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I think bugs are eating my guitar!


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  • Members
Posted

I was just looking closely at the bridge of my Carvin Cobalt and I noticed some really really tiny white bugs moving around on it - smaller than a period on the screen. I tried to squash them with a pick, and I noticed another one come out from under the bridge, and then another that was larger, and this one wasn't white, it was dark. What's going on and what can I do about it?

  • Members
Posted

 

they are probably termites. you might need to get some termite killer and spray a little in there. or bomb your house and leave your guitar in there. good luck

 

 

 

These aren't termites. You wouldn't see termites like this and if you did the guitar would be the least of your worries.

 

Also in case anyone ever has termites in their house, this isn't the way you exterminate them.

  • Members
Posted

 

If they aren't termites do I need to be worried about them? It's not like I'm seeing holes in the bridge or anything.

 

 

It's hard to say exactly what type of bug they are and it's also hard to say if they are a risk to your guitar. There are many species of wood boring bugs, if that is what they are. You wouldn't necessarily notice any holes since they would be boring from underneath. Again that's if they are wood boring pests.

 

My advice would be to capture one or two and take them to an extermination company and have them see if they can identify.

If you live near a university you could take them there and see if someone in science department can identify. Most universities have classes in entomology.

 

But my suggestion is hold off on the spraying and the lock it in a closet and fumagate it routine until you know what you're dealing with. Yes it will probably kill the bugs but then you have to deal with the oily residue left behind.

  • Members
Posted

I live in Jacksonville too. If it were my guitar, I'd do as someone else suggested and collect a couple of the bugs and take them to the Turner Ace Hardware on Hodges Boulevard. They've got some pretty knowledgeable folks in there concerning wood eating bugs. See if they can eyeball them and tell you what they are - don't tell them where you found them.

 

~Blackbelt

  • Members
Posted

 

Originally posted by Raskolnikovs axe

Why shouldn't I tell them where I found them?

 

 

Because you don't want somebody blowing smoke up your butt. Give them the bugs and let them figure the rest out and give you the facts. After you find out what they are, then feel free to tell them where you found them.

 

~Blackbelt

  • Members
Posted

I haven't done this with my guitars yet, but I've always kept a bag of pipe tobacco in with my violin. For some reason if you keep a violin lying around for a long time, bugs will come in and eat the horsehair on the bow, but tobacco keeps them away. Smells good, too. Anyway, it might help with a guitar as well, although I don't know if it would scare away bugs that are already there.

  • Members
Posted

Wood mites maybe? They eat glue.

 

Be damned careful about pesticides around your guitar. I remember once I played my old Guild back in the 70's. I had insect repellent on my arms.

 

It was "OFF". And it rubbed the beautiful gloss finish OFF my pretty red guild where my arm touched the guitar.

  • Members
Posted

A friend of mine had a similar experience. After noticing something crawling around on his bridge, he removed the strings to take a look in the sound hole... And a giant komodo dragon leapt out and bit my friend's head right off. Then it tore ass out of the apartment and scared the crap out of a bunch of people on the subway for a while. Not sure what happened to the dragon after that. But my friend hasn't been the same since.

  • Members
Posted

How about sealing up your guitar in a plastic

bag with a few mothballs? Those bugs will

be dead in a day. The downside is that your

guitar will smell like mothballs for a few

days.

  • 2 years later...
  • Members
Posted

 

How about sealing up your guitar in a plastic

bag with a few mothballs? Those bugs will

be dead in a day. The downside is that your

guitar will smell like mothballs for a few

days.

 

 

That was my thought. Mothballs are pretty harmless - you could put them inside the guitar body. The smell should dissipate quickly. If you fumigate with an aerosol bomb, you have to cover the guitar, or you may end up with spots on the finish.

  • Members
Posted

Two questions:

 

Are you trying to kick the smack?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do the bugs look like this?

 

 

possum.jpg

 

 

 

Sorry, Friday night PUI.

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