Opening Up

Starless · #1 07-01-2009, 07:48 AM

Forgive an acoustic philistine, but can anyone clarify a couple of points regarding the 'Opening Up' of a guitar over time.

First off, if it is all to do with exposing the wood to vibrations over a period of time, is there a way to speed up the process rather than have to wait until a few years of constant playing have passed? Is there a technique involving a towel and an industrial sander which can provide the required vibrations a lot sooner? Possibly a collection of ladies'... ehm... 'toys' which could be placed inside and allowed to tickle the wood over a period (possibly bad choice of word).

I have a 35 year old cheapie guitar which is certainly opened up, but my nearly new 214ce is a bit 'tight' sonically. Will the 214 ever open up given the laminate back/sides?

So many questions, but I am considering selling the 214 and investing in something say 5 or 10 years old which is already pre-opened, so just wanted to sound out the gurus.

The whole issue of opening up confuses me when people relate their experiences trying out new guitars in stores as surely if they are new, then they will not play the same as an older guitar and will change over time.

ewalling · #2 07-01-2009, 08:14 AM

Most people on this forum seem to feel that when you buy a guitar you should like how it sounds now, and if it opens up in the future, well and good. Just don't buy an instrument on the strength that it will open up and improve one day.

Brent Hutto · #3 07-01-2009, 08:20 AM

Don't let 'em confuse you.

It's all about some combination of hearing what you want to hear, wishful thinking and the fact that a wooden instrument, no kidding, really will sound different 20 years from now than it does today. The "wishful thinking" part comes when people claim that all guitar automagically sound better a few months or a few years later than they do right away. Maybe yes, maybe no, you won't really know until you try.

So the simple version is this. If you like the way a guitar sounds and plays, buy that one. If you don't like the way a guitar sounds and plays don't buy it. If you buy a good-sounding guitar it may well sound even better at some time in the future but that's a bonus.

The world is full of guitars that sounded dead when they were new and sound just as dead years later. Wishing won't always make it so.

Herb Hunter · #4 07-01-2009, 08:30 AM

Here is an article about a device that was designed to hasten the so-called opening up process:

http://www.acousticguitar.com/gear/a...ibration.shtml

I would think that placing your 214 in front of a stereo system speaker repeatedly playing a Doyle Dykes CD loud enough to cause the bass strings to vibrate almost to the point of rattling against the frets might possibly be as effective as the machine in the article. Of course, it would take days rather than 45 minutes.

powerpopper · #5 07-01-2009, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewalling

Most people on this forum seem to feel that when you buy a guitar you should like how it sounds now, and if it opens up in the future, well and good. Just don't buy an instrument on the strength that it will open up and improve one day.

+1

If you feel it sounds tight now, I wouldn't count on it changing in the future. As for buying a 5 or 10 year old guitar, you may have no way of knowing how much it has been played. Buy the guitar that sounds the best to you today. Any "opening up" will just be a bonus.

drathbun · #6 07-01-2009, 11:05 AM

Just play the guitar. Solid wood instruments DO open up with playing. I've experienced it. Laminates do not. Laminated B/S with solid top guitars open up too.

SilentDusk · #7 07-01-2009, 11:59 AM

Would the 214 even open up since it has laminate back and sides?

Jeff M · #8 07-01-2009, 12:47 PM

Here you go.
A link to the most recent weekely thread about "opening up";
http://69.41.173.82/forums/showthread.php?t=157644

My advice? Forget about it.
If you don't like the way your guitar sounds now, you won't like it in 2 or 5 or 10 years...unless YOUR tastes change.
If you do like it, then why fret about it "opening up

Some guitars open up.
Some don't.
Some do, and you won't realize it.
Some don't, and you will swear they have.
Some do, and you will think they sound worse.

As soon as somebody brings up the subject of "opening up", I know they have been exposed to the "sales persons" ploy. Either directly, or through well intentioned friends. "Oh, this guitar sounds tight now...but just wait till it open's up!! "

It's like marrying somebody.
You don't marry somebody that you don't like waiting for them to change over time...and if you did like them...you don't sit around trying to induce change.
Actually, it seems like lots of folks do one or the other. Explains the high divorce rate.

Jeff M · #9 07-01-2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentDusk

Would the 214 even open up since it has laminate back and sides?

No.
It won't.
Real answer, maybe it will. Maybe it won't.
The guitars top is 90+% of the guitars tone, not the back and sides.

But, it's really a moot point.
If you don't like the way it sounds, the best way to make a guitar sound better is to play it more. The guitar probably won't sound any better, but you will.

That, or sell it and buy a guitar that you think does sound good.

ewalling · #10 07-01-2009, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff M

It's like marrying somebody.
You don't marry somebody that you don't like waiting for them to change over time...and if you did like them...you don't sit around trying to induce change.
Actually, it seems like lots of folks do one or the other. Explains the high divorce rate.

In my opinion, I've opened up beautifully since I got married!

Jeff M · #11 07-01-2009, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewalling

In my opinion, I've opened up beautifully since I got married!

Your spouse set you in front of a speaker blaring music for days on end, sit you on a paint shaking machine for hours every day, hang a vibrator on your body (

) or just beat you with a wet noodle?

ewalling · #12 07-01-2009, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff M

Your spouse set you in front of a speaker blaring music for days on end, sit you on a paint shaking machine for hours every day, hang a vibrator on your body (

) or just beat you with a wet noodle?

Erm, expensive are they, those paint shaking machines...? Could I get one on ebay?

Brent Hutto · #13 07-01-2009, 02:34 PM

When I was a little kid, grade-school age, I would sometimes go with my father after supper to his store for some after-hours paperwork or whatever it was he had to do. It was an auto parts store and of course they had a paint shaker.

I would wander all around the back aisles of the store and try to imagine what all the mysterious stuff actually was. One night I got up the courage to flip the switch on the paint shaker and I honestly thought building was going to fall down and bury us. To an eight-year-old creeping around in a dark, quiet big old building that noise might as well have been Armageddon.

My father stopped whatever he was doing, walked back and flipped the switch off and went back to work without even looking for me. I was hiding in the next room waiting for the end of the world.

M.D.Smith · #14 07-01-2009, 05:53 PM

Mine has began to open up after two months since new. I have recordings.
It's a wonderful thing hearing a guitar grow over time.

Jeff M · #15 07-01-2009, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

When I was a little kid, grade-school age, I would sometimes go with my father after supper to his store for some after-hours paperwork or whatever it was he had to do. It was an auto parts store and of course they had a paint shaker.

I would wander all around the back aisles of the store and try to imagine what all the mysterious stuff actually was. One night I got up the courage to flip the switch on the paint shaker and I honestly thought building was going to fall down and bury us. To an eight-year-old creeping around in a dark, quiet big old building that noise might as well have been Armageddon.

My father stopped whatever he was doing, walked back and flipped the switch off and went back to work without even looking for me. I was hiding in the next room waiting for the end of the world.

Guess he figured you had the **** scared out of you enough without having to add to it.

Do you still have the machine? You could go into the "Amazing Guitar Opener" business.
(I'd love to see somebody put a guitar on one of those machines...turn it on...and shake the guitar to pieces. The ultimate opener.

)