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do you carry an acoustic Guitar?

24K views 122 replies 44 participants last post by  Rhett1321 
#1 ·
if so, what do you do to maintain the proper Humidity levels to ensure that it does not swell/shrink and have major issues?
 
#59 ·
I just added a brand new Guild F412 12 string to my collection. ( have wanted a guild 12 for years and this was an opportunity I couldn;t pass up) It is on board right now and it absolutely fills the cabin with sound when I play! As a live aboard with power I am not too concerned about the environment. And I will probably take this guitar with me when I cast off...just have to keep a close eye on her.
 
#65 ·
Thunder:
You young guys!
Humidity is not the enemy of guitars. Lack of humidity is.

I've grown tired of trying to explain this.
I live 100' from the water, in the PNW where it rains all the time. My guitars love it here.
If you live in Palm Springs you will have a problem.

But have it your way.
 
#68 ·
Desert:
I think you are right. It's big swings in temp and humidity that can hurt an axe. But on Puget Sound I don't have that to wiorry about.

Salt water spray is bad for anything. You could try Gortex coated, Elixar (sp) strings but I would never subject any guitar to salt water spray.
 
#70 ·
a baby Martin is easier to store and pull to the cockpit to play and black is just cooler. Great sound and easier to play than full size guitar.
Those Little Martins are great for boats. My next boat guitar will be that size and very similar in construction.

It's "Little," by the way, or anything with a designation starting with L (like an LX1 or LXM model). "Baby" is for the Baby Taylor, which I think is a much better guitar in the abstract, but not as well suited for boat use as the Martin since the Taylor uses a lot more real solid wood.
 
#71 · (Edited)
I would not go sailing without a guitar. We bring one even on week long canoe camping trips. Garbage bag for rain.

A few years ago I bought an inexpensive but amazingly decent (used) guitar to bring on our tiny Victoria 18 for a week of camping on Moosehead Lake. No case, we needed every 1/4 inch of room! That cheap used guitar beat the socks off so called travel guitars that I've owned or tried.

I've since gone back to bringing a nice handmade with solid tone woods, no plywood. I want (and need) the better sound. Life is short.

I sail for enjoyment - not pay, and I play guitar for enjoyment. Really nice sounding guitars have a feeling to the sound that greatly increases my enjoyment. Some rare nylon string guitars have a good sound as well, with less tension than steel strings. They seem to react to temperature more than humidity. I call them "rubber" guitars, no offense I hope, and I have one I enjoy, I just can't get quite the snappy rhythm out of it as I can with steel strings. Excellent for noodling around on though.

My experience agrees with Bob Perry, it's lack of moisture that hurts. Here in Maine a heated house in the winter is much drier than even the desert, so I take precautions to keep up the humidity.

Back in the 70's I purchased (with help from a pro musician) a handmade solid wood guitar which has never been indoors since I got it. I kept it in a tipi, and now in my boathouse. Not even bitter cold (way below zero F.) has hurt it. BUT, there are no wild temperature swings like you get going in and out of heated buildings. Of course, I don't let the open fire shine on it, that cracked my sister's guitar with a big BANG! Don't let the sun shine on the case where you store it.

I find that when I buy a new guitar, it changes after a bit of outdoor experience, shifting somewhat. I've always worked on it myself, being too far from luthiers. Lowering or raising the nut or bridge, adjusting the torsion bar, just using my judgment of what needs to be done. Then once it settles down it remains stable, with a slight seasonal change. I have good hardshell cases for most of my guitars - all the good ones.

I use elixir strings, they really do last longer. And while my steel string guitars seem to stay in tune really well (especially the one that never comes inside) I still fine tune the strings at the start of each session, I want the harmonics accurate and true A 440 concert pitch.

I have not (yet) taken on the boat my best guitar, with the label signed by Chris Martin and autographed by Merle Haggard.

This summer someone nearby sat on his deck, leaned against the cabin, and played acoustic guitar while we were anchored out at one of the uninhabited Maine islands. Very nice, beat the heck out of people blasting tiresome radios.
 
#72 · (Edited)
Thanks Sky. I'd love to see that Merle autographed guitar some day. Better schedule a trip to the beach shack soon. We can pick and grin.

I'm 67 years old.
But I feel 87.

I have played since I was 14. That's 53 years. I play Ok.
But I will not play an inferior sounding guitar."Mini" "baby" "weenie"
I don't want to play one of those. I play a jumbo Gibson. If they made a "super jumbo" I'd buy it. I did own a Gibson Super 400. Nice axe.

I won't live a lot more years but I'll be damned if I will play a "weenie" guitar, on a boat on an anything. A good axe is going to outlive me.

If you have "baby" guitar abilities maybe good that you keep the volume down with a weenie guitar. But I want a cannon. If I am sailing by myself with no one around. I want a cannon. I play pretty well and I want an axe that will respond to my efforts. " I've done my part,,,,now do yours."

This is a very personal thing. I am just letting you into my guitar world.
 

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#73 ·
Thanks Sky. I'd love to see that Merle autographed guitar some day. Better schedule a trip to the beach shack soon. We can pick and grin.
I'd love to visit, but the whole east coast west coast thing is too far for me to casually drop in. I'll definitely bring the Merle guitar if I do.

I agree with the cannon idea, good sound can be felt (in your center) as well as listened to. I suppose the sound waves actually press against your "stomach". I judge guitars by how the sound feels to me. After all, music is really about feeling when you come right down to it. That's one reason good singers are a pleasure, their voice control comes from their center, where deep feelings are felt, thus they can touch our centers.

I bought a so called "Martin travel guitar" when they first came out, but felt like I might as well put strings on a 2x4. Got rid of that real quick.

While writing this my wife told me I need to make a "winter to do" list to get ready for winter. She actually ordered me to put "hunting" on the list, said she needed a deer for the freezer. Hard to please!
 
#74 ·
Sky:
I admit to poking the little guitars dogs with a stick last night just to rile them up. Fact is when I'm not playing nthe JS200 Gibson my axe of choice is a small Martin (not a mini-Martin) the OM-28 Eric Clapton model. It's quite a bit smaller than a Dreadnaught. It's a wonderful guitar.
 
#76 · (Edited)
Before I read this thread, I was going to bring my solid wood guitars on board even if it was a bad idea. I was just going to do my best to ensure it was well kept. I'm not so worried about it now. I am passionate about my guitars and I play 10 or more hours each week. It has been exciting to hear this group to be not only into guitars, but most importantly, passionate about playing. Just like the ocean, it gets into your soul...the instrument, playing, and the artists that brought the music to us.
 
#79 ·
I love that powerboat. Imagine the fuel consumption.

For me the choice of guitar is all about tone and action. I don't care about size. My Om-28 and my Gibson JS200 could not be more different in tone but I like each for it's own virtues.

I played a $245 Takamine Martin knock off the other day. I was amazed at the sound and quality of build avavailable at that money. I damn near bought it. Just really don't need another one.

I don't own a guitar I wouldn't take on the boat. I do not baby them. I use them.
 
#82 · (Edited)
Seems like if you are only strumming open chords, then an inexpensively made guitar will work fine. But when you are dependent on staying in tune all the way up the neck playing open strings at the same time playing string fingered on the 12th, 14th, etc frets, then a well made guitar is most important (BTW: well made does not necessarily equate to "really expensiive"). Also, when play up around the 7th to 15th frets, you don't want the action really high plus not buzzing on adjacent frets. Hence, a well made guitar is necessary when using the whole neck.

I usually pick up really cheap guitars when in the shop just to see if I can make them sound good. Most of the time, they don't work acceptably well. They go out of tune up the neck and the action is usually really high starting at the 7th fret and up.
 
#83 ·
Sorry to belabor this but...alternate tunings also cause a forcing function to only use well made guitars. Only about a third of the songs I play are in standard tuning. Alternate tunings will cause a weak neck to show itself. Also, staying in tune up the neck becomes even more difficult unless the guitar is well made.
 
#84 · (Edited)
The $245 Takamine I played and I consider that a "cheap" guitar, played extremely well. The neck was spot on. CNC build has solved a lot of the cheap guitar neck issues. That intro level Takamine is not your Grandpa's $28 Stella or my $47 Harmony archtop, my very first axe.

As for alternate tunings, I've been struggling with standard tuning for 53 years. When I get it mastered I'll try some alternative tunings. Randy Bachman did a great radio show (CBC2) on alternative tunings used by Keith Richards. So if you can't quite get that intro to HONKY TONK WOMEN you might try an open C tuning.
 
#86 ·
Have you seen HEART's rendition of STAIRWAY at the Kennedy Center? Amazing.
You can find it on Youtube.

If you want to laugh your ass off you might also look for "B.B.King spoof shreds"
There are a bunch of shred spoofs there for different players. It's really low level musical humnor but I'm a low level kind of guy.
 
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