Acoustic Without Strings...How Long Can it Sit?

How old is the guitar? Older acoustic guitars are less likely to experience ill effects due to humidity than newer ones. If its still hot and fresh off the presses, then you may have something to worry about. But, you can never be sure. No two guitars are the same.

*Take this next paragraph with a grain of salt* It has been my experience that in GENERAL, cheaper guitars are a whole lot less likely to suffer from things like humidity. In general, it is usually the very high-end, quality guitars that will be affected most by things like this and you really have to make sure to maintain them well and treat them very carefully. So, if this new guitar is of high quality, look out.

+Maybe this should be in the guitar repair and maintanence section?+

Pretty much forever in reasonable environmental conditions: Removing strings from a guitar makes its life easier, not harder. Problem is playing really sucks without the strings -- unless your into air guitar.

Now let's sit back and wait for all the "horror" stories about some guy whom someone knew whose cousin forgot to restring his priceless <insert brand here> and found out it ruined the neck. All B.S.

Now let's sit back and wait for all the "horror" stories about some guy whom someone knew whose cousin forgot to restring his priceless <insert brand here> and found out it ruined the neck. All B.S.

How'd you know? My cousin's brother's friend's uncle's dog's mother's groomer had one of them there $80,000 Martins and the neck snapped in right in two because he broke a string while restringing and had to run to GC to get another set. :lol: :lol:

Wow, if he pays a dog groomer enough salary to buy one of them, can I get a job with your cousin's brother's friend's uncle? Pwetty please?

"Ruff" tale :P

Pretty much forever in reasonable environmental conditions: Removing strings from a guitar makes its life easier, not harder. Problem is playing really sucks without the strings -- unless your into air guitar.

Now let's sit back and wait for all the "horror" stories about some guy whom someone knew whose cousin forgot to restring his priceless <insert brand here> and found out it ruined the neck. All B.S.

Sorry I have to disagree with you. When changing strings I was always too scared to remove all of them at the same time because of all the stories I heard. Finally after reading about ten thousand posts like the one you just posted I went for it. Removed all the stings to clean the fretboard and then when I put the new stings on I got insane buzzing and about 30 dead spots leaving it completely unplayable. It's been getting fixed for three weeks now.

So what I'm trying to say is just because it's never happened to you don't dismiss is as BS, becuase it DOES happen. It happened to me the first time I ever tried it.

Maybe someday you'll learn it the hard way. :wink:

musus,

Did you put lighter strings on?

musus. sorry to hear you had problems.
Ive been changing strings (all off at once) for forty years.
never ever had a problem.

I agree...did you change string gauge?

what difference does putting lighter strings on make? is it just less resistance than the neck is used to so it bends out of shape?

I'm no expert in this field however, there is a question regarding changing strings in this months Guitar Techniques magazine in the UK (Page 92 if you're interested). The question asks whether it is best to change strings one at a time or remove them all first.

The resident expert advises that unless you have a pressing need to work on the fretboard it is probably best to change the strings one at a time. This will maintain tension on the neck as there is a balance of string tension and the stifness of the wood and the truss rod tension. Upsetting this balance, he writes may lead to problems. He even cites one case of frets popping up from their bedding during an all at once string change.

He also states that certain types of bridge are reliant on string tension to remain in place. If at some point all the srtings are removed at once the bridge may come loose and cause intonation problems.

Whilst I'm sure that these are extreme cases he used to illustrate his answer I'm not going to take any chances. I've always changed strings one at a time and will continue to do so. If, however, I do need to remove all the strings at once for any reason I will take advice from someone who knows a bit more about it than me.

Perhaps someone more knowledgable than me who has read the article can shed more light.

Just passing on the info.

I am not more knowlegeable, but I have an opinion does that count :-). I think just looking at it from an engineering standpoint (piece of wood under tension with a mechanical straightner) it would be most prudent to change each string individually to keep most of the tension on the piece of wood that is used to being tense. Having said that I have taken all the strings off a number of times to do fretboard maintenance and had no problems, but if I am just changing strings I try and be prudent :-). I don't own any $80,000 Martins or Austin Martins though. My 2 cents worth .5 after inflation and taxes.

He even cites one case of frets popping up from their bedding during an all at once string change.
Frets are normally held in place by small teeth on the "leg" of the fretwire. That seems to be a really extreme case to me. The question is, did he witness it himself, or is this another *list-of-relatives*, friends's aquaintance that "witnessed" this?
He also states that certain types of bridge are reliant on string tension to remain in place.
True, but, if you know about it, it's no big deal at all.
If at some point all the srtings are removed at once the bridge may come loose and cause intonation problems.I think he must be talking about floating bridges on acoustics. With one of those, you'd want to check your intonation after every string change anyway. If he's talking about Tune-o-matic style bridges, I remain unconvinced. Like I said, if you know about it.......

The tendency of a piece of wood, held under tension, is to return to it's normal state. The normal state of a guitar neck is straight. By removing the strings, you are allowing the neck to straighten, nothing else. The truss rod does NOT put a straight neck under stress (it is not a mechanical straightener), it is there to passively counteract the stresses of the strings. Removing the strings allows the truss rod to return to rest, nothing more, nothing less. It is like a buttress on a wall, it gives the wall extra strength and stops it from buckling, it doesn't straighten it.

There is a very good comparison to a guitar's neck and string tension - the archery longbow. String the bow and you bend it's limbs. Every time you draw the bow, you bend the limbs even more. Releasing the arrow allows the limbs to return to their strung position. Remove the string and the limbs of the bow straighten, they return to their natural state - they do NOT warp. That being the case, why on Earth would anybody suggest that taking the strings of a guitar neck will cause it to warp?

One thought: Frets may just pop if someone has the daft idea of cutting all the strings, whilst still tuned. That would have a similar effect to cutting a bow-string.

After posting this question I did a Google search and found that many collectors remove the strings or detune them when they are for display. Since collectors have very high end guitars you would think if there was a problem with removing strings they'd be the first to leave them on...

Thanks everyone for your input!

Interesting thread.

Many thanks Greybeard for answering my post in detail. A I said I'm no expert in these matter but thought the atricle seemed relevant to the thread. I have to say that the examples used in the reply to the question in the magazine did seem alittle extreme to me but I appreciate that it was for illustration "worst case" purposes only.. Your point by point explanation was greatly appreciated in improving my understanding of such matters.

Every day's a school day. :wink:

FWIW I have always changed my strings one at a time as it just seemed the logical way to do it to me. There was no technical reasoning behind it.

Many thanks once again. Strings are due a change this weekend as it goes. :)