How does indoor temperature affect guitar wood?
 

I've been wondering for some time where indoor home temperatures and temperature variations affect acoustic guitars? I know that humidity vs. dryness makes a difference but I wonder whether coldness versus warmth affects the wood too?
-Tg

Yes ma'am, temp changes will have a profound impact on your acoustic guitar. Wood will contract in cold temps and will expand in hotter temps. One good rule of thumb if you are transporting your acoustic via a vehicle, treat your guitar like you would your child. You wouldn't leave a child in a hot or a very cold vehicle unattended. If you are bringing your guitar inside from very cold weather, it is best if you can leave it in the case for an hour (or more depending upon how extreme the cold is) so that the guitar can acclimate to the temp inside. There was a great example of this in the "Market Section," concerning the shipping of a guitar from a location that was very warm to a location that was very cold. I'm sure there are folks here on the board that can give you a much better explanation than I have. Just wanted to give a little basic information. Hope you find this helpful.

The reason temperature in a house can affect a guitar is mainly by its effects on humidity. For example, if you turn up the heat in your house, the relative humidity will drop and vice versa. Unless the change is drastic, though, it shouldn't affect your guitar much at all. As a general rule, if the temperature feels comfortable to you, it's comfortable for the guitar.

Though I live in the southern California area where the climate is generally on the dry side, my specific locale has more seasonal extremes. The winters here are colder and the summers hotter than most places in the greater Los Angeles area. Where I live, summers can easily get to 100 degrees or over, which means the a/c runs a lot more often. I am less concerned about exposing my guitar to extremes in temperature going from inside to outside environments or vice versa. I was mainly interested in understanding how in home temp fluctuations affect the wood.
Tg

Here is a link to Frank Ford's "Frets.com" site-gereat site for all your guitar questions;

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musi...eat/heat1.html

TG,
The flucations in your house will have no effect on your guitar except it may go sharp or flat, depending on the temp of the house at the time you tune it..... and it may not be enough to effect it at all. Don't forget as mentioned above in prior posts, humidity or lack of it is your enemy! Steve