Creosote for guitars?

[agfsteve]

You can get wooden patio furniture that is treated to handle wild humidity swings, so why can't they do the same for wooden guitars?

Obviously guitars are much more delicate than patio furniture, but for guitars they'd only need to make them able to handle, say, 20% - 70% humidity, which is probably much more stable than what patio furniture has to endure.

[seannx]

Creosote smells horrible, and wouldn’t dry sufficiently to serve as a finish.

[agfsteve]

Originally Posted by seannx

Creosote smells horrible, and wouldn’t dry sufficiently to serve as a finish.

That was just my attempt at a humourous thread title.

[Wild Bill Jones]

I can’t help but wonder on the positive effects of undercoating my guitar. Among other things it would be waterproof yet retain the advantages of wood with none of the drawbacks of carbon fiber.

[Kitkatjoe]

Are you serious ?

[robj144]

Probably because any material that would truly seal the wood, wouldn't let it resonate either.

[Wade Hampton]

There are plenty of hand builders who finish the interior surfaces of their guitars with thin coats of sealer in an attempt to minimize the effects of humidity swings. I've played and owned guitars both with and without this interior seal coat, and haven't been able to detect any discernible differences in how they respond to changing humidity levels. As a result, I'm inclined to agree with the major manufacturers that it doesn't really matter all that much.

As for creosote, while the stench of it on hot summer days brings back memories of boat docks and roadside telephone poles while the heat shimmers off the asphalt, I can't say I've ever felt any irresistible urge to have that aroma emanating from my guitar's soundhole, thank you just the same...


Wade Hampton Miller

[fazool]

Creosote and pressure treating chemicals are not so much surface coatings and soaked in treatments. It doesn't just lightly seal the surface but gets deep into the wood which would totally change it.

You can get a sense for this by picking up a 2x, and then picking up a pressure treated 2x4.

The latter weighs considerably more - and that's all the chemicals "pushed" into the wood.

[murmur70]

Creosote is also a known carcinogen.

[Oldguy64]

Originally Posted by Wild Bill Jones

I can’t help but wonder on the positive effects of undercoating my guitar. Among other things it would be waterproof yet retain the advantages of wood with none of the drawbacks of carbon fiber.

What are the “drawbacks” of Carbon Fiber?
It’s expensive? True. But not more than a high end wood guitar.
It doesn’t sound like wood? That’s okay, find the strings it likes and it sounds very good.
The sound you got at time of purchase is the sound it will have forever?
Cool...I bought it cause I liked that sound.
It’s practically impervious to the elements. It travels well. It sounds good.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by murmur70

Creosote is also a known carcinogen.

And playing a creosote guitar would stain your shirts. But, if it works for railroad ties...

[redir]

Have you heard of torrefaction yet? Originally something they did for deck materials and so on.

[Ludere]

I used to work at a shipyard and there was a nearby creosote plant - the facility treated wooden powerline poles before they were installed along highways ... nasty stuff sez I ... and you can tell from 1/2 mile away ...

[agfsteve]

OP here. I realise I'm expecting too much, but with all the amazing things being done in science and technology, you'd think they could come up with a way of doing something to a piece of wood to make it more resistant to humidity.

It looks like a solid wood guitar could just about be kept stable between 40 and 60 per cent humidity (ideally 45 - 55 per cent), so if our leading scientists can do something to chip away at the ends of that range and eventually get it to something like 25 - 75 per cent tolerance, then that would be amazing, and would probably be close enough to the lowest and highest extremes in the average modern house.

So that's what I would expect us (society) to be able to achieve in this modern age.

I've been reading about the positive effects of torrefaction, so that's something at least.

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

There are plenty of hand builders who finish the interior surfaces of their guitars with thin coats of sealer in an attempt to minimize the effects of humidity swings. I've played and owned guitars both with and without this interior seal coat, and haven't been able to detect any discernible differences in how they respond to changing humidity levels. As a result, I'm inclined to agree with the major manufacturers that it doesn't really matter all that much.

As for creosote, while the stench of it on hot summer days brings back memories of boat docks and roadside telephone poles while the heat shimmers off the asphalt, I can't say I've ever felt any irresistible urge to have that aroma emanating from my guitar's soundhole, thank you just the same...


Wade Hampton Miller

Sure would be an inspiration for summer time songs, and songs about fishing.

Ed