Guitars home alone.....

Cougar

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I was up in the Idaho panhandle for the past month, and my precious guitars were home all alone. I was pretty worried about the cold temps and the humidity and hoping I didn't have a bunch of finish checking or even cracks on my return....

I left them in their cases for a full day as the house heated back up. (I let it get down to 50 F when away).

Total relief when I opened them up! They still look brand new! Man, these Guilds are just spectacular. (The Gibson Songwriter 12 is pretty darn nice, too.) One happy traveler here!

F-50R
f50r557.jpg
 

davismanLV

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What a beautiful guitar, Cougar!! Look at the silking on that top!! Glad they're all marked "safe".

I'm marked safe from Romaine, but somehow it's not the same....... :applouse:
 

Antney

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Glad the guitars are ok, but I’m curious...ain’t it worth a few bucks to heat the place to 62 and have piece of mind your investment is protected?
 

walrus

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+1 on the beautiful finish silking on that! And a gorgeous burst, too!

walrus
 

richardp69

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Glad the guitars are ok, but I’m curious...ain’t it worth a few bucks to heat the place to 62 and have piece of mind your investment is protected?

I keep my house at a constant 56 degrees in the winter months. I find it comfortable and I'm not aware of any issues with my guitars because of it. I just think of those beautiful mid to late October days when the temps are in the low to mid 50's. Those are some of the nicest days of the year. So my thought process (likely faulty) is why not keep it at about that in the winter too.

Beautiful guitar by the way. That burst finish is pretty spectacular.
 

Cougar

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Did you not take ONE with you? Maybe one that wasn't so precious? :confused:

You know, I really screwed up. I should have taken the 70s Epiphone 12-string that isn't worth much more than a couple hundred bucks, and it plays and sounds pretty decent. But we were going up there to outfit our new "vacation rental," and my car was crammed full and the UHaul trailer I towed was also crammed full of stuff. I ended up buying a cheapo Jay Turser out of a Sandpoint music store just to have something to play. It would have cost more to rent a guitar for two weeks. The all lam "Jay" was not that bad. After I got back and strummed my F50R, it was like, OMG! I've got the Holy Grail right here!
 

beecee

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Cougar if anything had happened to that JF-30-12.....:distress:

But I did worse.

I had my Madeira up at the camp and left it out on the porch. A screened in porch. Took it home last week after it had suffered through a few a sub zero days and nights.

Laminated guitar, so luckily no finish damage but the bridge is coming up...after 41 years!!!!!!!!!!

I feel pretty stupid. For penance I may try and reset it myself.
 

chazmo

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beecee, did you have the Madeira in a hard-shell case or just out on the porch? I'm only asking because if your guitar is cased, it won't be subject to a particularly rapid change in temperature. yeah, the thing will get cold (or warm) but should avoid thermal shock (the kind that crazes finish) if kept in the case.

That all said, better to keep it indoors, of course.
 

Quantum Strummer

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When I take my yearly late Oct/early Nov holiday west of the west coast, I set the house thermostat to 55° F. Never does any harm to my guitars (though my favs go into storage, at around 65°, while I'm away). Sudden drops in temp & humidity and extreme lows/highs of each are what you want to avoid.

There's no way I could tolerate a constant 56° in the house! I'm still shivering at 68°, and so I keep the house at 70° during winter. :)

-Dave-
 

beecee

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beecee, did you have the Madeira in a hard-shell case or just out on the porch? I'm only asking because if your guitar is cased, it won't be subject to a particularly rapid change in temperature. yeah, the thing will get cold (or warm) but should avoid thermal shock (the kind that crazes finish) if kept in the case.

That all said, better to keep it indoors, of course.

A case??

I haven't had a case for it for probably 20+ years.

Nope I was in a big fat hurry to get home one weekend and left it up against the chair. Too darned cold the subsequent 2x I was there and we spent most of those times tending to canoes and kayaks and literally battening down the hatches...and shutters.

Saw it on my last go through after removing all freezable stuff and winterizing the plumbing system.

I really did not notice until I started playing it at home and it sounded "off"
 

Cougar

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...I had my Madeira up at the camp and left it out on the porch. A screened in porch. Took it home last week after it had suffered through a few a sub zero days and nights.

Laminated guitar, so luckily no finish damage but the bridge is coming up...after 41 years!!!!!!!!!!

I left the Jay Turser up there... in the "shop" (which could house a boat and a greyhound bus). It's just in a cardboard box. I was going to leave it inside the house for the use of any renters, but Mrs. Cougar warned they'd just take it, or the cleaning people would. The shop is not heated, and the property is about 50 miles from the Canadian border, so it's going to get cold. We'll see how all laminate "Jay" does....

The JF30-12 is stellar as ever.

jib805.jpg
 

Cougar

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....With wildlife right outside the windows....

This house is right in the forest. So I was just a little bit freaked out when I came around the front of the house and saw this right up the hill. That's my driveway coming off the private road that the property is on....

hop787.jpg


I got up there to see what was going on, and it was a big slash pile on fire, which was in a clearing. But it was pretty big, and I was looking at the nearby trees. But nobody was there. Jeez, shouldn't somebody be watching this? Anyway, I called 911, got the local fire crew to check it out. But man, I was freaked out there for a minute!

hop826-2.jpg
 
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