#1
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How long does it take a new guitar to "open up"?
I'm sure that in two weeks the quality of the sound of my guitar has changed. I'm not sure if that's because after 2 weeks I'm starting to find a playing style that suits me best or because the almost continual playing has affected it.
Any thoughts?
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Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Mark Twain |
#2
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I think it's more like months or years rather then weeks.
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#3
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It is absolutely a combination of both your playing style and the guitar breaking in...but paulzoom is right, the opening up process can and truthfully will take years. Just keep on keepin on! duff Be A Player...Not A Polisher |
#4
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My experience has been months.
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Nothing bothers me unless I let it. Martin D18 Gibson J45 Gibson J15 Fender Copperburst Telecaster Squier CV 50 Stratocaster Squier CV 50 Telecaster |
#5
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My experience is that there is an initial perceived "opening up" of a new guitar in as little as one to three days. This may be due to the acclimatization of a new instrument to its new environment and to the player's feeling of the new guitar. After that, I can't say when another noticeable "opening up" may occur because it usually happens so gradually that I haven't noticed it.
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#6
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Yeah. That makes sense to me. I liked it from the off but now I really like it. I'm much more used to it. I've played it enough that I'm automatically striking and plucking the strings in ways that will maximise the effects that I'm trying to achieve and get the sounds that I want.
That's probably as important as anything else. My God I love this guitar though. I can hardly put it down. Edit: I know this is verging on AGF heresy but I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever want to buy another guitar. I fricking love guitars and even though I've been enjoying this one a lot, I have been thinking of a couple of others that I'd like to try and maybe purchase. Until today. Today suddenly it seemed to click and I just love the sound and the feel of it. I still love my other guitars too but I just can't seen why I'd want another one. I may need to go see a doctor tomorrow.
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Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Mark Twain Last edited by Lakewood_Lad; 02-09-2020 at 04:22 PM. Reason: To add some heresy |
#7
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I've never experienced it. What I have experienced are changes in relative humidity and temperature affecting tone but never would I attribute time as a function of change. And, quite honestly, I want to meet the person who will claim that his guitar sounds better 4 years in that when he bought it. I can't remember what a guitar sounded like when I bought it and I'm pretty sure any nuanced changes would be wholly undetectable a couple months, much less years down the road.
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#8
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Lakewood, what did you buy?
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Martin SC 13E 000 40 Maple Larrivee Custom SD-40 ME Larrivee 1817 Ovation vintage |
#9
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Larrivee OM-03 Silver Oak Special. It's the 50th anniversary edition so they gave it a spruce top similar to the ones they use for the 10s. I did a load of playing and practice last night and today it just sounds righteous.
I have a Martin D15M (all hog) and a Lakewood CPG 32 (cedar on rosewood) and I love them as well but this is the most comfortable fitting neck I've ever had and right now I can't put it down. At first I thought the lower strings were a bit lacking but as I've got more used to them I've learned to get what I want out of them. The tone is sublime. If I could I'd take it in the bath with me.
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Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Mark Twain |
#10
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My experience has been that I could tell a difference after a year.
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-Raf |
#11
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I experienced dramatic opening up of my Martin Custom D at six months. It's a lightly built guitar, all solid wood (sitka/mahogany), with a satin finish, and I'm guessing that was all part of it.
Other guitars, such as my Martin 000-15m have been much more gradual.
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1 dreadnought, 1 auditorium, 1 concert, and 2 travel guitars. |
#12
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#13
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I can stop trying to buy my way into being a better guitar player and just sit and play.
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Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Mark Twain |
#14
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Congrats, Lakewood, on your new Larrivee. That is a very special model with a wood unique, so far as I know, to Jean's shop.
It is one year since I bought my first guitar - a Larrivee 000-40 RE custom. It has been the perfect first. Since followed by two other guitars. To paraphrase an old Lays potato chips ad, "bet you can't own just one. It would be interesting to record your new guitar now, and listen to the recording at the same time every year to determine if you can distinguish any change in the tonality. Though, to be sure, the ears often tell us what we want, or do not want, to hear. Enjoy. David |
#15
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There are a number of threads on this if you want to do further research...
But I've found that there are two phenomena that are sometimes conflated. There's a "breaking in" or "settling in" period in which a newly built guitar, or a guitar that has very very little playing time, will come together under tension and the tone will change pretty rapidly. One way I've heard this said is that initially, the wood needs a bit of time to realize that it's a guitar. Then there "opening up" which is the perceived tendency of guitars to improve with age over a much longer period of time as the wood changes over many years.
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"What have I learned but the proper use for several tools" -Gary Snyder Bourgeois DR-A / Bowerman "Working Man's" OM / Martin Custom D-18 (adi & flame) / Martin OM-21 / Northwood M70 MJ / 1970s Sigma DR-7 / Eastman E6D / Flatiron Signature A5 / Silverangel Econo A (Call me Dan) |