Acclimatize the guitar??? Logic is escaping me.

[GratefulParrot]

Hey guys.

I'm still waiting on my D30 to arrive. I've read in the thread that a couple peeps are telling me to sit on the package and wait for 12-24 hours before opening to acclimatize the guitar to prevent damage. I blindly trust you guys at this site and probably will wait before opening (though this really really sucks) staring at a box with my first Guild and not being able to pull it out and play it immediately.

But in my experiences in shipping (not guitar, but everthing else), the package usually sits at least 12 hours at the local shipper (UPS, FedEx, USPS), before being delivered to my house. Is that not acclimating the guitar in the same city? I mean, I understand if dogberry (in WA) shipped overnight to Nashville, there a temp change, but in standard shipping, it sits everywhere in the country a couple hours before being furthered on to the next destination, eventually getting to me. Am I missing something?

Thanks.
GP

 

[dreadnut]

Well, if it's really cold outside and warm in the house, I think this would be good advice. on the other hand, if the temperatures are more moderate, I'd just let the package sit inside for a couple hours before opening.

 

[Default]

The trucks are unheated and the packages never warm up, so, if you open it right away the finish will craze.
Better safe than sorry.

 

[dapmdave]

Well, if it's really cold outside and warm in the house, I think this would be good advice. on the other hand, if the temperatures are more moderate, I'd just let the package sit inside for a couple hours before opening.

Savor the anticipation.

Check this Guild siting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDJ_Mz8f ... re=related

F-312?

Dave

 

[devellis]

Yeah, totally depends on the temperature differential. Remember, unless it's an end-of-day delivery, you should probably figure on the differential between the overnight low and your indoor temperature. If the truck's been driving around all day in the sun, that'll warm things up. The 12-hour stuff applies when it's been like zero, Farenheit and your house is a cozy 70 degrees. That kind of a change will craze some finishes (like nitrocellulose). On the other hand, I took delivery of my F-512 on Friday. It was about 65 degrees outside and about 72 degrees inside. I needed to wait until I could run an errand but when I got back, about a half-hour later, out of the box and case it came. The delay wasn't for safety sake but because I had something that needed to get done. If you're confident that the guitar is at or above 40 degrees, probably not much to worry about. Forty will feel cool to the touch -- like something from the refrigerator that's been on the kitchen counter for a few minutes. If the box feels noticeably cool, wait a bit. If the box doesn't really feel that cool, pop open the end and feel the case. If it feels noticeably cool, give it time to warm up. When it feels less noticeably cool, slide it out of the box. Pop the lid and touch the guitar top. If it's noticeably cool, re-close the lid and let it come up in temperature. If anything feels as cool or cooler than, say, an apple fresh from the refrigerator, I'd give it a little time to warm up. But the real hazard is when it's very cold and the finish goes from freezing temperatures to room temperatures in a flash.

This acclimating stuff is pretty conservative but better safe than sorry. On the other hand, if spring has sprung in your part of the world, you probably have nothing to worry about.

 

[Thunderface]

Along these same lines, I'm about to ship my first accoustic guitar. I've shipped a lot of electrics, but this is my first accoustic, and it's in an original hardshell case. Other than the usual wrapping of the headstock to prevent whiplash, and filling the package with packing peanuts, is there anything else I should know. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

 

[fungusyoung]

Along these same lines, I'm about to ship my first accoustic guitar. I've shipped a lot of electrics, but this is my first accoustic, and it's in an original hardshell case. Other than the usual wrapping of the headstock to prevent whiplash, and filling the package with packing peanuts, is there anything else I should know. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Peanuts can be OK, but bubble wrap is better. Peanuts can move around quite a bit in transit so there's a bit less stability unless you use them as a supplement to bubble wrap, extra cardboard, etc. that is used to keep the guitar/case in place. Extra cushioning at the top & bottom of the package is important... most damage I've seen is usually at the top or bottom. Also, be sure to remove the endpin. Countless stories here of endpins being left in & cracks resulting. It even happened to me when I shipped an F30 with pickup in the endpin slot in spite of additional packaging around that area (inside the case) & in the bottom of the box. You can't take enough precautions when packing/shipping gear... particularly acoustic guitars & amps.

 

[capnjuan]

Need a little padding under the neck at the cross brace. If dropped on its back, the cross brace acts like a fulcrum stopping the body and neck but the head keeps on moving. Just a little ... just a pinch between your teeth and gums ... just something to absorb a little impact ... yes, will elevate the head slightly but compensate with a little more padding underneath.

 

[GardMan]

Along these same lines, I'm about to ship my first accoustic guitar. I've shipped a lot of electrics, but this is my first accoustic, and it's in an original hardshell case. Other than the usual wrapping of the headstock to prevent whiplash, and filling the package with packing peanuts, is there anything else I should know. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

See here...

 

[john_kidder]

Need a little padding under the neck at the cross brace. If dropped on its back, the cross brace acts like a fulcrum stopping the body and neck but the head keeps on moving. Just a little ... just a pinch between your teeth and gums ... just something to absorb a little impact ... yes, will elevate the head slightly but compensate with a little more padding underneath.

There are a number of stories around, and some strongly delivered advice from folks like Joe Vinikow at archtop.com, about padding above and below the headstock so that it has no freedom, none at all, to move in any direction. As the cap'n says, the cross brace is a fulcrum, and the leverage exerted by a sudden stop, for instance when the the warehouse guy interprets the "fragile"" sticker as a challenge rather than a constraint and hurls your guitar box into the back of a bin or the truck, can be enough, say those with vast experience in these matters, to snap a headstock right off. so pad under and above the headstock, so that when you close the case there is no possibie way for it to move a milllimeter in any direction.

 

[Default]

FWIW, I worked at UPS a while back and the tractor trailers have a 20 foot slide that the packages are dropped down. I posted a pic in the thread about Barbara's shipping damage.

Here's a pic of a package jam.

It's one of the reasons that I'm a gear bulimic.

 

[West R Lee]

What actually happens is that on a lacquer finished guitar shipped in bitterly cold temps, if abruptly exposed to room temperature, the wood (which would be contracted) expands at a faster rate than the lacquer. As the wood expands, the lacquer cracks. If I may be so bold. :wink:

Though I've never seen it myself, nor would I like to, I have heard of guitars that have been unpacked in those conditions and cracked before the new owner's eyes.

West

 

[Thunderface]

Thanks, fellas. I knew you guys would have the answers I was looking for.

 

[john_kidder]

FWIW, I worked at UPS a while back and the tractor trailers have a 20 foot slide that the packages are dropped down. I posted a pic in the thread about Barbara's shipping damage.

Here's a pic of a package jam.

Wonder how many of those have "Fragile", "Do Not Stack", or "This Side Up" stickers?

 

[jgwoods]

A 12 hour wait to open a newly received guitar is one of those oft repeated internet "rules" that is perpetuated everywhere along with sad stories of damaged finish, mostly by people who haven't had the problem but want to post something they think they know.
I think its silly.
If theres a big temperature difference between the package and the house then let it acclimate for a while. Other than that don't worry about it. If you are like most folks you will take the guitar places and play it inside and outside and subject it to moderate temperature shocks all its life. They survive, thrive even.
I take my guitars, fiddles and mandolins out to bars riding on the back of my motorcycle on 35 degree nights and open them right up in the 70 degree building- no problems, just a little tuning before I play.

Mario Proulx (fine Canadian Builder) posted some pictures of one of his guitars covered with frost from a long ride at -20f on a snowmobile to a cabin in the woods where everyone played by the wood fire- ruined the finish yes, but the guitar was fine. :shock:

On last thing- if you are shipping a guitar take the end pin button out if you can. Getting dropped on the end is common and if the pin hits the hard part of the case you get damage.

 

[Default]

20' slide guarantees a pretty good strike on either end.

 

[adorshki]

The trucks are unheated and the packages never warm up, so, if you open it right away the finish will craze.
Better safe than sorry.

The point being if it got REALLY COLD somewhere, it may not really have warmed up yet, the heat has to penetrate all the way back into the case which is somewhat of an insulator itself, besides any extra packaging. Again, it was just one of those things better said than not said. 8)

 

[West R Lee]

http://www.trinityguitars.com/steelstr/return.htm

http://www.300guitars.com/2010/02/shipp ... er-months/

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/re ... swers.html

And last but not least....from the C.F Martin company......who by the way won't ship in bitterly cold weather.....but what do they know?

http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/tec ... idity.html

But I generally keep my Guilds in a tub of liquid nitrogen while I'm ice fishing, then I heat them up at the campfire and play away.........never had a problem.

West

 

[Ross]

FWIW, I worked at UPS a while back and the tractor trailers have a 20 foot slide that the packages are dropped down. I posted a pic in the thread about Barbara's shipping damage.

Here's a pic of a package jam.

Wonder how many of those have "Fragile", "Do Not Stack", or "This Side Up" stickers?

The one with the bull's-eye is a tempting target :lol:

 

[adorshki]

But I generally keep my Guilds in a tub of liquid nitrogen while I'm ice fishing, then I heat them up at the campfire and play away.........never had a problem.
West

I think you got the instructions for proper care of your guitars mixed up with the ones for your beer.... :lol: