Should I detune the strings after each play?

[mushjoon]

Hi everyone,

I just joined this forum and I hope I can learn a lot from everyone here.

I recently purchased a used Martin DR Centennial and it's my first acoustic guitar ever. I had only played electric guitars and basses before and don't really know much about acoustic guitars since they are totally different animals.

I'm currently living in South Korea and Korea's climate is pretty similar to New England area or Michigan: hot and humid during the summer (90F/80%) and cold and dry (14F/20%) during the winter.

And I would like to ask the members here who live in similar extreme climate: Do you detune the strings after each play or do you leave it in the standard tuning?


Here's a little bit of background story.

When I bought it from one of the biggest Martin vendors here in South Korea, the shop owner told me to detune the 2, 4, 5, 6th strings after each play cuz the top part around the bridge plate will eventually lift off if I don't give a little bit of relief of string tension by detuning them. He said that he's been telling his customers to do so since the 80s.

Other shops and guitar players here follow the "rule" of detuning strings after playing as if it's part of the Ten Commandments.

I wonder whether if they came up with that idea due to the extreme climate but I have never heard of other guitar makers giving out recommendation for guitar care like that.

I asked Martin for their official statement about this but they only replied back to me to detune my guitar if I'm not gonna play it for a long time.

So, TLDR:
Should I detune the strings after each play or just leave it in standard tuning?

P.S.
I play my guitar pretty much everyday and the only occasion I ever detune the strings is when I change the strings and clean the fretboard.

[Draft Guitar]

Don't listen to people who make radical claims. This is nonsense.
Martin is correct.

[JERZEY]

Listen if its not a daily driver and it sits in the case for long periods of time then sure you can de-tune it a bit and there is nothing wrong with that. Otherwise just leave it alone.

[Gas]

Been playing for 58 years and owned over 100 guitars. Tune it play it and move on. Don't listen to this garage

[davenumber2]

I'd find a new shop. Keep it tuned to pitch, play and enjoy.

[s2y]

If you're truly worried about longevity, make sure the guitar is stored at proper humidity.

[rmp]

As mentioned, that advice is kind of nonsensical.

The only time you would drop tuning a bit is if you were long-term storing, or shipping it somewhere that would take a few days, and even THAT'S debatable.
That last guitar I got came from Indiana, I'm in Massachusetts, it arrived just about in tune from the online merchant.

you do want to take care to not let it be exposed long term to humid or very dry condtions

the only "good" habit to get into is putting it back in the case when you're done playing it, and when you start running your home's heating system, get something to keep the humidity in check while it's not played/in the case

Dampits
Oasis Humidifiers
D'Addario Humidpak

anything like that should help the cause. but the case when not used is always the safest bet, 100%

[Dotneck]

That's just silly. Why would you keep string 1 & 3 at normal tension and detune the others? Just keep it tuned up. You'll be fine.

[mr. beaumont]

I'd go as far as to say it's a bad idea. Constant change in tension will eventually mess with your setup.

[rick-slo]

Having to tune it up each time you want to play it - what a hassle. You probably won't bother taking it out of it's case much.
Potential advantage to that - probably less accidental guitar scratches and dents.

[Glennwillow]

I have lived all over the USA at various stages of my life and yet always kept my guitars tuned to standard pitch, never de-tuning the guitar after playing.

All that tuning and de-tuning is going to potentially shorten the life of your strings.

Some bellying at the bridge on guitars that have aged is normal and expected.

- Glenn

[Gibcaster000]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I'd go as far as to say it's a bad idea. Constant change in tension will eventually mess with your setup.

I will second this - I have been told point-blank by several luthiers that guitars don't like constant changes in neck tension.

If you aren't going to play the guitar for a while (months or more), detuning everything a half or even whole step is fine. But for regular playing it's actually harder on your guitar to constantly change like this.

I play slide in open G and open D a lot, and I notice a significant increase in tuning stability when I leave a guitar in one of those tunings for a month or more. That's not a luxury I always have, but the guitar does seem to settle in nicely when I do.

[Gibcaster000]

Oh, and on the subject of bridge bellying:

https://acousticguitar.com/guitar-gu...-its-flat-top/

If Dana and Norman both say "No belly, no tone..."

[mawmow]

Why not report this seller to Martin ?
I am quite sure Martin would not like what is said there
about the suggested poor quality of the instruments they build…

Tuning and detuning repeatedly would shorten strings longevity
as many, particularly high E, could break while retuning.

I live in a similar climate here in Summer (with cold Winter) :
Keeping your acoustic in hard case is mandatory as well
as trying to control seasonal humidity swings.

[fazool]

Not only stupid advice but completely false.