Musical Instruments Guitars

Wood is constantly drying out from the time it is cut.  As wood ages the wood fibers crystallize, the pith wood gets softer and the growth rings get harder.  It is advantageous to have your instrument dry out as slowly as possible.    It is important that you keep the natural moisture of the wood high as long as possible.  Once wood looses its natural moisture it doesn’t get it back.    To do this,  keep a wet sponge or a humidor inside your guitar case.  When using a sponge, place moistened sponge in a plastic bag and poke holes in it.  It is amazing how much moisture a guitar will absorb.  Avoid storing your guitar in hot attics, trunks of cars, near heaters or furnace vents.  Most repairs to acoustic guitars is from the guitar drying out too rapidly.

When guitars are produced some have better quality wood than others.  High quality wood makes all the difference in the world for producing a great sounding instrument.  Everyone will tell you to look for a guitar with good wood, here’s how to tell.

Very straight, tight grain pattern.  The grain should go straight up and down the guitar neck, straight up and down the top, and straight down the back.  It should be perfectly straight all around the sides.  The closer together the growth lines are the better.  Fine, desirable wood will have a grain pattern going perpendicular to the growth ring pattern.  It is referred to as tiger-stripe, fiddle-back, or bear-claw.   A knot or wave in the pattern is not good.  The grain pattern should be uniform.