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Old 12-12-2010, 12:04 PM
jhsatt jhsatt is offline
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Default cold weather shipping

I wanted to ask this yesterday before the wheels were sent in motion, but my D-28 is on it's way. Coming from warm weather to Chicago. It will be a lovely 20 degrees here this week. How long before I open the box and see the damage if any? First post. Hello all guitar lovers! thanks Jeff
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Old 12-12-2010, 12:16 PM
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Bluewyatt Bluewyatt is offline
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I would wait until the box is room temperature. Then remove the case and wait until it is room temp. Then remove the guitar.
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Old 12-12-2010, 12:23 PM
JimR JimR is offline
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Originally Posted by Bluewyatt View Post
I would wait until the box is room temperature. Then remove the case and wait until it is room temp. Then remove the guitar.
I agree with this..I wouldn't risk opening it until the case has been at room temp for a while. And it needs to transition naturally to room temp without attempting to accelerate the process.
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Old 12-12-2010, 12:30 PM
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To dovetail on this, when the box feels warm and you take the case out of the shipping box, wait for the latches to get to room temperature as they are a better indication of the internal temp of the case than merely feeling the outside of the case itself. Metal is a better conductor of hot/cold than wood or fiberglass, so once they latches and hinges feel normal you should be all set.
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Old 12-12-2010, 12:31 PM
DB Cooper DB Cooper is offline
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Originally Posted by jhsatt View Post
I wanted to ask this yesterday before the wheels were sent in motion, but my D-28 is on it's way. Coming from warm weather to Chicago. It will be a lovely 20 degrees here this week. How long before I open the box and see the damage if any? First post. Hello all guitar lovers! thanks Jeff
Welcome to AGF, Jeff! If you follow this 8-step process, you should have no problem with your new guitar!

1) First, place the box in an unheated garage, as far away from your home entrance as possible, where the ambient temperature is just above the outside temperature - leave it there for 12 hours.

2) Next, move it within the garage to a place near the entrance to your home - 6 hours there should suffice.

3) At that point, bring it into your home (still in the box, of course) and place it in the coolest part of your home - a basement or unheated attic would work this time of year. Leave it there a full 24 hours, just to be on the safe side.

4) Then move it to the living space of your home at least 15 feet from any heating vent - but don't open it! Another day there should get the box and its inner contents close to room temperature.

5) Now, very carefully, cut the packing tape and open just one end of the box. This will allow the cooler box air out and allow the warmer room air in - but perform this step with exact precision - you don't want to waste all this effort by taking a misstep here. Best to wait 6-8 hours.

6) Once you are confident that the box/room air is sufficiently mixed (time varies depending on latitude, humidity, air pressure, Zodiac sign, and amount of mojo), open the remainder of the box.

(Now this next step is tricky...)
7a) If the guitar is in a case, you must wait another 24-36 hours to allow the case air to warm to room temperature.
7b) If there is no case, you should be safe to proceed - with caution, of course.

8) Play and enjoy!

...

Last edited by DB Cooper; 12-12-2010 at 01:24 PM.
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Old 12-12-2010, 01:41 PM
bozz_2006 bozz_2006 is offline
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Is there a temp that is just too cold to ship a guitar in? It's been -15 to -20 here for a low the past few nights.
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Old 12-12-2010, 03:26 PM
taylorcc taylorcc is offline
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Is there a temp that is just too cold to ship a guitar in? It's been -15 to -20 here for a low the past few nights.
There's no problem shipping guitars in cold temps down to minus 60 F or lower. The problem occurs if the guitar has a nitrocellulose finish and it is very cold and you warm it up quickly say by opening a cold case in a warm room. If you do this, the nitro finish will show cracks. It's cosmetic AFAIK but looks are important to a lot of people, including me.
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Old 12-12-2010, 03:32 PM
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There's no problem shipping guitars in cold temps down to minus 60 F or lower. The problem occurs if the guitar has a nitrocellulose finish and it is very cold and you warm it up quickly say by opening a cold case in a warm room. If you do this, the nitro finish will show cracks. It's cosmetic AFAIK but looks are important to a lot of people, including me.
I've heard kind of the same thing over the years, but I still don't like to ship guitars in the winter unless I absolutely have to. I currently have a guitar that I shipped back to a luthier last fall for a new neck (converting it to a baritone), and since he's a little behind schedule with delivering his instruments, I told him to hake his time doing the job over the winter since I do not want to risk anything happening to the guitar shipping it when it's freezing out. Kind of a bummer that I have to wait another 3 or 4 months go get the guitar back, but it would be a bigger bummer if something happened to the guitar. On the bright side, the setup should be perfect and any issues that could arise should be taken care of since the builder will be using it as his personal guitar until it ships back... and more play time is a good thing, right?
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Old 12-12-2010, 04:02 PM
McCawber McCawber is offline
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Quote:
The problem occurs if the guitar has a nitrocellulose finish and it is very cold and you warm it up quickly say by opening a cold case in a warm room. If you do this, the nitro finish will show cracks.
I learned that the hard way back in the 60's when I was young and stupid (or stupider . . . ). I mistakenly left my then new B-25 Gibson in the car overninght in the middle of an Iowa winter after a late date. Knowing nothing about the effects of cold on lacquer (and Gibson piled it on thick in those days), I brought the guitar into the house and imediately opened the case. I literally watched and heard the finish crack. Sorta ruined my day.

A friend if mine has a Martin at the factory now for some warranty work and was informed they wouldn't ship it back to him in the winter.
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Old 12-12-2010, 04:08 PM
Tone Gopher Tone Gopher is offline
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I've heard kind of the same thing over the years, but I still don't like to ship guitars in the winter unless I absolutely have to.
If you ship by air - or travel with a guitar in the hold, have you ever considered how cold it is at altitude?

I'd be more concerned about how hot a guitar gets while sitting in a truck during the summer time.
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Old 12-12-2010, 05:01 PM
MrFaulconbridge MrFaulconbridge is offline
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I also have a guitar coming but do I have to follow such a long procedure of waiting a set amount of hours in different parts of the house of what DB Cooper was saying? (seems abit extreme to me)

It has a Nitrocellulose Lacquer finish but can I just wait untill the box warms up, let the case warm up and then finally take the guitar out?

Does anyone know how long this will take? Im from the UK and temps around here are about 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) outside.

Last edited by MrFaulconbridge; 12-12-2010 at 05:08 PM.
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Old 12-12-2010, 05:11 PM
JimR JimR is offline
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IR thermometers are not expensive and they can certainly take a lot of the guess work away. I use one.
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Old 12-12-2010, 05:18 PM
NewMartinFan NewMartinFan is offline
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Martin won't ship a guitar if the temps along the route are less than 20. Most Internet retailers won't ship if temps are below zero.

When you receive a guitar in winter, simply put the unopened box in your house and let it acclimate to the new temp for 24 hours.

Have shipped and received numerous guitars during winter...no big deal.
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Old 12-12-2010, 05:28 PM
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Err on the side of caution...then wait some more.
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Old 12-12-2010, 06:04 PM
DB Cooper DB Cooper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrFaulconbridge View Post
I also have a guitar coming but do I have to follow such a long procedure of waiting a set amount of hours in different parts of the house of what DB Cooper was saying? (seems abit extreme to me)

It has a Nitrocellulose Lacquer finish but can I just wait untill the box warms up, let the case warm up and then finally take the guitar out?

Does anyone know how long this will take? Im from the UK and temps around here are about 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) outside.
Well, if you're unsure, simply double all the times I stated...that should take care of everything...
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