storing an acoustic

[slideroni]

I have a '69 Martin D-28. It lives at my girlfriend's in San Francisco. I only play it once or twice a month. I've always kept it in standard tuning. Lately I have been worrying about it- tuned it down to open G, so it's easier on the neck. Seem to recall something about tuning down a guitar for storage, or maybe that was shipping. S.F. has a lot of fog, so I think it's pretty humid- do you think I need to humidify the guitar to prevent cracking?

Thanks for your good knowledge.

[guitarist21]

Getting a DEhumidifier would be a worthwhile investment for such a nice guitar in such a humid climate. I've bought both a dehumidifier and a humidifier and I use both in this crazy Chicago weather. They are relatively inexpensive (especially compared to the resale value of your D-28!) I highly recommend purchasing a dehumidifier and/or a humidifier, especially if you're not going to take your guitar out of a room for all of a humid month.

 

Ellen

[da mayor]

I don't think you have to worry about it, and I wouldn't bother with a de-humidifier. I live in SF and monitor the humidity fairly often with a hygrometer. Yes, it can get foggy, but it's not really that humid a climate. RH here generally varies between 40 and 60%, with no fast changes that I've seen. That's really pretty ideal for a guitar. It does go above 60% occcassionally, but not often. Of course, if your girlfriend pushes up the thermostat in her place in the cooler months and it gets really dry, then it might be a problem. But even when I do that, RH rarely gets below 40 in my flat.

 

I think I would loosen the strings though if your not playing it often. As a solution, I propose that you drop that puppy off at my place and I'll take care of it.

[Hudman]

I had a $350 Seagull that stayed in standard tuning for 8 years. It would go 6 - 8 weeks at a time untouched.

 

Your Martin will be fine in standard tuning.

 

Make sure you never pisss her off too bad - she may decide to burn your guitar.

[Queequeg]

on the other hand (to completely muddy the water here) it won't hurt a thing to tune it down. it will only take you a couple of minutes to re-tune it again, and you will sleep better knowing that the tension is off the guitar while it is not being played which is most of the time. a 1969 CFM probably has the square bar truss rod, not the adjustable truss rod, which they didnt start using until around '84.

 

If it were mine, I'd tune it down.

 

You might want to buy your girlfriend a digital wall hygrometer. this will set you back about 40 bucks. anybody who can afford to keep a D-28 out of town can afford a hygrometer.

45%-55% RH and you're in pretty safe territory.