Wood eating bugs eating guitar!! Help!!
 

Hello All,

I recently bought an acoustic guitar only to realize a short while later that some of what I thought were scratches and dings are in fact damage from wood-eating insects. Not sure if there are still any bugs in the guitar as I haven't seen any indication of live bugs, but obviously I'd like to find out and also would like to treat the guitar either way just in case. Any suggestions? I considered placing mothballs inside the sound hole and putting the guitar in the case for a while to sort of fumigate it, but I have no idea if this would kill them or if it would damage the finish (it's a French polish).

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Greg

I’m being honest when I say I’ve never heard of that before. Also wouldn’t mothballs dehydrate a guitar? I’m not sure what they do to be honest with you.

I've heard of these guitar termites. Sadly it sounds like it's too late for your guitar. Do us all a favor and burn it quickly before the bugs multiply and infest other guitars. Post pics so we can all rest easy.

Yeah, I'd never heard of it before, either, so when I bought the guitar it didn't occur to me that the dings and scratches could be insect damage. But after researching it a bit, there are many different types of wood-eating insects, and so why not infest wooden instruments? And they do- it's not at all unheard of. That said, I have yet to find any recommendations on how to treat it. A luthier friend is going to give me a small piece of wood with French polish on it so I can place it in a ziploc with mothballs and see if it damages the finish. If not, I may try mothballs in the soundhole. Ugh!!

Oh, man, I really don't want to burn this one- it's a gorgeous handmade guitar from Spain with great tone and feel. There's got to be a better way, no??

Do you have a termite treatment company nearby that does fumigation. Where I live, we have a company that has a small trailer and for a fee, you can bring wooden items and put them in the trailer to have them fumigated (gas type fumigation). They do it about once a week. I had on old table my dad made before bringing to my house, I had it treated. The house it was in had termites and I wasn't sure if the table did or not, but did it for peace of mind.

There are some liquid type insecticides that some companies use, but it is hit or miss as to whether the liquid gets to where all the termites and their eggs are.

Wood eating bugs eating guitar!! Help!!
 

I would contact a luthier or expert wood worker. Online research indicates that guitars can be infested with wood eating beetles as well as woodworms. It sounds that in some cases it is related to higher humidity and maybe the wood not dried properly. Best of luck in finding out what is best to do. You might do a thread over in the build/repair section if more luthiers check that section of the forum more often.
Best,
Jayne

I'm reluctant to fumigate without knowing what kinds of things would be safe for the guitar. But I'll keep this in mind. Thanks!

Yes, I've contacted a local luthier, but he's not sure what to do. I'll try posting in the build/repair section- great idea! Thanks!!

-Greg

I’ve moved this thread to the B&R subforum for you. Duplicate threads around the forum are not permitted.

Thank you, Tom. Much appreciated!

Greg

Back in the 70's Fender had a batch of electrics that were not kiln dried hot enough.

It was powder post beetles. They could be seen under the finish.

There was a mad scramble to get them all back.

Interesting problem there my friend. Does the guitar have Nitrocellulose Finish ? French polish? I’ve seen tiny bugs in a very old Violin years ago. There is some insects that will feast on old natural finish and definitely wood. If I remember the tiny bugs were dead in the old case with violin. They had lightly feasted on the old French Polish finish but had died. Was like opening up the old case and tiny dust specs in there. I think they attacked the old Bow hair too. It was 40 years ago so just going off memory. Moth balls will do the trick!!!!

Sorry mate, I was just having a bit of fun. Unless you live in a very moist, tropical climate you need not worry of insects devouring your guitar.

I have dealt with this before, it needs to go not to a fumigator as they deal with raw woods like pallets etc and they use airborne chemicals and heat sometimes to achieve this, it needs to go to someone that does xray treatment.

Contact vee email your local customs and ask who they use, 30 seconds exposure and everything is dead.

Steve