Breaking in

Aspiring · #1 12-05-2021, 02:44 PM

Last night I had a few friends come over and had one of them play my new Avalon D300 sitka / mahogany while i was playing some of my other guitars.

My friend is an extremely accomplished player and plays loudly and confidently. He played the guitar for about an hour (and loved it)

I was astounded this morning how much the sound had changed. I picked it up and started playing and it was significantly louder and more responsive and fuller than when I had last played it yesterday. I was already loving it and now even more so.

I have experienced break in before but this was pretty glaringly obvious. The other interesting thing is this guitar is new / old stock the build date was 2015 but the dealer had mentioned it had not been played at all.

nootis · #2 12-05-2021, 03:31 PM

I believe newly built guitars indeed break in, and even certain woods break in differently. 6 year old guitars breaking in may be rare, but perhaps your friend awoke the guitar’s mojo? There are a lot of variables that make up guitar construction that are both mechanical and IMHO, magical. Perhaps this is proof that products like Toneright are on to something?

zmf · #3 12-05-2021, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aspiring

My friend is an extremely accomplished player and plays loudly and confidently. He played the guitar for about an hour (and loved it)

I was astounded this morning how much the sound had changed.

I have experienced break in before but this was pretty glaringly obvious.

Or possibly you had the sound of your friend playing the Avalon still in your head, and you played it with a bit more gusto?
Which is to say maybe you changed, rather than the guitar.
Which is also to say I'd be skeptical about how much an extra hour of play would make in terms of a guitar opening up.

Glennwillow · #4 12-05-2021, 05:11 PM

Some guitars really do sound better when they are played more. My Olson SJ is like that.

- Glenn

Aspiring · #5 12-05-2021, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmf

Or possibly you had the sound of your friend playing the Avalon still in your head, and you played it with a bit more gusto?
Which is to say maybe you changed, rather than the guitar.
Which is also to say I'd be skeptical about how much an extra hour of play would make in terms of a guitar opening up.

I hear you. I wasn't sure myself either and definitely wasn't anticipating a change as I have probably put 30+ hrs on the guitar since new. However, I have been playing that guitar all fingerstyle for two soft and sweet tunes that I am practicing right now my friend went to town with a pick and a lot of heavy strumming to play with the other guitars on classic rock oriented tunes.

I also compared it back to back with my other guitars in the room trying to play my soft tunes as exactly the way I have been practicing them for the last several weeks on several other guitars back to back for a comparison (which I have also been playing with these tunes to decide how I like each one). The other guitars are consistent and the increase in volume on the new one is noticeable relative to the others.

The new guitar is my only Dread and I was expecting it to be noticeably louder compared to most of my other guitars and up until now it only had a slight edge in volume.

AcousticDreams · #6 12-05-2021, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aspiring

I was astounded this morning how much the sound had changed. I picked it up and started playing and it was significantly louder and more responsive and fuller than when I had last played it yesterday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Some guitars really do sound better when they are played more. My Olson SJ is like that.

- Glenn

The Break in thing can be very real for a new guitar. There are of course exceptions, where for what ever reason, a new guitar stays the same. But I have certainly had lots of luck with all of my new guitars(but one) gaining more bottom end, and becoming more dynamic and or responsive.

I use tonerite for a week or two, followed by heavy handed playing for a month. Such a pleasure to hear the instrument open up and become A stronger more responsive entity.

And I am also beginning to believe(as GlennWillow does) the claim that Instruments need to be played often or they start to loose some of their better characteristic. There have certainly been many such claims by holders of Stradivarius violins. Tube amps are the same way...they need 10 to 20 minutes to warm up and reach their full potential.

stillsteven · #7 12-05-2021, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aspiring

I was astounded this morning how much the sound had changed. I picked it up and started playing and it was significantly louder and more responsive and fuller than when I had last played it yesterday. I was already loving it and now even more so.

Usually this happens to me after relative humidity of my guitar room hovers steadily around 40-45% and my guitar is left on its stand the whole day.

EZYPIKINS · #8 12-06-2021, 06:52 AM

Gotta whip, and beat 'em into submission.

The more they are played. And played in tune. The better they will sound.

New guitars, the wood is in shock. Before sitting on a shelf in a drying room, it was a tree.

Now it's all bent up, and glued together.

It has to be taught to be a guitar.

Much like a maggot has to be trained to be a soldier.

The better the instructor. The better the outcome.

Tony Burns · #9 12-06-2021, 07:42 AM

Ive always believed it can take from 6 months to about a year to break in a guitar -depending on how much you play it . Id suggest not getting a new guitar set up until you play it a while - im waiting a bit for my new Guild 12 string to settle in , the action out of the box is fine but would like it down a hair.