a couple of newbie questions

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steven0356

Posts: 12
Joined: May 16 2010

a couple of newbie questions

I just picked up a Yamaha CG171SF as a starter guitar. I have played guitar most of my life but this is my first foray in to Flamenco. I have mostly been working on my left hand technique from this guy

http://www.ehow.com/video_2388118_thumb-rest-stroke-flamenco-guitar.html

It's a series of 15 to 20 second clips each demonstrating a different technique. Are these good to emulate?

Also I have been monitoring the humidity in the room were I keep the Yamaha. It stays around 40%. is this OK for a guitar like this. I know with some of the more expensive guitars this humidity level would be problematic. I was just wondering if dry or overly humid air is still a concern with a relatively cheep guitar. It looks to have a polyurethane finish. Thanks

Steve

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 13:09:35

rombsix

Posts: 7899
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

Hola Steven,

1- Mario Amaya is a good start (he is a luthier and a performing artist, in case you didn't know, and he has a YouTube channel that is worth checking out), but I would advise you to move on to other material in about a couple of months. Oscar Herrero's Paso a Paso series is great.

2- Humidity is ALWAYS an issue, no matter how expensive or inexpensive your instrument is. Make sure no new buzzing or fret noise develops (which is a reflection of possible shrinkage, bowing, warping, etc.). It is best to keep the level around 45% to 50%. Get a humidifier if you need to - they are cheap and effective. Get a hygrometer as well. If the level drops too low, your neck will warp and your top will crack. If it goes too high, your glue will liquify and the bridge will come loose. Do NOT underestimate the importance of humidity, and how quickly it can destroy your guitar - trust me, I just went through that a few weeks ago...

Welcome to the forum, and enjoy!

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 13:52:20

steven0356

Posts: 12
Joined: May 16 2010

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

Thanks Ramzi i am off to get a humidifier right now.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 14:01:25

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

And a different opinion by me:

Don´t worry about the humidity in the air. If you are not living in the amazonas, you wont get any problems. You dont need fancy things like humid control for your guitarcase or something especially not for a guitar in the pricerange of a CG171SF. You could also drop it in a lake or use it for hang and dry your wet clothes, it changes nothing.

When you get a better guitar, just keep it in the guitarbox when not using it. The rest is not worth to think about. Im playing guitar now for 24years and never had problems with humidity.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 14:13:35

fevictor

Posts: 377
Joined: Nov. 22 2005
From: Quepos / Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

I live in the tropics where the relative humidity is around 80 - 90 all the time. My guitar is not a good one by any means, but it sounds the same as when I bought it have never had any problems with it. I also leave it lying around pretty much everywhere, too!

I have noticed that when I take it home for the holidays it tends to sound better, I imagine because it dries out.

Vic

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 14:25:11

Arash

Posts: 4497
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

Doit

---

well, humidity can be an issue, specially when the level changes dramatically (up or low), like from moving from one country to another (with completely different levels of air humidity). with expensive guitars, you should be more careful of course

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2010 14:35:42

KMMI77

Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to Doitsujin)

quote:

Im playing guitar now for 24years and never had problems with humidity.

Me either actually

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2010 1:21:10

rombsix

Posts: 7899
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to Doitsujin)

quote:

Don´t worry about the humidity in the air. If you are not living in the amazonas, you wont get any problems.

Doit: I own a Hohner-HC06 classical guitar which I bought about 8 years ago for 80 US dollars. It's a reliable, acceptable instrument, which I still use to this day. I was in Michigan about 2 months ago, and I decided to take my guitar with me. I live in Beirut, Lebanon, right by the sea side (Mediterranean). The humidity levels here in Beirut are much higher than those in Michigan. I went to Michigan and took the guitar with me, and took the great care that I usually do of it - keeping it in the case anytime I wasn't using it, making sure not to hang clothes on it or drop it in a lake, loosening the strings if I were NOT to use it for a long time, etc. After staying in Michigan for 2 weeks, I took out my guitar one day to play it (I had been using it everyday nearly when I was in Michigan), and I noticed excess buzzing around the eleventh fret on the D string. I said to myself that it was probably the string going bad, or something not significant. I played it, finished, and returned it to its case. Two days later, I took it out again and played it: to my surprise, now the basses all sounded dreadful with buzzing mostly around the eleventh fret. I didn't know what was happening. I had a couple of music major students living where I was over there, who played violins or cellos. I asked them what they thought the problem was, and the first reply I got was: Don't you have a humidifier? I said that I didn't, and that I've been playing for 8 years and never needed one, even though I've taken my guitar to other countries for more than a month's time, and never had any problems. They replied that it is VERY dry in Michigan, and it's a warm dry air because of the heating (I was there in March, and it was about -5 Celsius to +5 Celsius). They told me that even keeping the guitar in the case will NOT solve this problem, and that you need to get a humidifier STAT because the neck probably warped. I said I'm going to give it a couple of days to see what happens: it got WORSE! Now, the notes from the seventh to the eleventh fret on ALL the strings were buzzing. Some notes could no longer be played because fretting them, and not fretting them would not make a difference (the note AFTER that fret's note would sound instead - some string contact problem due to the angle of the neck changing). That is when I started using water-soaked tissues and keeping them in the guitar. Amazingly, about a week after, I noticed an improvement. And now, after having gone back to Beirut, I've been keeping my guitar out of the case over night to let it soak up some of the humidity, and it got much better. However, the D string's eleventh fret was still buzzing annoyingly, so I had to change the saddle to raise the action, and now it's back to normal, but difficult to play because of the higher action.

So the moral of the story is: I used to think that the humidity issue was just a marketing gimmick, or something that doesn't happen unless you drop your guitar in a lake, or nearly burn it. Now I've realized that it's better to be safe than sorry.

Just my 2 cents...

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2010 2:28:20

steven0356

Posts: 12
Joined: May 16 2010

RE: a couple of newbie questions (in reply to steven0356)

Thanks guys I will avoid hanging clothes from it or dropping it in a lake. I will also go pick up a humidifier. For the low cost why take a chance. I live in the South so most of the time the air conditioning is on or the heat, both dry out the air. The action on the guitar is rather good right now I would not want it to change. This is my first guitar of this kind it seems strange that there is not a trust rod in the neck. I know the nylon strings don't exert much tension on the neck, but still.

Thanks for you help

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2010 5:46:15