Tone change on your guitars
 

Just wondering, if you noticed tone changes on your guitars.

Was it change happened through time - then how long have you had the guitar? Playing a lot? Modification / Upgrade?

What guitars were they? How are they different? Do you like / dislike the change?

As a general rule, the more you play a guitar, the more the bass response and lower midrange of the tone will come in, to a certain point. I've generally had the sound begin to mature and sound fuller within about six to eight months, and continue to develop for the next few years.

With spruce-topped guitars it's the top that starts breaking in first, with the back and sides taking much longer and changing more subtly when they do.

But I use medium gauge strings, mostly, and sometimes play fairly hard when I'm in performance. Players who use lighter strings and a lighter touch will probably hear differences in their instruments later than I tend to.

As for liking the changes, sure, of course.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

Mine change all the time. I try different strings and picks and try and improve my technique.

Humidity has an effect too, so I found out last year.

Tone changes happen every day, whether it’s our ears, the weather, the humidity, hand temperature, etc. I think the biggest tone change I personally notice is when my hands are cold - I have bad circulation in my hands and feet and if my hands are chilled my dexterity suffers, which makes tone suffer.

I don’t know if my guitars have sounded exactly the same twice... too many variables externally and internally.

I've seen it a few times in new guitars in my mate's store, where the tone has changed significantly over a period of a few weeks or months. A memorable one was a custom shop Maton that went from very ordinary to fantastic in a few months, then sold very quickly. Most stories you see suggest that when tone changes over time, it improves. However, I had one very bad experience with a new Martin J-40 that went from very good to awful over a period of about three years. Since then I have greatly preferred old, well used acoustics, so that I know what I'm getting both tonally and structurally, in particular, neck angle.

My guitars appear to change sound after a month or more of not playing them.
After I play them again for an hour or so, they start to wake up and sound normal again.

To be truthful, I'm not sure if it is the guitar or me.
I play several guitars in rotation.
The guitar that I have been playing recently, may affect how I hear another guitar that I haven't played for a while.

Does this make any sense?

My experience has been very like Wade’s. Nine months, or so, on a new guitar and the lower end, especially the sixth string, comes in much fuller and richer. So far as whether I like it, or not, I like it very much. My Kinscherff which was rich and full to begin with, became richer and fuller. That suites my taste perfectly.

Wade, how would this apply to say a 2014 guitar (new in box in warehouse - not being played)? Does it need to be played to open up or will age itself do it?

While some of the breaking in process seems to have something to do how old the guitar itself is, most of it has to do with how much playing the guitar gets. So a “new old stock” guitar like you’ve described will almost certainly react like a brand new guitar and only start opening up once it starts getting used.

This seems to apply even to decades-old unplayed guitars - I remember reading one of George Gruhn’s columns where he described a pre-war Martin that had been stored in a closet for decades that got brought into his shop. Not only was it in perfect mint condition, but it sounded brand new, as well.

So getting used does seem to be the single most important factor when it comes to guitars breaking in.


whm

humidity, your memory and your ears change too.

play music!

I've read somewhere that timber chemistry changes with age. That might have an effect, but how much is it going to be, at least in the medium term, if the timber is well-seasoned to start with?

https://www.research-collection.ethz...h-47394-02.pdf

The biggest change in tone usually occurs the minute I sell a guitar, before I ship it out. I always play it one last time before it leaves my hands and, by god, they always suddenly sound like super awesome keepers!!! ;)

But seriously, it's sometimes difficult to separate the brain from the ears. Probably doesn't matter in the end.

Yup, my guitars change all the time - heat/cold, seasonally and my hearing too. This last year I have played far less than usual because of my cancer treatment, and my guitars have - to my ears, gone to sleep. An hour orwo wakes 'em up.

Mine seem to be just like me, they all have their good days and their bad days.