Taking a Rickenbacker out in cold weather

wilbur · Post by **wilbur** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 3:34 am

This is probably going overboard on being careful but I'm curious to hear your opinions. I keep all of my guitars in their cases, in a room where I control humidity as much as possible with a humidifier in the winter and ac in the summer. It seems to pay off as I've had extremely good luck with not having problems, never have to do neck adjustments etc. even on guitars that are 39 years old. I occasionally go to a friends house to play and in cold weather I've always taken a guitar that I'm "less concerned" about. But last May I bought a Ricky 360/12CW and I love this guitar and want to continue to take it with me this winter when I go out to play. Here's my question. Will having this guitar in a different humidity range (probably lower) for a couple of hours cause problems? I'm not too concerned about the cold in the car because I make sure the car is warm before I take the guitar in it and it is only outside (in the case of course)for 15-30 seconds between the house and car. Am I being too protective by keeping it at home or should I just shut up and play?

Thanks for any opinions.

Jim

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 5:48 am

Jim: I recently purchased a 360/12CW as well--I have noticed that the action has 'snuck up' a bit since I set it up, possibly due to the change of seasons, 'cause I dont play it much. I seem to remember Mark the MD saying recently that with newer guitars you tend to have to make more frequent adjustments. This seems to be the case 'cause my older 12-string (68) sets next to the CW and it is unchanged. So it may stand to reason that adjustments may be in the picture no matter what you do by means of climate control...

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 6:09 am

Wilbur: While a relative humidity factor in the vicinity of 40% is a rough guide, playing your instrument in other climates is unavoidable if you are to have any fun.

The cost of truss-rod adjustments and setup is about $25-30 in the event you don't do it yourself. The value of playing a CW12 with friends is priceless. My "balanced" view is perhaps too simplistic but I would advise, "Life is short, play on!"