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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 |
#2
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The "garbage bag" trick seems to be the go-to for many. See here for description; http://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topic...eam-separation
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#3
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There are people on here with a whole lot more experience than me, but I would say SLOWLY would be the key
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#4
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Wow. I've never encountered a really severe case. If you can keep us posted, that would be great. Good luck. Patience!
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#5
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Those methods work well. You can also put the guitar in the bathroom after taking a shower.
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#6
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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?
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#7
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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
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE Last edited by mirwa; 03-07-2017 at 12:25 AM. |
#8
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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". |
#9
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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.
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"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon |
#10
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Quote:
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.... |
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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.
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" 000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240 |
#12
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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
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |
#13
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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. |
#14
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Double post
Last edited by bjmcfar; 03-07-2017 at 09:47 PM. Reason: Double post |
#15
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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? |