The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 03-06-2017, 08:30 PM
bjmcfar bjmcfar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5
Default Rehydrating a severely dry guitar

I just picked up a severely dried out guitar. All solid woods. Beautiful guitar but the previous owner didn't hydrate it at all. Surprisingly the top didn't crack but it is very cupped. The ebony fingerboard has some cracks and is bowed in after the 14th fret due to the top. The back is cracked from top to bottom along the book matched seam. Even with all this it sounds good with it's very dead strings.

I've started rehydrating it in its case. My question is if the Oasis hydrators will work or should I pick up some damp-its following the example from the Bob Taylor YouTube video on rehydrating a very dry guitar. Thanks in advance for any responses.

Last edited by bjmcfar; 03-06-2017 at 08:31 PM. Reason: Text edits
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-06-2017, 08:36 PM
Bowie Bowie is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,207
Default

The "garbage bag" trick seems to be the go-to for many. See here for description; http://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topic...eam-separation
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-06-2017, 08:49 PM
Quickstep192 Quickstep192 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,656
Default

There are people on here with a whole lot more experience than me, but I would say SLOWLY would be the key
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-06-2017, 10:05 PM
Mr Fingers Mr Fingers is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,007
Default

Wow. I've never encountered a really severe case. If you can keep us posted, that would be great. Good luck. Patience!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-06-2017, 10:16 PM
redir redir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Mountains of Virginia
Posts: 7,657
Default

Those methods work well. You can also put the guitar in the bathroom after taking a shower.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-06-2017, 10:18 PM
bjmcfar bjmcfar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5
Default

Thanks for the quick replies. I'm definitely taking it slow. One more question: Should I keep the guitar tuned to pitch or release all tension on the strings while rehydrating?
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-06-2017, 11:56 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 3,109
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
Those methods work well. You can also put the guitar in the bathroom after taking a shower.
That is actually not a bad idea for a dry guitar, if someone does not wish to spend money on a humidity controller.

I believe most repairers / builders would have to have some way of controlling humidity, if not for repairs then at least for storing wood.

I personally have a cabinet that is computer controlled, so I run re-hydration cycles for dry or wet guitars that can last as long as a week.


Steve
__________________
Cole Clark Fat Lady
Gretsch Electromatic
Martin CEO7
Maton Messiah
Taylor 814CE

Last edited by mirwa; 03-07-2017 at 12:25 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-07-2017, 11:18 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Idaho
Posts: 10,982
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
You can also put the guitar in the bathroom after taking a shower.
I would avoid doing that. Too much humidity too soon might shock the guitar. Slow and steady.......

I've used multiple Damp-its, the damp towel / garbage bag trick and others over the years. Mostly I am rescuing my student's guitars or ukulele. I have also put an empty hard case open in the bathroom while showering to get it to absorb moisture. Cases can soak up more moisture than the guitar itself, so at first you are mostly humidifying the case.

Secondly there should be no need to release all the string tension. If you do, also back off the truss rod completely to avoid "back-bow".
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-07-2017, 12:42 PM
Howard Klepper Howard Klepper is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Earthly Paradise of Northern California
Posts: 6,627
Default

As often is the case, I find that I would need a lot of information that others seem to be able to do without.

What make and model and age is the guitar?

Where do you live? What is the typical humidity now inside and outside? How is the house heated?

Photos showing the current issues. People who are not professional repairers often misdiagnose.
__________________
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest."
--Paul Simon
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-07-2017, 01:31 PM
redir redir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Mountains of Virginia
Posts: 7,657
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
Those methods work well. You can also put the guitar in the bathroom after taking a shower.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
That is actually not a bad idea for a dry guitar...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
I would avoid doing that...
Isn't the Internet wonderful

I guess I like to assume that the OP is not an idiot, nor the people, some of which have 20 plus years experience in this business who respond are too. The thread is about a dried out guitar. Whether or not the OP has a dried out guitar is kind of beside the point really. The responses in turn are about a dried out guitar and what we do to remedy it. Like any advice received online you take it with a grain of salt. If the OP has in his possession a 1960 Gibson Hummingbird and he decides to dip it in the ocean because someone told him to then... well....
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 03-07-2017, 02:00 PM
fazool's Avatar
fazool fazool is online now
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 16,559
Default

i had a strange experience once with sapele:

I had a severely dehydrated guitar. I didn't have a meter but after a very (very) long time, I was convinced the wood was as re-hydrated as it was ever going to get. It had returned most of the way, too.

But, it seemed to "take a set" permanently and never recovered fully (a seam would not close all the way).

If wood can be bent and permanently stay there, I presume some mechanism exists where it loses something and stays somewhat permanently shrunken.
__________________
Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter"

000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 03-07-2017, 07:07 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 3,109
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Klepper View Post
As often is the case, I find that I would need a lot of information that others seem to be able to do without.
I agree with your comment in general.

For me, it matters not what enviroment it came from, how dry it may be or even how wet, what happened to it is irrespective to my process, I simply put it into this cabinet, program the cabinet for a 2 or 3 day cycle and it restores the humidity for the whole guitar back to 50 percent at 20 degrees celcius.

Steve

__________________
Cole Clark Fat Lady
Gretsch Electromatic
Martin CEO7
Maton Messiah
Taylor 814CE
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 03-07-2017, 09:38 PM
bjmcfar bjmcfar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Klepper View Post
As often is the case, I find that I would need a lot of information that others seem to be able to do without.

What make and model and age is the guitar?

Where do you live? What is the typical humidity now inside and outside? How is the house heated?

Photos showing the current issues. People who are not professional repairers often misdiagnose.
Howard - Beautiful guitars on your site. Guess I didn't provide enough details.

The guitar is a Larrivee D-03BW. Not sure the year but from limited research it's early to mid 2000s.

Live in CO and the guitar lived in CO as far as I know.

No measurements on the house humidity but don't humidify and gas heat. Keep Oasis humidifiers in my other acoustics and a dampit in my archtop year round since we seldom get extended stretches of high humidity days. I still watch the meter in the cases to prevent over or under humidity levels.

The first repair tech said he couldn't give me a repair estimate until it was rehydrated thus my questions on technique and strings under tension. I've reviewed other thread here and YouTube videos and currently have an email sent to a local luthier to get an appointment. I don't generally post pics on forums but did take a series of pics using straight edges for reference. If you would like I can email them to you or other who've kindly offered advice but need additional detail.

Thanks to all who have taken time to reply.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 03-07-2017, 09:45 PM
bjmcfar bjmcfar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5
Default

Double post

Last edited by bjmcfar; 03-07-2017 at 09:47 PM. Reason: Double post
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 05-30-2020, 08:44 PM
JFairweather JFairweather is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 3
Default Shocking loss of tone

I bought a brand-new Alvarez-Yairi DY50 (50th anniv ltd, figured mahogny back and sides, cedar top) back in 1979. The one was astonishingly rich - like a grand piano. I've got a Martin D-16 that sounds good, but nowhere close to the way the DY-50 sounded (perhaps only a quarter as good). I had the DY-50 for around 15 years until it was destroyed in transport. I then spent twenty years looking for a replacement until I found one.

Whoever the owners had been, the guitar had clearly spent every winter in a house without a humidifier. One fret had lifted up and the guitar had a thin, reedy tone with absolutely no richness whatsoever. It sounds like a cheap instrument. Physically, there is no cracking and no hump - it just sounds awful. In order to perform with it I've been using a Fishman Ellipse system (crescent-shaped internal mount with vol and tone and an internal gooseneck mic) and a Fishman Aura modeling preamp.

I've had it in a humidity controlled environment for a couple of years but that hasn't helped. I've heard about the wet sponge at the bottom of a heavy-duty trash bag approach to rehumidifying. Has anyone tried this? Would this cause damage to the Ellipse?
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:10 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=