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  #1  
Old 06-03-2019, 04:28 PM
whvick whvick is offline
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Default How to age you guitar

Aging a guitar with sound other than playing. A luthier told me today that you can age the wood in you guitar by putting it in front television or stereo or any sound waves to help age the guitar and get better quality we hear in older guitars. He said it is the vibration of the wood that ages it and it does not have to come from playing it. There is a certain logic in his argument. Comments?
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:41 PM
Purfle Haze Purfle Haze is offline
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As Frank Zappa said, “Shut up and play your guitar.” That’s the best way to age it.
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  #3  
Old 06-03-2019, 04:42 PM
Ozark Ozark is offline
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https://www.tonerite.com/

Some people believe it is snake oil and some swear by it. Try it out and you be the judge.
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:45 PM
CASD57 CASD57 is offline
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I've heard this also...
Maybe if we could hit the right frequency that would start the strings to vibrate, Our guitars would play themselves in a way.... and age itself

I did try laying my Strat on one of those chair vibrators pads...I don't think it works as well for solid guitars
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:46 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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You might want to do a search here on "Tonerite" (a device to artificially vibrate the guitar) for literally reams of discussion of that very topic. My personal opinion is that it takes a while for the wood to realize that it is now a guitar and no longer a tree, so age is a big factor. But vibrations certainly help that process along, letting the wood fibers relax into their new stresses and positions. I'm not sure that just having a guitar "listen" to moderate levels of music is a big deal. The impinging sound waves would have to be quite intense and uncomfortably loud to make any substantial difference.

Sound waves hitting the guitar will cause it to vibrate slightly - you can hear this with a doctor's stethoscope. But actual vibration from a device in contact with the guitar creates levels of vibration that are orders of magnitude greater in intensity than are caused by airborne sound. This is how sound transfer works in buildings - you hear footfalls or impacts come through much more readily than airborne sounds like voices and TV audio.

Another big topic is whether guitars open up with play, or the converse -- they close down if left unplayed. Either topic will have the same range of comments: some believe, some don't, and if you ask four people you'll likely get five opinions.
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:49 PM
bufflehead bufflehead is offline
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When I bought my first guitar, a Guild D-25 purchased new in 1973, the dealer instructed me to store it in its case in front of my stereo speakers to help break it in. I did this all through college and my bachelor years until marrying a woman who didn't want a guitar sitting in front of the speakers. That was in 1977.

I'm happy to report that the marriage is breaking in nicely.
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:51 PM
AllThumbsBruce AllThumbsBruce is offline
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The amount of top motion you get from placing your guitar in front of a speaker or using a tonerite is orders of magnitude less than that from a gentle strum. This can be easily measured with an accelerometer attached to the top of the guitar, but this is unnecessary. We already have a handy-dandy way to tell if the guitar top is moving - when the guitar top moves the guitar makes sound! So unless your guitar is making a lot of sound (like it does when you play it) the top is not moving much.
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:54 PM
Trinity13 Trinity13 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bufflehead View Post
When I bought my first guitar, a Guild D-25 purchased new in 1973, the dealer instructed me to store it in its case in front of my stereo speakers to help break it in. I did this all through college and my bachelor years until marrying a woman who didn't want a guitar sitting in front of the speakers. That was in 1977.

I'm happy to report that the marriage is breaking in nicely.
I did the same thing....but I put mine on a stand, in front one of my speakers for a month or two......I swear it helped, but it could've been just natural opening up from playing.
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Old 06-03-2019, 05:05 PM
Tico Tico is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bufflehead View Post
When I bought my first guitar, a Guild D-25 purchased new in 1973, the dealer instructed me to store it in its case in front of my stereo speakers to help break it in. I did this all through college and my bachelor years until marrying a woman who didn't want a guitar sitting in front of the speakers. That was in 1977.

I'm happy to report that the marriage is breaking in nicely.
But is she allowed to be away from the speaker?
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Old 06-03-2019, 05:11 PM
Tico Tico is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AllThumbsBruce View Post
The amount of top motion you get from placing your guitar in front of a speaker or using a tonerite is orders of magnitude less than that from a gentle strum. This can be easily measured with an accelerometer attached to the top of the guitar, but this is unnecessary. We already have a handy-dandy way to tell if the guitar top is moving - when the guitar top moves the guitar makes sound! So unless your guitar is making a lot of sound (like it does when you play it) the top is not moving much.
But the TR unit grips each string tightly with rubber.
That mutes the strings.
I'm afraid this makes your volume comparison invalid.

Also, I have to work, eat, sleep etc.
I can't strum my guitar continuously for weeks.
ToneRite can (effectively).
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  #11  
Old 06-03-2019, 05:16 PM
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David Eastwood David Eastwood is offline
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Just play it, and let nature take its course.

If what you wanted was an old guitar, there are plenty out there for sale.
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  #12  
Old 06-03-2019, 05:31 PM
CASD57 CASD57 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
You might want to do a search here on "Tonerite" (a device to artificially vibrate the guitar) for literally reams of discussion of that very topic. My personal opinion is that it takes a while for the wood to realize that it is now a guitar and no longer a tree, so age is a big factor. But vibrations certainly help that process along, letting the wood fibers relax into their new stresses and positions. I'm not sure that just having a guitar "listen" to moderate levels of music is a big deal. The impinging sound waves would have to be quite intense and uncomfortably loud to make any substantial difference.

Sound waves hitting the guitar will cause it to vibrate slightly - you can hear this with a doctor's stethoscope. But actual vibration from a device in contact with the guitar creates levels of vibration that are orders of magnitude greater in intensity than are caused by airborne sound. This is how sound transfer works in buildings - you hear footfalls or impacts come through much more readily than airborne sounds like voices and TV audio.

Another big topic is whether guitars open up with playing, or the converse -- they close down if left unplayed. Either topic will have the same range of comments: some believe, some don't, and if you ask four people you'll likely get five opinions.
I actually think that guitars that have a satin finish or less opens up in a week or two of playing, gloss finish takes longer,. And really think that a guitar does open up during playing it in one session, if you haven't played it for awhile, but who knows might be im opening up not the gitar

Last edited by CASD57; 06-03-2019 at 05:39 PM.
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  #13  
Old 06-03-2019, 06:54 PM
AllThumbsBruce AllThumbsBruce is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tico View Post
But the TR unit grips each string tightly with rubber.
That mutes the strings.
I'm afraid this makes your volume comparison invalid.

Also, I have to work, eat, sleep etc.
I can't strum my guitar continuously for weeks.
ToneRite can (effectively).
No, the strings don't make appreciable noise (think un-amplified electric guitar), so muting them doesn't matter. It is a bit counterintuitive, because if you strum, then mute your strings the sound stops. But that is because when you strum, it is the motion of the strings which drives the motion of the top. It is the motion of the top that makes the noise. If you move the top in some other way it will make noise. If no noise appreciable noise is coming out of your guitar, it is because the top is not moving much. If the guitar top is moving it will make noise. The Tonerite vibration of the top is about 100 times less than that of a gentle strum.
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  #14  
Old 06-03-2019, 07:57 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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I don't have a Tonerite handy to test, but I do have sound meters and accelerometers. My rough guess is that the airborne sound-driven top vibration is 1X, whereas a Tonerite is maybe 10X or 20X, and a firm strum is 100X comparatively. The driving frequency is almost irrelevant, assuming it is low enough, since the strings and the top will resonate and move according to their natural vibration modes anyway.

If someone wanted to send me a Tonerite, I could make the actual vibration measurements. (I'm not trolling for a Tonerite, just making a point. Most of my guitars are carbon fiber these days, and they won't "open up" for maybe 300,000 years or so).
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  #15  
Old 06-04-2019, 04:57 AM
Fingerpicker23 Fingerpicker23 is offline
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I put my new Martin D-18 in front of the left stereo as speaker in my music room and blasted Southern Man in a loop for three weeks straight, 24 hours a day. The problem after that was that the guitar sounded terrible if I'd play any other song than that. So what I did was reverse the song so that it played continually backwards, the same three weeks and 24 hours a day. Now every song in every key sound amazing. Boy do I love that guitar now!
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