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September 2011
Posts: 51
Location: Appleton, WI | I have never considered myself a guitar collector, however like most of us I have more guitars than I will play during any given month  . They are all six strings and they are all wall hangers in my climate controlled music room. My questions are... Should I de-tune the guitars that go more than a couple months without being played?
Should I be worried about the soundboard, bridge or neck joint? What do the "collectors" do?
Thanks. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | They send them to me in SoCal, for safe keeping...... |
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Joined:
September 2011
Posts: 51
Location: Appleton, WI | LOL!! Thanks, I' will keep that in mind. |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Ovations?.... wouldn't worry about 'em. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Think about it for a minute. Here in a music store there will be guitars that sell quickly, and there will also (unfortunately) be guitars that hang on the wall forever. I mean, I have had some guitars that hang there for over a year before someone buys them. But they are all kept in tune so when someone wants to try them out they are ready. No problems.
So keep your guitars in tune and choose a different guitar to play each week. Next week, choose a different one. That way they all get played and each guitar will bring a new and different inspiration to your playing. |
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Joined:
September 2011
Posts: 51
Location: Appleton, WI | good answer. Thank you |
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June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | If you detune them you will play them even less due to the hassle of retuning. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4042
Location: Utah | Alternate tunings. I keep one tuned a full step low, another in open G. If you don't play a particular guitar very often you could put it in an alternate tuning which has lower overall tension.
An O or A should be fine at concert pitch, but if I were to put one away in the closet I would detune it by a full step and then loosen the truss rod accordingly. Over time, decades, an O will change dimensions. Not as much as a wood box, but they will deform some. Rarely but not never we see bridges which pull up or top braces which pop loose. Some guitars develop a belly in the top behind the bridge. Aside from a (rare) manufacturing defect where a glue joint breaks, these deformations take 30+ years to become problematic.
There seem to be many older Os and As around which have no real problems from being kept tuned to concert pitch. It isn't a big worry. But if the guitar does change, the most likely repair to be needed is a a neck reset. Some of the neck and bowl designs allow for a simple neck reset.
If you play your guitar regularly, I wouldn't worry about it. It isn't a museum piece, and you cannot enjoy it if you don't use it. Wear, damage, and deformation will happen. You'll get many decades of use out of it, and most likely a good luthier can repair or adjust it for another 50 years of use if it becomes necessary.
Edited by FlySig 2014-10-29 12:04 AM
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | Mine are currently in closets while our house is up for sale. I have little time to play, but I was able to put that time to much better use when the guitars were out, tuned and ready to go. Occasionally I'd pick one off the wall that was out of tune and I'd tune it back up, but Ovations stay in tune for a long time if kept out in controlled conditions. You'll enjoy them much more if they are readily available. |
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Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 755
Location: Muenster/Germany | My guitars are also on wall hangers and I try to play all of them for a couple of chords every day. (The good thing is that with different guitars I may play different styles when I´m in different moods). OV´s really stay in tune for a long time when not in use but I would advise you if you pick a guitar after a long time to shortly detune every string so that the tuning machines will be moved and the grease in the mechanic parts will be guided through the machines again and the softer metal parts will not tend to get stressed with the steady pressure of the strings.(I don´t know so much technical english and I hope I expressed right what I wanted to say..) |
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Too many guitars, not enough time.
