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Washburn D-10S

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(@rip-this-joint)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 110
Topic starter  

I have a Washburn D-10S with a solid spruce top... I was wondering what precautions i should take to make sure the guitar ages well and keeps in good shape


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Use a humidifier in it as the weather cools off and the heat goes on. Dry air in a heated building will shrink the wood and is likely to crack the top. Laminated tops are much less likely to do this.

Laminated wood, BTW, is a marketing term for plywood. Laminated guitar tops are made of very high grade plywood, not the stuff you buy at the Home Depot, but plywood it is. Those tops can sound very good, and you know right away what they'll sound like because they don't go through a "playing in" process like a solid top, at least not to as great an extent. If you take care of that solid top, it'll sound better the more you play it. Repeated vibrations make the wood structure more flexible. But don't let it dry out!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Oh yeah: If you're going out in the cold, detune all the strings about a half step first, so they don't get too tight as they contract in the cold. Let the guitar warm up to near room temperature in the case before you open it, so it doesn't condense moisture all over the finish. And never leave it in a parked car in the sunshine, where in hot weather it can quickly get hot enough to melt the glue holding the guitar body together.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@steve-m)
New Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 2
 

I too have this same guitar, and want to keep it in great shape. When you say get a humidifer for it what exactly do you mean. My house has a whole house humidifer on it, but this sounds like a unit designed for the guitar itself. What should I be look for?


   
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(@pappajohn)
Honorable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 533
 

I use a humidifier by Kyser - "Lifeguard". It fits over the sound hole and helps with air that is too dry or too humid. It runs around $10 - 12.

-- John

"Hip woman walking on a moving floor, tripping on the escalator.
There's a man in the line and she's blowin' his mind, thinking that he's already made her."

'Coming into Los Angeles' - Arlo Guthrie


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

There are also humidifiers like The Dampit that have wet foam inside a perforated tube that slips between the middle strings and is supported by the strings in a groove around the top cap. Martin and Gibson supply those with their high end guitars.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

As for the house humidifier, if you keep the overall relative humidity between about 40-50% that's ideal for guitars.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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