I recently bought a Freshman FA250D acoustic and within a couple of weeks the body had developed a 4" long grack from behind the bridge to the edge of the guitar. I took the guitar back to the shop and they took it back to Freshman who duly replaced it. Within a few days this new guitar was showing signs of the neck being slightly warped and I took it back to the shop. They advised me that the guitar was showing signs of "drying too rapidly" and questioned me about where I keep the guitar (it is always kept in a soft case on a stand and away from heat and light). Eventually they replaced this one as well and I now have my replacement.
In both of the above I kept the silica gel pack inside the guitar (as was supplied when purchased) - could this have caused my problem? My house is centrally heated at about 23 deg centigrade (about 76 deg F) except for perioda in the day when there is no heating on and the temp probably drops to no less than 12-14 deg C (54 - 58 deg F). The house is fully doubled glazed and there is no evidence of woodwork suffering in my home (which is a 30 yr old detached brick built house).
Any help you guys can offer would be appreciated as I really don't want to have this all happen again. In the meantime I have removed the gel pack from the guitar.
D
What did the guitarist do when he was told to turn on his amp?
He caressed it softly and told it that he loved it.
Sounds odd to me. Silica gel shouldn't cause warping like that to happen. Equally, you don't need to leave the gel in the case. To be honest, I treat my guitars pretty casually - leave them lying on the couch or against a wall, not in a case - and I've never had any problems. Gets pretty hot in my apartment in summer too.
I would chalk it up to either a remarkable coincidence or a crap guitar! If it happens again see if you can get a different guitar from the shop....
Central heat is going to dry out anything. Get a Hygrometer and find out what the humidity is. Generally speaking if it's okay for you it's okay for the guitar.
If you are seeing the guitar dry out, take the silica gel out. Get yourself a $10 soundhole humidifier. If the guitars are imports that are shipped and distributed rapidly it could be a humidity issue. If you let them adjust over time you probably won't need to worry about it next year.
Yamaha had an issue with it's grey market Japanese market pianos a while back. The wood wasn't cured for a North American environment, or so they say.
EDIT: Nick posted while I was typing. But we are saying pretty much the same thing - it's the contrast in moisture that matters.
Hi,
It does sound like some sort of Welsh curse to me... :? You haven't offended any local deities recently have you? Forgotten to sacrifice the goat at the right phase of the moon or something??
Seriously though, it might be related to your central heating, or it might be just bad luck. Cracking and warping are both caused by wood losing moisture too quickly. The process of properly seasoning wood (for furniture etc) involves drying it out in a controlled way so that it loses the moisture slowly enough not to cause problems.
It's probably not so much a case of how drying your house is (or the gel), but what the contrast is between where the guitar was before. So if it had been kept in a damp store-room or warehouse for a while it could indeed have been "drying too rapidly" - because it shouldn't have been so damp in the first place.
Hard to know what to suggest though (EDIT: If you are prepared to shell out a quid or two Nick's suggestion should give you the answer). The gel would be unlikely to cause a problem by itself, but it might be a good idea to remove it for the time being.
Hope the new guitar is OK.
Cheers,
Chris
hi welshman.......it is odd and i'll concur with all opinions before.....personally i think its one of two possibilities..
the most probable being sheer bad luck on your part......it may just be you,ve had two from a bad batch.....dried too quickly in manufacture
the other option would be that once you've collected these guitars....you yourself has dried them too quickly....ie, your in wales,in winter so its very cold and damp...you rush home and inadvertantly place it too near a radiator (i'm sure you wouldn't though)...
its rapid changes in temp/humidity that causes problems
If the guitar has been kept in damp conditions, as everyone has said, drying it too quickly will cause cracking.
If the silica gel is still active, keeping it and the guitar in the case will dry out the atmosphere in the case and, therefore, the guitar. It may be making things worse.
However, if the guitar has been stored in damp conditions, the silica gel may no longer be able to soak up any more moisture and is effectively changing nothing.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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