Busking with Vintage Instrument

[adamrhowe]

Is busking with a vintage guitar wise?

I've been busking with my 50s Archtop and I do leave it in its case for 10 minutes or so first to allow it to slowly change to the outside temp.

I know temperature and humidity changes cause finish cracking but is there also a risk of shifts in the wood, affecting the joints and things?

Thanks

[wintermoon]

in severe cases it can cause cracks in the wood, especially on a spruce top.

[A. Kingstone]

I can think of reasons not to other than weather conditions.

[AllanAllen]

Depends on so many factors. Is it a 50’s Kay? Is it a 50’s Gibson. Are you in Minnesota where the outdoors is a 70° drop in temp or California where your house is open and it’s basically the same climate outside.

[JazzNote]

In the eighties i used to busk with a 1953 L7. The guitar was far from mint, had a professionally repaired spruce crack in the top and plenty of lacquer cracks, but sounded good. We played outside even in cold December weather and it did not do any (more) harm to the guitar as far as i can judge. Wouldn't do it with an expensive instrument in mint condition though. Also i always avoided to expose it to direct sun "shining" on it.

[Cavalier]

I used a 200 year old violin during my street performing time in the 80s and it did fine. Realistically though it came from the time of air dried wood and more natural climate extremes, heat was a fireplace, humidity was usual etc ... Just avoid the extremes and with laquer finishes let them adapt slowly. Long oil varnish is tough stuff.....

[adamrhowe]

Depends on so many factors. Is it a 50’s Kay? Is it a 50’s Gibson. Are you in Minnesota where the outdoors is a 70° drop in temp or California where your house is open and it’s basically the same climate outside.

I use a 50s German Hoyer at the moment. But i'm thinking of using a 30s Slingerland. I live in the UK where weather is up, down and sideways but never too extreme.

[John A.]

I use a 50s German Hoyer at the moment. But i'm thinking of using a 30s Slingerland. I live in the UK where weather is up, down and sideways but never too extreme.

I don't think the risk to a vintage guitar is greater than the risk to a more recent one of similar construction and finish. If it's a nitrocellulose finish, there's a chance it'll crack/check from a sudden large change in temperature, and I guess if it's truly extreme (like going from a sauna to an ice-bath extreme), wood could split. Busking in general can be rough on an instrument (getting banged around between sets, bird poo, errant roller-bladers, random 5-year-olds deciding to pull an El-Kabong), and might be at greater risk of being stolen than in other contexts. But that's true of any guitar. All that said, while I don't really busk, I do play outdoors in public spaces quite a bit and don't give any of these risks much thought. I just play the guitar I feel like playing. None of my stuff is all that valuable or special (to anyone but me, anyway), and if I had something truly irreplaceable or valuable, I'd probably be more careful. But again, value and difficulty of replacement would be the concern, not age per se.

[6v6ster]

I think the main issue is theft or human damage, not weather damage. Depends where you busk I guess but I’ve heard of buskers just plain having their guitar grabbed from them! I know another guy who sometimes uses a Martin but only with the logo taped over.

[brewster]

howdy.
for perspective: although i have nicer guitars i sometimes use, my most commonly used acoustic solo gigging (in or outside) guitar and festival guitar is a '35 L-50. great guitars, '36 are even better. its ok to use vintage stuff outside, with proper considerations.

in short, the above advice on temp and humidity and acclimation is what you need to pay attention to (theft or village idiot threats aside). the greater the diff btwn where the guitar came from and where yer gonna play means more acclimation time. your 10 minutes might note be enough for me at times. works both ways, cold to hot and hot to cold. i'm kinda anal about caring for my guitars, primarily 30's and 40's stuff, but i haven't had probs yet. finish damage is the easiest problem to cause, wood/integrity damage is after that. i'm a big believer in case covers when transporting about when its hot summer or cold winter, esp if the guitar has to sit in the car for than a short time. also, insulated covers reduce acclimation times. your noted guitar is probably more bullet proof than my L-50 but it doesn't hurt to baby them if ya can.

sometimes my biggest outdoor playing issue is when yer getting direct sun onto the instrument. wood changes, strings change, retuning too often, ugh. one of my higher end mandolins is quite sensitive to direct sun, as well as to humidity changes. i will try to alter my position to make the sun hit at more of an angle, assuming that will give some marginal decrease in solar input. true? i don't know but can't hurt. played some cold scenes at festivals, i always try to plan time for instrument acclimation if the to/from conditions are notably different.

when i'm doing both guitar and mando work at a gig, and its direct sun (no shade to move to), i have 1/2 a white sheet to drape over the instrument i'm not playing and also orient them so sun is not so directly onto them.

just be aware of conditions and try to keep things stable so yer not having to retune every other song or so. less gear issues = more music fun. enjoy it! b

[adamrhowe]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! Useful info!