Temperature - GS Mini
 

My Taylor GS Mini (Sitka top) needs to ride in the back of a pickup truck (a truck with a cloth cover) for 8 hours. This is August in Virginia, so the temperature may get a bit hot. Is there a max temperature that I need to worry about? Any advice?

If there's any way you can get the guitar in the cab with you, I think pretty much everyone here is going to strongly recommend that you do so. The rule of thumb is that guitars like to stay in the same comfortable temperature range that people do. For that length of time, I think a covered truck bed in August would be a recipe for disaster for the glue holding the guitar together.

The way I think about it is if the temperature is tolerable for a person or say..a pet dog, your guitar will be fine If not, its probably better to find another place to stow your guitar,

its a useful way of gauging things if your not sure

I agree with the above comments regarding putting it in the cab.

However, I have once, when I had NO choice, cooled the guitar (not an expensive instrument) in an air conditioned room, placed it in its hard case (in the same temperature), latched it up, and wrapped it in several blankets from the same room. It handled being in the back of a hot SUV well for 5 hours that way.

Air circulation could help that truck bed from becoming an oven if you can avoid sealing it up, but 8 hours is a long time in a closed box in Summer without it.

I am not recommending this approach, just sharing my experience. You have to do what you think is best for your instrument.

You've got some time window but it's not 8 hours.

A good case does provide some protection.

I just stuck my electric guitar in it's Gator case in the back of my car (hatchback) a week or two ago and drove 5 minutes... it was probably 110+ degrees in the car (really uncomfortable for me). The drive was too short for the A/C to cool the car.

The case actually warped from the heat and wouldn't close but the guitar (electric guitar in this case) was not warm to the touch when I pulled it out. After an hour of playing the case had cooled and closed normally again. I was quite happy that was not my acoustic guitar.

I lost a GS Mini to the heat. I'm not sure exactly what the heat did to the guitar so I've just claimed warped neck. After a hot 8 hour work day in the back of my car, it never sounded quite the same. It also felt off. Even after neck reset/setup by Taylor it still wasn't the same.... The great intonation the guitar had when I first got it was gone... Admitting it was my mistake I talked with Taylor and the rep said he believed being a smaller scale guitar it may have been more sensitive to the heat (not sure if this makes any sense).... Don't do it.

You probably won't know until you try, but I wouldn't do it. I find some way to put it in the cab.

I am just thinking out loud here since you say it can not go in the cab...could you put some ice packs in a double ziploc bag so as they melt they won't leak and place any many as you could fit under the headstock (that should be padded anyway) and maybe one or two in the storage compartment as well, areas were they would not be in contact with the guitar. Close the case, then wrap it with something to try and keep the cool in. One of those insulating blankets they give you following a marathon might work. Just a thought, never done it, never tried it, just thinking out loud.

My GS Mini has traveled with me in my Cherokee with no air condition to many remote places in backcountry Arizona, and on the few occasions when I couldn't leave it in my tent because I went for a hike, for example, I locked it in the Jeep in 90-degree plus temperatures. I've done this for years, and no ill-effects whatsoever. I do try to not keep guitars inside a car as a rule, but every once in a while, it's unavoidable. The Mini is a tank in that regard. I wouldn't worry about it one bit in the back of a truck, provided it's covered against direct sunlight.

The main enemy of a guitar is dryness, not temperature, and from what I've read, glue joints don't become endangered unless they're exposed to 140 degrees or something like that. The only place you will come even close to this is in the dead of summer in Arizona, in an uncovered car exposed to direct sunlight for a long time.

Just for what it's worth, I was in Virginia this time of year two years ago for a wedding, and had my Martin 000-15sm with me. We were tent-camping most of the time, and it was no issue.