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Effect of damp?   You are logged in as Guest
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Graeme

 

Posts: 30
Joined: Apr. 2 2004
From: Lincoln, UK

Effect of damp? 
Hi. I recently acquired a little 60s Hofner Flamenco which judging by the state of the strings, hadn't been played in a long time. After cleaning and re-stringing (Maris) I was disappointed to find that it sounded completely dead with no sustain and little volume from the treble strings. However as time goes by (2 months) and with a lot of playing (every day) it gets better and better.

When it first arrived it had a mild musty (possibly damp) smell inside and I'm wondering if it had been stored somewhere damp (I'm in the UK) and if this could have caused the initial "deadness". Any thoughts?

Thanks, Graeme
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 7 2005 12:08:05
 
Jon Boyes

Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
 

RE: Effect of damp? (in reply to Graeme) 
Hi Graeme.

Initial thoughts are 'yes'. If it was damp, be very wary about trying to dry it out too quickly with heat or it may warp. This could be a possibility anyway - I'm sure Anders would have some thoughts on this.

Is this the Hofner from Ebay recently: £71, yes? Is it definitely a flamenco guitar? I couldn't tell from the pics and so many of the guitars advertised on ebay as flamencos are classicals.

Jon
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 7 2005 12:28:42
 
gerundino63

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

RE: Effect of damp? (in reply to Graeme) 
Hi Graeme.

I do not know if damp effect the sound, but it is very good possible.

What i know, is that if a guitar isn't be played, it is getting dead.

Only if you play it a lot, it opens up again.

So you did a good job playing it again often!

Peter

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 7 2005 12:29:15
 
Graeme

 

Posts: 30
Joined: Apr. 2 2004
From: Lincoln, UK

RE: Effect of damp? (in reply to Graeme) 
Jon: Yes, I'm keeping an eye on it but so far OK and the neck is dead true. No evidence of it having been wet-damp but smelled like it had over-wintered in an unheated room in a junk shop! No it's not one from Ebay and yes it is labelled Flamenco, S/N 6062 which I understand is from 1962. No sign of any golpe activity on its (until now) unprotected top so I suspect this may be its first Flamenco experience......which is rather nice after 43 years. It doesn't sound brilliant (yet) but its very small size means it is extremely comfortable to sit with in both positions and my poor Burguet has hung almost unplayed since it arrived.

Peter: Yes, how is that?! I think everyone agrees that guitars respond to playing but I've always been puzzled at how this can be. My college-level physics provokes the question but doesn't yield an answer

Thanks for your thoughts.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 7 2005 21:11:17
Guest

RE: Effect of damp? (in reply to Graeme) 
Dampness, or excessive humidity, makes guitars sound less lively. This is because the wood takes in the moisture and becomes waterlogged. This is noticable here in Cadiz where the sea breeze (Poniente) can raise humidity to 80% and the land breeze (Levante) can lower it to 20% overnight.

Removing water so quickly can crack the guitar.

Sean
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 7 2005 23:37:52
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