity makes the guitar panel "prominent", jacking up the bridge and strings; The back plate also expands, jacking up the neck, so that the area from the upper chord pillow to the lower chord pillow is relatively depressed. This problem will be further aggravated by the expansion of ebony fingerboard, and the silk will be loosened. The needle wire is very strong after installation, which plays a role in preventing neck arch; When they are released by the expansion of the fingerboard, the neck will also tilt upward, which will increase the chord distance to a more serious degree.

Note that paint can't prevent moisture from entering, although it can be slowed down for 3 ~ 4 days. The longer you are exposed to high humidity, the paint will begin to deform. The paint on the panel will wrinkle slightly. There will be many small holes in the back side plate. When rosewood expands, the holes in the wood expand, so that the paint (not affected by moisture) falls into these holes. The paint on the mahogany neck will also sink into the hole for this reason, as will the back side plate.

Finally, what is even more annoying is that due to the influence of high humidity environment, the timbre of the guitar will be reduced because of the deformation of the instrument itself, and the life of the strings will be significantly reduced.

Fortunately, all problems can be solved perfectly in an environment with humidity of 40% to 45% and relative temperature of 24℃ (75℉).

Exposure to high humidity for a long time will bring more serious effects to the guitar, including the looseness of sound beam and the wrinkle of paint surface. This change will last forever, which is also a common problem of guitar. Although these problems can be handled by experienced people, the guitar will leave a permanent mark. This damage is not covered by the warranty.

Now, most high humidity environmental problems can be avoided by some simple preventive measures. Here are our suggestions:

Don't put the guitar in a dark and humid place with high humidity; Don't put the guitar in the box (unless a humidifier or desiccant is prepared), because in such an environment, moisture will gather in the narrow space of the box.

You can put the guitar on the guitar stand and put it in an environment that keeps the surrounding air circulating. If possible, don't put the guitar on the first floor when the weather is warm.

Don't hurt the guitar because of your negligence. When the weather is hot in summer, don't put the guitar in the trunk or tail of the car. The temperature in these places may exceed 66℃ (150℉), which will do great harm to your guitar and make the bonded parts loose. In this case, if the fingerboard is loose, the chord pitch will become very high. Please note that this problem will not be solved because the temperature returns to normal. Such damage repair work is not covered by the warranty.

There are some small resin capsules in spruce panels, which can't be seen in general, especially the dense spruce, which is more common in Germany than in China. When the ambient temperature suddenly rises, these resins will begin to expand and prepare to overflow. In this way, the paint surface of the whole panel will be covered with stains. Although it looks terrible, it is not difficult to repair it. An experienced luthier can slightly polish and polish the panel with fine sand skin. This kind of damage is not covered by the warranty, because it is only the result of exposing the instrument to high temperature at will.

Another noteworthy problem is that if the guitar is exposed to bright sunlight for a period of time, the panel will gradually turn yellow. Yellowing is not the problem of the guitar itself, but if there are objects that block the sun, such as the strap of the guitar, it will leave a light impression like the strap, which is also a damage to the appearance of the guitar. One of the knowledge of nursing in summer is that you should pay attention. Remember this question when you put down your guitar.

I don't recommend using any oil, silicone or wax products on the fingerboard. If you play the guitar often, the grease secreted by your fingers is enough to keep the fingerboard from cracking.

To prolong the service life of guitar strings, just wipe the strings with a soft cloth after playing. When changing strings, you can wipe the fingerboard with 000 # steel velvet in summer or winter (make sure that you have protected the paint of the panel from being damaged) to remove grease, stains and dust. Steel velvet can also play the role of polishing products and fingerboards, which can make the playing feel smooth and comfortable.