Gah - acoustic ding!!

thomasross20 · July 2019

Friend was round tonight and I picked up my Larrivee (and yes, I was playing my Avalon!) but banged it against the corner of the desk... sore one... really hurts me

Schnozz · July 2019

Urgh...That makes me worry about my Guild.

I don't like knocking my electrics, but for some reason bumping an acoustic is ten times worse (IMO).

jrc2806 · July 2019

How bad is it?

thomasross20 · July 2019

It's actually two small dents in the lower bout toward the heel. Just really annoying. I intend to keep it but so annoying.

Always used to put guitars in their cases but a total pain to put in and take out so I have a rack now. Just knocked the very corner of the desk, careless!!

tralfamadan · July 2019

Been there. It's basically firewood now. Best get a new one :sad:

TheBigDipper · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

It's actually two small dents in the lower bout toward the heel. Just really annoying. I intend to keep it but so annoying.

Always used to put guitars in their cases but a total pain to put in and take out so I have a rack now. Just knocked the very corner of the desk, careless!!

The dings make it yours. (Or, at least, that's what I say to myself whenever I get the first one in my pristine new guitar...)

Just a word about my own tale of woe. I used to leave my L'Arrivee L-01 out on a stand because I played it more than anything else at home. After a fairly warm and slightly humid summer (2012, London) I found the action had risen to the point of being unplayable - bellied top. It's been fixed without needing to reset the neck, just nut and bridge work, but it's never sounded the same.

Solid top acoustics now live in their cases. And I'm very sorry...

munckee · July 2019

TheBigDipper said:

thomasross20 said:

It's actually two small dents in the lower bout toward the heel. Just really annoying. I intend to keep it but so annoying.

Always used to put guitars in their cases but a total pain to put in and take out so I have a rack now. Just knocked the very corner of the desk, careless!!

The dings make it yours. (Or, at least, that's what I say to myself whenever I get the first one in my pristine new guitar...)

Just a word about my own tale of woe. I used to leave my L'Arrivee L-01 out on a stand because I played it more than anything else at home. After a fairly warm and slightly humid summer (2012, London) I found the action had risen to the point of being unplayable - bellied top. It's been fixed without needing to reset the neck, just nut and bridge work, but it's never sounded the same.

Solid top acoustics now live in their cases. And I'm very sorry...

I've been thinking about this, I have recently picked up a guild all solid acoustic which is on a wall hanger in the lounge. Luckily the lounge is north facing and is about the coolest room in the house but I'm right on the south coast and one of the warmest places in the UK.

Is it okay on the wall hanger?

TheBigDipper · July 2019

munckee said:

<snip>

I've been thinking about this, I have recently picked up a guild all solid acoustic which is on a wall hanger in the lounge. Luckily the lounge is north facing and is about the coolest room in the house but I'm right on the south coast and one of the warmest places in the UK.

Is it okay on the wall hanger?

Dunno, mate. I'm just down the coast from you in Christchurch these days and I'm not prepared to risk a second one.

lincolnblue · July 2019

Been there sadly. My Breedlove which has sentimenal value got two dings in it on two separate occasions...it hurts so I feel your pain!!

thomasross20 · July 2019

Hmmmmmmm.......
I just bought a stand for my Avalon, too.....
Maybe I'm best keeping them in their cases with humidipaks!? Hmm....

TheBigDipper · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

Hmmmmmmm.......
I just bought a stand for my Avalon, too.....
Maybe I'm best keeping them in their cases with humidipaks!? Hmm....

A stand is still good for when you're playing/practicing, so it's not a waste. It's somewhere safe to put the guitar when you want to write something down rather than leaning it against a desk and knocking it over. But I put the guitar back in its case when I'm done and don't leave cases anywhere that gets direct sunlight.

RandallFlagg · July 2019

I keep my Martin on a lowish wall hangar, positioned so I can reach it sitting down on my office chair, the previous D28 I had took a knock as I span round with a Tele in my hand and smashed the headstock into it. The 2nd ding came when I was playing said D28 on the office chair and again span round to grab my mobile phone which was ringing on the desk and I clonked the guitar top into the corner of the desk.

I don't remember how the 3rd one happened and it stopped hutting after that and I grew to love the guitar, dings and all.

The current HD28 is ding free after 12 months with just a few swirl marks on the back where it sits against my body when playing, probably from zips or buttons.

Play through the pain, get another ding or 2 and your all set.

sev112 · July 2019

There are two substances known to man which are indestructible - the headstock of an epiphanies jumbo and the ceiling hanging plastic / glass lamp shade that it bags into every day I take the guitar from the hanger

thomasross20 · July 2019

Do you guys do that with acoustics only (what about electrics) ?
I'm not sure hmmm.... I like having them on the stands now as I can pick up and play so easily and cases clog the room so badly.

RandallFlagg · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

Do you guys do that with acoustics only (what about electrics) ?
I'm not sure hmmm.... I like having them on the stands now as I can pick up and play so easily and cases clog the room so badly.

Acoustics get the dings from general clonks due to the large size, electrics tend to get screwdriver marks where I slip from undoing a cover plate, removing a pickguard or just adjusting intonation.

Lewy · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

Do you guys do that with acoustics only (what about electrics) ?
I'm not sure hmmm.... I like having them on the stands now as I can pick up and play so easily and cases clog the room so badly.

Good acoustics live in cases for protection (mostly from fluctuations in humidity). Electrics tend to go back into cases to protect them from feral toddlers but if that wasn't a factor I'd have them out....I've not experienced any impact on electrics of temperature/humidity, only acoustics. Not to say there isn't an effect, I just haven't observed it.

TheBigDipper · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

Do you guys do that with acoustics only (what about electrics) ?
I'm not sure hmmm.... I like having them on the stands now as I can pick up and play so easily and cases clog the room so badly.

I'm no expert on this, but what I do is this...

Solid top acoustics - in their cases.
Electrics - on a rack-style stand. I've got a Ric 330/12 and an ES-175 but their tops are ply, not solid, so they're safe to leave out (I think). The cases are in a cupboard somewhere else.
Resonator - on a stand. The top is heavy ply, but mainly the resonator itself, so...

Nothing lives where direct sunlight can get them.

richardhomer · July 2019

RandallFlagg said:
electrics tend to get screwdriver marks where I slip from undoing a cover plate, removing a pickguard or just adjusting intonation.

Have you actually kept an electric long enough to know this is true?

ToneControl · July 2019

Lewy said:

thomasross20 said:

Do you guys do that with acoustics only (what about electrics) ?
I'm not sure hmmm.... I like having them on the stands now as I can pick up and play so easily and cases clog the room so badly.

Good acoustics live in cases for protection (mostly from fluctuations in humidity). Electrics tend to go back into cases to protect them from feral toddlers but if that wasn't a factor I'd have them out....I've not experienced any impact on electrics of temperature/humidity, only acoustics. Not to say there isn't an effect, I just haven't observed it.

Electrics will drift out of tune and change their action as humidity varies, as the wood in the neck swells or shrinks
If it gets very dry (i.e. in January in a modern house with the heating on), the fret ends may start to stick out a bit

ToneControl · July 2019

I hang all mine on the wall
Humidity-controlled room, no direct sunlight
and a lock for when feral kids visit

thomasross20 · July 2019

Stuff it I've just put mine on the rack (and two separate stands for the acoustics). No direct sun in the room, radiator turned to low.

jellyroll · July 2019

Get a cheap hygrometer from Amazon to monitor the humidity of the room - especially in winter.

jellyroll · July 2019

A ding won’t kill your guitar. Humidity (or lack of) could.

thomasross20 · July 2019

I do have one.. stopped working. Time to get it working again!

ToneControl · July 2019

thomasross20 said:

I do have one.. stopped working. Time to get it working again!

hygrometers often disagree, get 2 different brand ones and compare the readings

RandallFlagg · July 2019

richardhomer said:

RandallFlagg said:
electrics tend to get screwdriver marks where I slip from undoing a cover plate, removing a pickguard or just adjusting intonation.

Have you actually kept an electric long enough to know this is true?

No, that's why I prefer to buy relics which have the screwdriver dings already added

jellyroll · July 2019

ToneControl said:

thomasross20 said:

I do have one.. stopped working. Time to get it working again!

hygrometers often disagree, get 2 different brand ones and compare the readings

I bought 3 different ones recently (one for each guitar case - I only realised afterwards that each case is probably going to be the same) but I tested them in the room first for a few hours. All were within 1% of each other. They may not be super accurate but I’m confident they’re good enough to give a sense of whether its “comfortable” for a guitar. Amazon have lots of them for £7 - £10.

stickyfiddle · July 2019

I bought my Martin used with a few small scratches. I actually spend half a day polishing some of them out when I first got it, but happy to have it not be 100% mint. Makes it much less stressful if add more "character"

Having said that, the cat once knocked my CC336 off the sofa a took a chunk of finish off the back edge. That was quite painful - worse than anything I've ever done to a guitar myself!

thomasross20 · July 2019

Just fyi hygrometer showing 60% with range 58-63%

BahHumbug · July 2019

My acoustics tend to get played quite a bit, at home as well as out and about. The same for my current ‘go to’ electric. So, when they are home they live on stands so I can grab them easily to play. However I only have two stands, and I now see this as a good thing as it forces me to not have too many guitars ‘out’ at once. Anything that’s out and hasn’t been played for a few days gets put in it’s case.
All that said, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to avoid dings is to be very careful when handling them. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter where they live, the dings usually happen when they’re in your hands. I learnt my lesson a few years ago with my Taylor 712ce (my first expensive guitar). It has several little dings and knocks on the top, body edges and headstock, all because it gets used a lot and I wasn’t careful enough. I still love it though. I’ve had a Brook Torridge for about a year and a half now. It gets played quite a bit, but miraculously I have been careful with it and it remains ding free. I’m also more careful with the Taylor these days.
On the subject of humidity, I think it’s worth figuring out whether you have a humidity problem before starting to mess about with humidipaks. I bought a humidipak once, without really thinking, but soon got bored of using it. I sometimes notice a change in action on my acoustics, going from summer to winter, but not enough to cause concern. I think if you’re in the middle of a large land mass like the US, or in an urban heat island like London, then conditions will get extreme enough for long enough, to warrant some humidity countermeasures, but for most of the UK it shouldn’t be a big problem.

jellyroll · July 2019

I thought humidity was just a US and exotic place problem too....until the frets started poking through the edges of my fretboard on my £4000 acoustic....

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Gah - acoustic ding!!

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