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a_arnold -> RE: Replacing wooden tuning pegs (Apr. 22 2007 2:20:03)
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Yow. Shellac will DISSOLVE in alcohol. Varnish won't, but alcohol is a bad idea anyway, as it tends to dry out woods. Alcohol is an aqueous medium and if it gets through cracks in the finish of an older guitar, it combines with any water left in the wood and tends to extract it as it evaporates, thereby drying the wood and making it even more susceptible to splitting.
Don't experiment. I KNOW alcohol is a bad idea. Mineral oil might be OK, but I'd be leery of any oil if there's any chance it might get into the tone wood and have a deadening effect. Some say a slightly damp rag is good. I've never trusted the commercially-available cleaning waxes etc, because I'm not sure they aren't intended for low-end polymer-spray-coated guitars, which are practically bullet proof. To tell the truth, in 45 years of playing, I've never cleaned a guitar. I've never minded the look of a well-used ax.
As far as drying out it dry climates, I can say this: I worked at the Smithsonian in their musical instrument restoration lab in the 60's, and they were very particular about their humidity. I think they kept it about 55.
I was once careless with a guitar and kept it stored in a steam-heated apartment in a very cold northern climate. This is probably one of the worst things you could do to a guitar. Warm air holds humidity, but very cold winter air is DRY, and when it is reheated by a home heating system, it becomes warm dry air, which will absorb water and suck the moisture right out of a guitar. I'm sure anyone in a similar climate can tell you about sore (even bleeding) nasal membranes that dry out. You've heard of chapped lips? Same principle. Mine cracked in that setting after 15 stable years in a moist southern climate. I've never moved a guitar to a super dry place like Arizona, but if it was built in a humid place, I'd be careful and get a case humidifier.
Anything below 40 is considered "below normal" humidity, and they actually put up hazardous weather warnings on the internet weather services when humidity goes below 35.
Once a guitar has cracked, then you are faced with the agonizing decision: Does it sound different to what it was like before it cracked? Do I leave it alone, or have it fixed and let someone add wood buttons to the inside, which is guaranteed to change the sound in some way, and even if you can't hear the difference, you'll always wonder if you can, because you can't go back and compare the before and after.
My 2 cents.
Tony A.
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