Prolonged Non-Playing and Guitars

[ptchristopher3]

Interesting, I’ve never even thought about any of this stuff. I have owned a Suzuki flat-top guitar for 40 years (!), it has been under full tension the whole time, and it still looks and plays the same as when I got it.

Hi G’bop,

There are many who insist that ALL flat tops will need a reset someday. And while I understand the nature of the opinion, there seem to be many reported exceptions.

I can only speculate as to why some guitars deal with this force without practical deformation.

1. Lighter overall forces from lighter strings that sit closer to the body.

2. Notably heavier bracing, particularly longitudinal braces.

3. Thicker or otherwise stiffer sides (a big part of the picture when the body moves).

4. Consistent humidity as opposed to the remarkable cycles of a continental climate.

You certainly add a layer of sophistication to my earlier opinion. Maybe somehting like: “De-tune those flat tops unless you have an absolutely proven long-term stability champion.”

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Of course while we are at it, we could consider those archtop designs that have shown some (if limited, in my opinion) tendency for the tops to sink some in the long term.

In that case we could add: “If you believe yourself to own a ‘sinker’, maybe de-tune that archtop for long term storage”.

I still like the ham-fisted generalization of de-tuning traditional flat top steel strung guitars for long term storage, and not worrying so much about arch tops.

But 100% agreed there will be many exceptions.

In my opinion.

[Thumpalumpacus]

One huge exception to all this musing is steel string flat tops.

So if you have a dog named “Cooper” with a bandana on, then you will want to de-tune.

A flat top guitar (meaning a torque-tension bridge per the normal way) slowly deforms the body over time. The need for a neck reset has absolutely nothing to do with the neck.

It has to do with the body slowly deforming under string tension and bridge torque. The neck reset is to compensate for the body deformation.

So I will stay out of the presumed archtop discussion, but definitely suggest de-tuning and loosening the truss rod on a flat top for longer term storage. Just de-tune a good two full stops or more, then loosen the rod to get your relief back to where it was under playing tension.

Doing this for 2 years will forestall the need for a neck reset, by a bit over two years.

In my opinion.

This opinion does not apply to Macaferri type guitars with a flat top and tailpiece, and very little downpressure on the top. Sure, they deform over time as well, but to a very limited extent - much like archtops.

All in my opinion.

Yeah, my preconceived notions had me thinking solid-body, not flattop. This is a very good point you make.

[JoePassFan]

I don't believe in detuning whilst storing or indeed shipping.. it never really made sense to me.

You know, if a guitar is designed to be tuned.. isn't detuning going to alter the state it's naturally supposed to be in? I'm no physicist.. or luthier for that matter, but I'm of the idea that keeping it tuned is going to keep it stable and as it should be.. detuning, on the other hand is going to have everything "loose" and more susceptible to knocks and sudden impacts? I'd prefer to keep it in the state it's supposed to be in without messing with the tension.. sure there's a hell of alot more lbs of tension on it.. but isn't that a good thing?! Shipping or storing detuned is simply asking for problems in my view..

The only time I ever damaged a guitar in shipping was the one and only time I shipped one detuned. I believe the fact that the tension was off, it simply allowed the neck and headstock to "whip" when subjected to sudden drop in shipping and resulted in some damage around the headstock, actually running down the two sides of the nut. I don't believe this could ever have happened if the guitar was tuned, with full tension on it everything would have been held together and wouldn't have been "whipping" about to begin with. I never detuned whilst shipping since and never had a problem. As far as I'm aware the vast majority of guitar manufacturers ship in standard tuning. I don't recall ever receiving anything detuned.

That's my opinion. I keep them tuned. Have done for a long time in all situations. Zero problems.