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Do guitars go dull if you don't play them?   You are logged in as Guest
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Martin

 

Posts: 150
Joined: Nov. 21 2004
 

Do guitars go dull if you don't play... 
I was wondering this. I spoke to a violinist a few years back who was telling me that violins go all lifeless if left in storage for a while and it takes quite a while of playing to get the sound to open up again. A guitar being of wooden construction as well, does this suffer from the same effect?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 9:33:09
 
guitarbuddha

 

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007
 

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Martin) 
I have definately felt this with classical guitars but I can't really say for flamenco's. On a classical you nead to really dig in to find the sound and after a while some of it gets easier to access.

It's the same with a new guitar. Also a guitar which has been played by someone with a small sound will need to be opened up in the same way.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 12:50:43
 
Arash

Posts: 4495
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Martin) 
I think in case of flamenco guitars, it is also different if you have a rosewood or a cypress.
I can imagine that if you have a rosewood, it could be that they get dull if you dont play them for al long time.
Rosewood guitars also require much more time when you buy them new to open up the sound.
Not sure about cypress.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 13:06:32
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14852
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Martin) 
I would say if someone played the **** out of it for years, it will be ok in storage. But some guitars never get played at all, and when they mature they don't sound like anything special. But perhaps if an old guitar gets played a lot after it was in storage, it will improve. I don't know.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 15:09:59

stephen hill

 

Posts: 300
Joined: Feb. 16 2004
From: La Herradura, Granada, Spain

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Martin) 
I think guitars do go dull or flat if not played, they need the vibrations of the player to open the timber. Also a bad player can adversly affect a good guitar by not imparting quality vibrations into the instrument, it really happens, and a good player can open the guitar up, even in minutes by his playing, but we are getting into metaphysics now!

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stephen hill - granada spain
http://www.spanishguitars.co.uk
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 15:39:16

JBASHORUN

Posts: 1839
Joined: Jan. 23 2005
 

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to stephen hill) 
quote:

Also a bad player can adversly affect a good guitar by not imparting quality vibrations into the instrument


Aaaahhh, so THATS why my Yamaha blanca sounds like crap!

Jb

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¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 22 2007 21:15:59
 
Haithamflamenco

Posts: 927
Joined: Mar. 6 2007
From: Bahrain

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Martin) 
quote:

Aaaahhh, so THATS why my Yamaha blanca sounds like crap!

Jb


lol ,

But what is the reason of that is it the vibration and what dose the vibration do to the wood?!?!?! Dry it more, or speed the drying process!!!! I am an engineer; I need scientific reason, lool



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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 25 2007 0:00:46
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14852
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Haithamflamenco) 
quote:

But what is the reason of that is it the vibration and what dose the vibration do to the wood?!?!?! Dry it more, or speed the drying process!!!! I am an engineer; I need scientific reason, lool


Read the book "things about the guitar" by Ramirez III. It also has to do with "crystalization" of the shelac finish. Very strange but very noticeable and true. My friend had a cheap guitar, Cordoba, and not a great virtuoso, just good at rhythm guitar. The guitar sounded stiff and cheap, junky, when he first bought it. After two years of pounding out rumba on it for several hours a week, it had an amazing punch and flamenco response. Strange but true.

Play your guitars everyone please!

Ricardo
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 25 2007 4:11:02
 
jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005
 

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:

Read the book "things about the guitar" by Ramirez III. It also has to do with "crystalization" of the shelac finish.
Ricardo


Ricardo, I'm sure you're aware that some years ago Ramirez experimented with finishes and switched to a modern synthetic. Unless something has changed in recent years they haven't used shellac in the last 25 years or so. Anyone who's tried to refinish a Ramirez finds out immediately that the finish is not lacquer or shellac. It's apparently one of those self leveling long molecule coatings and totally impervious to any solvent that I know of. The only way I know of to get the finish off is scraping and sanding. In no way am I arguing with the fact that guitars improve when played; but if a Ramirez improves with playing it isn't due to shellac crystallization.

John Shelton
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 25 2007 14:06:37
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14852
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to jshelton5040) 
Ooops, I guess Shellac is the alcohol based varnish, right? For some reason I thought that varnishes used on guitars were all called "shellac". He talkes about the ridiculous long drying time for oil based varnish, and alcohol base dried too quick for crystalization. The one he prefered was a urea-based varnish that took like 8 months to a year to fully crystalize, and why it took time for the guitar to "open up". I guess that urea based varnish is not called shellac, but is synthetic?

sorry to use the wrong term there!
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 26 2007 14:57:17
 
jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005
 

RE: Do guitars go dull if you don't ... (in reply to Ricardo) 
Never heard of a urea based varnish. Sometimes translations from Spanish to English get terms a little muddled. I don't know what finish Ramirez is using but I have a good idea what it's not. I was stunned when I removed the finish from the head stock of a Ramirez classic to find planer marks on the rosewood. The finish has a remarkable quality of being self leveling so that the marks didn't show through the finish. It must be a huge time saver to be able to ignore little scratches and blemishes in the wood when you're applying the finish. The only finish I know of that self levels that well is a long molecule polymer but my knowledge of coatings is pretty limited.

John Shelton
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 26 2007 20:36:44
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