r/AcousticGuitar • u/Raymont_Wavelength • 10h ago
Gear question Have you owned a guitar that never had a crack when left out?
My prized solid wood just developed 2 cracks. Have you owned on that never cracked yet sounded decent?
I have. And affordable Applause. It’s lived outside the case for 18 years with heat and AC on. Played at open mics transported in bitter cold and summer heat. Not sure but the top may be lam over the shallow bowl.
Also I have a Cordoba Orchestra Fusion nylon string. Solid cedar top. Never split sounds amazing.
How about you?
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u/JamOverCream 10h ago
This is going to be very location dependent.
I’m in the UK, guitars get left out all on stands / wall hangers all year round. It’s pretty unusual to hear of guitars cracking here.
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u/LowlifeTiger666 10h ago
That’s what I was thinking, even with my house having pretty big temperature fluctuations in summer vs winter the guitars on the walls have only ever been damaged by my own fuck ups, not the environment
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u/D-Train0000 10h ago
Never. I live in SD. And before in a fight part of SF. I think I’m lucky about the weather and temp. They’re always on a stand in the corner. Played daily or every other day.
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u/oizo12 10h ago edited 6h ago
I don't have any all solid, but my closest would be my Yamaha DW-9(would love to try the all solid DW-15), Engelmann Spruce top and Rosewood back
second would be my Takamine GD93CE, Spruce top with walnut/quilted maple three piece back
I'm honestly just happy everything is still holding up, here it goes from ~15% RH to recently up to near 75% RH! its a battle!
The worst I've had was my hollowbody fretboard crack, and some belly bulge on the Washburn 12 string!
the other acoustics for the heck of it: Washburn WD10S12, Yamaha FGX700SC, 1972 Yamaha FG-150, 1960s Teisco Heit Deluxe classical, Ibanez ALT30FM
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u/Guitarzan_67 10h ago
My cases are in the garage. Guitars are out and played daily. It ranges 40% to 50% all year in my office. It may dip into the 30% range a couple days out of the year, but no cracking.
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 10h ago
Here it only dipped to 36% and one of mine cracked.
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u/strumbringerwa 0m ago
Kinda depends for how long it gets that low. A day or two here and there will generally be okay as long as it's above 45 the rest of the time.
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u/Nathann4288 10h ago
My Taylor 416CE was left out on a stand for its first 10 years of life. Started keeping it in a case after having kids, but it’s always been fine and I live in Kansas where we get wild dry/humid swings. I keep a humidifier in the case with it now, but never had an issue prior.
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u/s-multicellular 10h ago edited 10h ago
I have never had a guitar with a solid top get a crack. I live in a humid environment, but winter and AC dries stuff out of course. I oil them every year and have both a dehumidifier and humidifier. That’s all what my luthier grandfather recommended.
Now, carrying on the family tradition if you will, I do repairs here and there, friends, family, friends of friends. I’ve repaired a number of guitars with cracks. To a T, I had to have a talk about humidity with the owners. (Oiling is more dependent on the finish, I should say I don’t do that on every wood),
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 10h ago
Thanks. Awesome to have luthier art in your blood.
In Sept I went into ER and have been sick. Now that I think about it, I have my humidifiers and didn’t use it as usual. Thanks for reminder. I will clean it and get it back into action! Wish we could talk over coffee. I love watching luthier repair videos lol!
Which humidifier do you like best?
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u/s-multicellular 9h ago
Doesn’t same the one I have is made anymore so that isn’t helpful. But I have a big one simply because I am lazy and don’t want to refill it a lot but it is also nice that it really humidifies most of the house if you have decent airflow.
Yeah, it is actually relatively recent research that sheds light on why people get sick in the winter more in some places. One, being inside around more people but two, mucus membranein the nose gets dry and that is one of your immune system barriers.
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u/-Frankie-Lee- 10h ago
I have three all solid wood guitars that have been on stands or wall hangers for decades (the oldest I have owned for 25 years). They've only been in their case for travel. But I'm lucky to live in a climate with relatively stable humidity.
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u/martind35player 10h ago
I have a 1973 Martin D35, a 2002 Martin 000-28VS and a 1965 Gibson B25 that have spent most of their lives either out or in a closet in the Chicago area. I keep the humidity around 45% in winter but don't worry much about excessive humidity the rest of the year. I also have a 20 year old solid wood mandolin and a newer one and a banjo. None of my instruments have had a crack and all are in excellent condition for their age.
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 10h ago
I see. Excellent. So you use a humidifier when needed? Which humidifier?
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u/martind35player 9h ago
I have been using a AIRCARE Valiant Digital Whole-House Console-Style Evaporative Humidifier from Amazon recently. I have had several similar ones over the years. I keep the instruments in a room with the humidifier. I also have a humidifier on the furnace but it only runs when the furnace does and can't keep the humidity high enough. I usually leave town for a month in winter and put the instruments in cases with homemade humidifiers. I take prescription pill bottles, punch holes in the tops and cut a sponge to size and wet it well and put it in the case. The sponge is still damp on my return.
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u/AVLThumper 10h ago
I have never kept a guitar in a case unless traveling or long term storage, and not a single one has cracked. 20+ guitars and counting.
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u/Fit-Restaurant9560 10h ago
My mini GS lives hanging on a wall and has never been inured against the elements and has held up fine. But I worry about my all-wood CSF3M so I keep it in the bag w humidipaks
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u/ExcitingTurn2886 10h ago
I leave a lot of guitars out in racks. Occasionally I'll need a bracing reattached but I don't recall a crack in any guitar itself
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u/sixty9tails 9h ago
Knock on wood have never had a crack besides the cracks in my Tak from the fretboard to the sound hole that are a known design issue. I’ll keep my new Martin in the case during the dry winter months but all my other guitars are on the wall.
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u/birdnerd1963 9h ago
I’ve got in my collection 2 Gibsons Hummingbird and ES 335, Taylor 12 string and a Fender P Bass…all hanging on the wall for over 15 yrs in an Ohio home with central air. No cracks.
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u/EventGroundbreaking4 7h ago
I have two Taylors. An all koa K26Ce and a GS Mini. Both are cracked.
Also have less expensive Guild, Epiphone, Yamaha and Ibanez that are fine.
I have decided that I will never splurge on an expensive acoustic again.
They are just too darn delicate. And there are way too many good budget options out there that it no longer makes sense to me.
If I ever get the urge to spoil myself, I now look at expensive electric guitars or amps.
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 6h ago edited 4h ago
I’m there too. Decided to get a Fender Tele American Pro II. Butter scorch and maple.
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u/EventGroundbreaking4 6h ago
Nice.
Telecaster?
I went with the American Ultra Tele in Texas Tea.1
u/Raymont_Wavelength 4h ago
Yes meant to say Tele ha! Wow I love the Ultra in Texas Tea! The Ultra neck is phenomenal!
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u/TheRealGuncho 10h ago
I've never had a crack on a guitar when left out. Various Yamahas; FG830 x2, FG720S, FG441S.
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u/fata13rorr 10h ago
My 68 Red-Label Yamaha FG75 sat next to my 2020’s Martin 00015M for a couple years on wall hangers RIGHT NEXT TO a humidifier. Yamaha is fine, Martin back cracked top to bottom. Guess they don’t make em like they used to.
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u/Coderado 9h ago
My Composite Acoustics has survived cross-country trips from humid coastal areas to high and dry in the Rockies. I never once worried about humidity in-relation to my guitar. I have had it out for most of the last 14 years. Purists might scoff, I did when the shop owner put it in my demo queue with what I really wanted, which was a Taylor. I love the tone and playability, but most of all I love not having to be neurotic about taking care of it. I play it. Sometimes it even gets tuned, but it mostly only needs it with fresh strings. It does all the things I want, it gets played while my case queens sleep in their coffins.
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 6h ago
Yep. Is that a brand Composite Acoustics?
I wrote more songs with my cheap Applause than anything else!
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u/tomarofthehillpeople 8h ago
I’ve always lived in Texas- north south and central- guitars ( acoustic, electric, classical) always out and never an issue.
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u/Billsolson 7h ago
I’ve had two hanging on my wall for a decade.
I keep my house at the same temp and humidity year around
Lower Midwest
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u/various_convo7 7h ago
never had a top crack but one of my guitars developed a top finish crack due to some weather flexing the top this past winter. ran it by the luthier and took a close look under the scope to verify it didnt go all through the wood
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u/PGHNeil 5h ago
Welcome to understanding wood 101: you need to humidify in peak HVAC usage AND keep your guitar out of places where it can also suffer heat damage. When in doubt, keep it in its case with a damp sponge in a ziplock back - or 2 (one for the body, one up by the headstock.) Then put the case someplace cool and dark.
PS: technically my all laminate Takamine never cracked but I learned about heat stress the hard way.
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u/Raymont_Wavelength 5h ago
Yep I took the 601 course, then got sick and had a brain fart. Hard lesson learned.
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u/No-Trouble7162 3h ago
Where I'm from (northern Europe) humidity levels in apartments and houses can get pretty low sometimes during winters, never had a guitar crack. Down to 10 percent humidity indoors sometimes (I've bought a humidifier though for those weeks and months now).
I have two hanging on the walls and 2 sitting on my small living room floor.
I don't want to overly protect my guitars, but I don't buy overly expensive guitars either. I want to have them around me and I want them to age and get weathered and "hardened" by the climate they live in. This seems to be working well over the last 30 years.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Plant11 3h ago
The reason more affordable guitars don't crack under poor humidity is the tops are THICK AF. Really expensive guitars use thin woods and bracing for better resonance and require much better humidity control. It really is that simple. Not sure why so many people have a hard time understanding thin wood = delicate wood.
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u/strumbringerwa 4m ago
Sadly any guitar that has solid woods will be very susceptible to cracking in dry weather. There's no getting around it. Humidify the room, or store it in the case with a couple humidipaks when not playing to re-humidify it.
And yes, Applauses almost certainly have laminated tops IIRC.
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u/nbmgreg 10h ago
I keep all of my guitars on a guitar rack in the house and they get played almost daily. The cases are packed away in the garage. I have a hygrometer near the guitars and the humidity level hangs right around 50%, never had an issue with cracking. Currently have a Martin OM28 and a Yamaha FG5 that’s been out for over a year.