Hmm, interesting. I took him literally. I think he's meaning that over time, the wood in a guitar will no longer respond to the frequencies the strings set up in the guitar.
Yes that IS what he means, he says exactly that at 3:00 in," the
guitar gets
used to the strings".
He does say it's his "personal theory" and the variables in that anecdote are the D'Addario vs Martin strings
He said they'd been using D'Addarios and a brand new set just didn't sound right, so switched to Martins and bingo guitar sounded good again.
Let's assume the D'A's weren't a "bad set" for some reason, which given their consistency is a very safe assumption.
Could there be physics justification for his theory?
Why yes, there could be.
I could be wrong but I think what TE actually meant by saying guitars get used to certain strings is that WE (as players) get used to the sound of those strings on that particular guitar. We can bring the guitar to life again by trying new strings.
exactly.
guitars are wood, steel, plastic, other inanimate components. he means his ears get bored with the strings on a particular guitar over time, so he changes it up. totally true.
I am flabbergasted, sir, that you of all people would let that perception make you forget that that same collection of "inanimate components" is actually undergoing a slow continuous evolution from tight and newly-built to aged and broken in.
OK, perhaps you can be forgiven because you never leave a set on long enough for Ol' Flattop to get bored of 'em, and that it's probably so broken in and opened up by now that it really IS immune to any further boredom...:glee:
But, for those guitars which haven't yet become petrified:
Why do necks need resets? Because the tension of the strings pulls the dovetail into a different position in its socket.
The glue of the bracing and around the edges of the top gets looser with the ongoing vibration of playing.
Sure hideglue's the best stuff their is for creep resistance and strength but time takes its toll no matter what.
(Just ask my, oh, nevermind...)
The topwood itself undergoes physical changes (bellying) induced by stress, and even the cellulose conductive tubes of the wood itself change over time and become ever so slightly more hollow with age.
Let's not forget that NCL finish also loses mass continuously as it ages, and perhaps the bond to the wood becomes a bit looser as well?
Having established those known phenomena, I don't think it's such a far stretch to hypothesize that perhaps after enough time the top does kind of "take a set" after being subjected to the frequency/vibration characteristics of a given set of strings, and no longer behaves as it did when those strings were first used.
I think Tommy's pet theory has some real potential validity roots due to the nature of the instrument.
He probably senses it intuitively if not outright, for the same reasons I explained, and maybe just didn't think this video was the place to go into all that?
OK, after presenting all that, I also think it's entirely possible that after getting used to that new set's characteristics, it may well respond differently to the "old" strings again after that change to something different for a while.