Resolved!! - Strange Autonomous Creaking from Martin Authentic

[WindChaser]

Hi All,

I have had my Martin om-28 authentic for about a month now, and it truly is fantastic; however, the guitar is acting rather odd and I wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience.

Whenever I bring it down from my first floor (71 degrees, 45% humidify) to the basement (68 degrees, 50% humidity), and when I let the guitar hang on the guitar stand, it starts to creak by itself. These creaks are very short and cause a little echo within the guitar. The time intervals between the creaks vary from 3 minutes to 30 minutes and continues to as long as about 4 hours. It creaks again when I bring it back upstairs. None of my other guitars have ever done this.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Update: After a luthier inspected my guitar and determined it had no issues, I tested to see if it was the guitar stand thanks to advice I received from Fran Guidry and others. I left the authentic out lying next to me; no creaks for 30 minutes or so. I put it on the Hercules guitar stand: creaks at least 3 times within 5 minutes! I put my Taylor on the Hercules guitar stand: no creaks. What the! It was just a combination of the authentic with this type of guitar stand. I'm thinking it's due to the vintage gloss interacting with the foam padding. Thank you to those with all the helpful advice and insight. I would also like to say, thank God it wasn't haunted because I was actually wondering after a while... I don't think I would have figured this out on my own. You guys are awesome.


Thanks,
Aaron

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by WindChaser

Hi All,

I have had my Martin om-28 authentic for about a month now, and it truly is fantastic; however, the guitar is acting rather odd and I wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience.

Whenever I bring it down from my first floor (71 degrees, 45% humidify) to the basement (68 degrees, 50% humidity), and when I let the guitar hang on the guitar stand, it starts to creak by itself. These creaks are very short and cause a little echo within the guitar. The time intervals between the creaks vary from 3 minutes to 30 minutes and continues to as long as about 4 hours. It creaks again when I bring it back upstairs. None of my other guitars have ever done this.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Aaron

Is it still in tune after the creakfest?

[darrwhit]

How long ago did you change strings?

[WindChaser]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Is it still in tune after the creakfest?

Yup, the strings are still in tune after the creaks and this occurs whether I have new or old strings.

[RayCJ]

Inexpensive thermometers and hygrometers are sometimes wildly off. Perhaps the temperature and humidity differences are far greater than you're lead to believe. -Admittedly... Still does not answer why only one guitar is doing it.

You might try putting a small amount of wax/lube on the strings where they rest in the nut slots and also make sure the bridge pins are seated properly.

Ray

[rct]

You put strap buttons on it by chance, metal ones?

rct

[mattcran]

Haunted. Straight up haunted.

[pgilmor]

How old is the house, and are there any bones under the floor?

[DenverSteve]

First I would like to applaud you for finding a way to use the word autonomous. It is a rare thing indeed.
Now that we know the guitar is possessed, you should send it to me immediately if it starts to say anything - to be properly exercised of course. I haven't experienced that before but if it only occurs when you change the location of the basement (assuming the basement isn't 1,000 feet down in a missile silo) I would guess there is a greater temperature differential than you believe.

[Long Jon]

Originally Posted by mattcran

Haunted. Straight up haunted.

Yup. Exorcism will likely fix it, unless it's your knees .... I had a guitar I thought was creaky, but it was just my knees ....

So Pastor Steve could be right, the guitar, or you, might need to be exercised ....

[catdaddy]

Does it have a torrefied top?

[RayCJ]

Assuming the guitar's finish is not displaying the raised phrase "Play Me", I would try spraying some approved guitar polish where the neck and fretboard meet the body.

Ray

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

Does it have a torrefied top?

Sounds more like a Terrified top.......

[zmf]

Originally Posted by WindChaser

Whenever I bring it down from my first floor (71 degrees, 45% humidify) to the basement (68 degrees, 50% humidity)....

I'd only suggest that these slight changes in temperature and humidity have nothing to do with it. Particularly if it happens within an hour or two after a hike up or down the stairs.

[sbpark]

Dont bring it down into the basement. Problem solved, and you're welcome!