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Speeding up guitar aging for better tone?   You are logged in as Guest
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ohjelo

 

Posts: 6
Joined: Nov. 29 2008
 

Speeding up guitar aging for better ... 
Just came across a lacquer guitar from years ago that’s been sitting in cased in the closet for the rest of its life. It sounds so, well, new.

Wondering if there’s a way to speed up the aging or mature its tone besides playing for hours a day and leaving it outside the case? By the windown perhaps? Indirect sun?

I’m just curious as my 15 year old guitar’s lacquer has sinked in and dried nicely and sounds really good.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 7:18:05
 
RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
I have a lacquered guitar that sounded like a piece of crap when I first got it. It was already a few years old but was virtually unplayed. Probably because it sounded like a piece of dead wood. I didn’t play it for the longest time but finally took it from its case and left it on a stand in my living room so I could have something within easy reach. It did improve a lot. Its color also changed from an obnoxious yellow to a much more acceptable noxious yellow, so...bonus. It took over ten years to improve, however.

I guess that means the answer to your question is no.

P.S. I also have a 60 year old Gibson acoustic that’s been played a lot. It’s technically not a great sounding guitar, it never was, and I suspect it never will be. Just to provide a counter-balance to the old saw that things improve with age. It’s good for blues, though, so maybe it’s not so bad.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 14:28:48
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
quote:

Wondering if there’s a way to speed up the aging or mature its tone besides playing for hours a day and leaving it outside the case?


Change the strings. Play lots of hard rumba rhythm...won’t take long.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 16:53:40
 
devilhand

 

Posts: 1598
Joined: Oct. 15 2019
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:

rumba rhythm

Mr. Marlow you seem to have a thing for rumba. I think rumba is responsible for misrepresentation of flamenco in the whole universe. I still believe rumba is not flamenco.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 18:40:09
 
ohjelo

 

Posts: 6
Joined: Nov. 29 2008
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
Thanks Ricardo and RobF.

I'll try leaving it out, tt's super super orange and hopefully it will fade a little. It sounds really good but it just has that unplayed tone to it.

Are we thinking that as the braces, glue, etc. loosens up, the instrument will produce more of it's character?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 19:35:52
 
Stu

Posts: 2522
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
quote:

Mr. Marlow you seem to have a thing for rumba. I think rumba is responsible for misrepresentation of flamenco in the whole universe. I still believe rumba is not flamenco
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 19:35:56
 
ohjelo

 

Posts: 6
Joined: Nov. 29 2008
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Stu) 
Right Stu? Post like his is quite upsetting. Not only did it hijack my question, it does not bring any positive result. Go away.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 20:48:27
 
kitarist

Posts: 1715
Joined: Dec. 4 2012
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: devilhand

quote:

rumba rhythm

Mr. Marlow you seem to have a thing for rumba. I think rumba is responsible for misrepresentation of flamenco in the whole universe. I still believe rumba is not flamenco.




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Konstantin
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 22:04:10
 
etta

 

Posts: 341
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
For several years I have been using the "ToneRite" to accelerate the play-in time on new guitars, or to improve the response on guitars that have been neglected or not played. It is a variable vibrating device which is attacked to the strings just in front of the bridge. The guitar should be left on a stand; the vibrations can be felt over the entire guitar up to the tip of the head stock. I have always seen improvement if the device is left on the guitar for 4-7 days round the clock, but the amount of improvement varies from guitar to guitar. I do not know if the device is still available.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 20 2020 22:29:41
 
estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
‘



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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 21 2020 0:04:41
 
gerundino63

Posts: 1743
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
@ Devilhand

From the book Toques flamencos by Paco Peña

As long as you believe something, you did not investigate enough. You can also use this in other matters.



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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 21 2020 8:40:54
 
Echi

 

Posts: 1131
Joined: Jan. 11 2013
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
I would give a chance to Tonerite.
In advance I used to be skeptical, to be honest. I though an eventual improvement would not be measurable anyway.
Eventually I saw a picture of the Kohno workshop with some guitars hanging with that Tonerite and this means something.
Just recently a luthier told me it helps quite effectively the guitar to open up.
Other than this, I second Ricardo’s advice: constant strumming routine...
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 21 2020 14:18:03
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: devilhand

quote:

rumba rhythm

Mr. Marlow you seem to have a thing for rumba. I think rumba is responsible for misrepresentation of flamenco in the whole universe. I still believe rumba is not flamenco.


When you get a Flamenco guitar I will finally be able to laugh at this.

_____________________________

CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 21 2020 16:39:04
 
Tom Blackshear

 

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:


When you get a Flamenco guitar I will finally be able to laugh at this.


Strange, how many people have different opinions about flamenco music, which has adopted many universal forms from different cultures world wide. There was a time when the music was free form without much concentrated timing structure.

I might add that there was a time when Paco's music was not considered real flamenco.

Tom Blackshear guitar maker
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 22 2020 12:52:46
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Tom Blackshear) 
quote:

I might add that there was a time when Paco's music was not considered real flamenco.


Never in this perceived universe. Yes, perhaps there was or is a group of individuals who might draw a line with regard to certain time periods of his work, in the process myopically negating the important evolutionary forks-in-the road those subjective lines identify regarding the genre as a whole...in the process revealing their personal preference to cling to the familiar road posts they know so well, misguided or not. But a “specific time when...” might be different for each individual.

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CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 22 2020 18:36:52
 
BarkellWH

Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Tom Blackshear) 
quote:

I might add that there was a time when Paco's music was not considered real flamenco.


When was there ever a time when Paco's music was not considered real flamenco? From the time he played with the Jose Greco troupe as a teenager until his untimely death, I don't recall anyone suggesting he didn't play real flamenco.

Some, and I was one, did not care for his later concerts involving bass guitar and harmonica, but neither I nor others suggested it was not flamenco. He just took flamenco in a direction I did not care for. But as far as I am aware, it was still recognized as flamenco.

Bill

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With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 22 2020 20:06:08
 
devilhand

 

Posts: 1598
Joined: Oct. 15 2019
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to gerundino63) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: gerundino63

@ Devilhand

From the book Toques flamencos by Paco Peña

As long as you believe something, you did not investigate enough. You can also use this in other matters.



I'll borrow this famous book of Paco Pena from my local library when I'm ready to play along. But I'll definitely skip that Rumba section for sure. Alfonso Eduardo described rumba as terrible at 3:59. Expressed exactly what I feel about rumba.



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Say No to Fuera de Compás!!!
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 23 2020 10:49:47
 
rombsix

Posts: 7805
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to ohjelo) 
You can try this:

https://www.tonerite.com/

I have one, used it, and it seemed helpful, but I didn't conduct any rigorous scientific testing.

Check out some videos of this product on YouTube...

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Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 23 2020 14:33:56
 
gerundino63

Posts: 1743
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
quote:

I'll borrow this famous book of Paco Pena from my local library when I'm ready to play along. But I'll definitely skip that Rumba section for sure. Alfonso Eduardo described rumba as terrible at 3:59. Expressed exactly what I feel about rumba.


Hahaha, Flamenco Puro! Eso es Hombre!

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 23 2020 20:19:39
 
Tom Blackshear

 

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
 

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:

Never in this perceived universe. Yes, perhaps there was or is a group of individuals who might draw a line with regard to certain time periods of his work,


I'm referring to the more modern jazz-men-co that Paco got into later in his playing style; fast picados and more modern chord structure, which was judged by those who were more inclined to the older players. Perico del lunar, etc.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 24 2020 3:37:38
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Speeding up guitar aging for bet... (in reply to devilhand) 
quote:

Alfonso Eduardo described rumba as terrible at 3:59. Expressed exactly what I feel about rumba.


Since you like Rito, please note the greatest cante accompanist Paco Cepero, never shied away from rumbas, even singing it himself. There was always a “fear” regarding trends that leaned toward commercially successful items. In 1922 the nerds held a competition of cante in vein. At that time it was that new fandango Naturales and the opera Flamenco stuff. Luckily, the maestros then and more recently with rumbas and such, didn’t embrace such fears and artfully enriched the genre as a whole with contributions of high art in “cante Chico”. In the end these labels of depth and purity are more superficial anyway, delivered by folks that have neither.

_____________________________

CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Aug. 24 2020 18:36:10
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