Shocked when sanding my neck

[cyclistbrian]

Originally Posted by kizz

Had a weird experience today. I decided to sand my satin neck with 0000 steel wool as I like it more smooth. I was not going to sand it to the bottom, but just give it a light twist. After sanding a bit I put the guitar on my stand and went to the toilet When I came back I picked up the guitar and played on it and bang ! the guitar suddenly sounded louder, much more resonant and with a fuller bass.

We must also consider that when you picked the guitar back up YOU were presumably carrying less mass and were less humid.

[kizz]

Originally Posted by 12barBill

Maybe people should be placing their Tonerites on the back of the neck instead of the bridge.

Forget tonerite, too expensive, a twist of steelwool and a toiletvisit is all you need to open up a guitar :-)

[Brucebubs]

Interesting result.

One of the features of my 2020 Gibson Custom Shop Historic 1957 SJ-200 is a very thin lacquer finish all over - I believe it's only 4 coats instead of the usual glossy 9 coats.

I'm not sure how much the thin lacquer finish contributes to the sound but together with the 'thermally aged' top and hide glue construction the guitar sounds magnificent.

[AcousticDreams]

There is no question that lots of smaller things could cause this. Like your ears becoming less plugged(which can happen between waking up and an couple of hours). It is possible that the liquids or solids inside you were restricting your muscles..effecting your ears or other parts.

That is the most likely scenario having to do with your body. However, Anything is possible. A slight sanding may have cleaned dirt off the finish. Most everyone believes that there is a difference in sound between Gloss finish and sating finish. And if that is true..then...who knows...might have had some dirt in pores.

In a recent pole, only about a 1/3 of the people could tell a difference in sound when wearing a Short Sleeve T-shirt versus a long Sleeve sweater. So one might ask what is going on with those type of numbers. Are those 1/3 people imagining? or does Sound react differently for different people.

I do not know the answer myself. All I can tell you....is most everything effects the sound of an acoustic guitar in some ways or another. For some people a little difference is a big difference because of their playing style. For others...it is barely noticeable and in reality makes no difference.

In the world of acoustic guitars most anything is possible, regardless of how unlikely.

[kizz]

Seriously and joking aside, I know the guitar quite well and how it sounds humid / non humid. I can tell that the change was so drastic that I thought a brace had broken loose, however, I can not just see or hear anything by tapping the bottom and top. This is not just my ears playing a trick on me, the guitar is more resonant now than it usually is and still is after several hours.

[redir]

This thread is not really about guitars it's about psychology. Psychoacoustics to be precise.

[Sugar Bear]

Does the guitar have a nitrocellulose lacquer finish or a polyurethane finish?

Entombing things in plastic is not good for them.

For a demonstration of the the principle, put a plastic bag over your head until you can no longer breathe. This represents the polyurethane finish on a guitar.

Once you can't breathe, reach up and tear a small hole in the bag. This represents taking the steel wool to the neck and removing some of the finish.

Which do you enjoy more?

Very soon, I will be told how very wrong I am. But I'm not. And the same people who can't wait to tell me that I'm wrong would turn up their noses immediately at a guitar with plastic nut and saddle.

But they don't mind if their entire guitar is entombed in plastic.

I hate polyurethane in all its nefarious forms, for multiple reasons. You should, too.

[redir]

Well psychology and conspiracy theories too.

[RvrDxn]

Originally Posted by kizz

I don´t know what you mean ?

He made a joke that had absolutely nothing to do with what you were talking about.

[Sugar Bear]

Originally Posted by redir

Well psychology and conspiracy theories too.

I worked as a polymer chemist in research and development. I happened to be one of four chemists working the day that the very first twelve kilometer segment of fiber optic cable was drawn. It was deemed that fiber optics would not be commercially viable unless fiber optic cable could be drawn in at least twelve kilometer segments.

That happened because of the polymer coating that we developed and applied. It had never been done before. If you use fiber optics, I get twenty-five percent of the credit. I also happen to be a luthier.

My wife was also a polymer chemist before she went into medicine. All her favorite guitars have a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The other one is a, "campfire guitar".

But you can spend your money for plastic-entombed guitars if you wish.

However, if you're going to mount an argument against things that people say, avoid the faux laughing, conspiracy theory wisecracks. It is immediately interpreted by thinking people as, "I don't have an argument that will hold water, so I'll crack a conspiracy theory joke instead."

[stillsteven]

Originally Posted by kizz

Had a weird experience today. I decided to sand my satin neck with 0000 steel wool as I like it more smooth. I was not going to sand it to the bottom, but just give it a light twist. After sanding a bit I put the guitar on my stand and went to the toilet When I came back I picked up the guitar and played on it and bang ! the guitar suddenly sounded louder, much more resonant and with a fuller bass. For a longer period there has been about 60% humidity in my room which of course could be heard on the guitar, so I was shocked by this sudden development. I have a hard time believing that it may be the bit of finish I have removed that should be able to create this development, what do you think, is it just a coincidence ?

me: scramble to find 0000 steel wool in my house

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by 12barBill

I think he was referring to pots in an electric guitar.

I thought he referred to the toilet.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Sugar Bear

I worked as a polymer chemist in research and development. I happened to be one of four chemists working the day that the very first twelve kilometer segment of fiber optic cable was drawn. It was deemed that fiber optics would not be commercially viable unless fiber optic cable could be drawn in at least twelve kilometer segments.

That happened because of the polymer coating that we developed and applied. It had never been done before. If you use fiber optics, I get twenty-five percent of the credit. I also happen to be a luthier.

My wife was also a polymer chemist before she went into medicine. All her favorite guitars have a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The other one is a, "campfire guitar".

But you can spend your money for plastic-entombed guitars if you wish.

However, if you're going to mount an argument against things that people say, avoid the faux laughing, conspiracy theory wisecracks. It is immediately interpreted by thinking people as, "I don't have an argument that will hold water, so I'll crack a conspiracy theory joke instead."

Did you know that the number of people who drowned in a pool from the year 2000 to 2010 is almost identical to the number of movies Nicholas Cage appeared in?

Crazy I know, but it's true.

[High_Colorado]

I need to borrow some steel wool for fuel injector maintenance on my camry! [emoji55]

Seriously tho, have you considered sanding off more than just the neck at this point?

[Eraser]

I waxed my car today and it drives faster now