Quick Question before Gig

[Metalbassist94]

Hey everybody, I just had a quick question. I've got a gig coming up this Friday, and I was planning on bringing my Ric. We're going to be playing on a barge out in the water. I just wanted to know if the salt in the air would ruin the hardware and/or paint on a Rickenbacker. A few people have told me not to bring my Ric for that reason, so I just wanted to ask you guys. Thanks a lot!

[blueflamerick]

Over a long period of time, yes. 2 hours at a gig, no. Just wipe it down carefully and leave it in the case when not playing it.

[kiramdear]

Over a long period of time, yes. 2 hours at a gig, no. Just wipe it down carefully and leave it in the case when not playing it.

+1 Don't worry about it. It'll be fine.

[chucksimms]

Your bass will be fine. Pedals can be a bit more if a concern. When not actively using a pedal throw some covering over them. Sun and/or moisture played hell with my pedal after two consecutive outdoor gigs- one on a dock, the other the bright outdoors.

[cjj]

Just be sure not to drop it in the water...

[8mileshigher]

Kira -- I am curious as to how you keep the salt and moisture from having a detrimental effects on your Rics Do you take them ashore occasionally, to let a change of moisture conditions dry things out ? Long term, wouldn't the salt in the maritime environment sort of have a corrosive effect on anything with metal parts and what about moisture absorbtion by the wood, over the course of time ?

[Bighouse]

Play it through a really big ziplock bag.

[kiramdear]

Kira -- I am curious as to how you keep the salt and moisture from having a detrimental effects on your Rics Do you take them ashore occasionally, to let a change of moisture conditions dry things out ? Long term, wouldn't the salt in the maritime environment sort of have a corrosive effect on anything with metal parts and what about moisture absorbtion by the wood, over the course of time ?

Well, a few factors have made my keeping guitars here in the harbor to be a care-free experience.

1) We're in a far corner of the harbor where the water activity is pretty much nil. This boat never feels any wave action whatsoever, aside from the gentle wake of an occasional passing skiff. That makes a big difference to airborne moisture levels.

2) The boat is thickly insulated and built like a tank. Our bilges are dusty and there is no condensation activity whatsoever inside that I've been able to discern. There's no mold anywhere and humidity is quite normal to arid even.

3) Again, because of out location at the end of a creek far from the Bay, the salt levels are extremely light, barely brackish I'd say. Our harbor collects the rain and city runoff that goes into the Bay, and there's not a heavy backwash with the tides.

Now sure, if I left my guitars outside they would quickly show the bad effects, but of course that wouldn't happen. Inside, I leave my guitars out of their cases laying around me all the time just like I would in a house, and there's been no hint of any problem with that. Same with the amps, they're working fine after being used all the time over the last year or two that I've been working with them here. The pedals I do put away in their little gear bag, as well as the mics and cables, but I don't really fear for them either. Even my computer, which is on and uncovered 24/7 shows no signs of distress with the boating life. In general, I'd say dust is more of a problem than moisture around here (but that's due only to my slovenly housekeeping habits ).

[8mileshigher]

Noted --- glad to know your guitar collection is safe.
I live several miles from the ocean, but when the meterologists indicate "On Shore Flow" or "Off Shore Flow" or "Coastal Eddy" it is without fail that these ever changing climatic-humidity changes have an impact on my guitars tuning.

Who needs a barometer to tell you about climate conditions when you have a chromatic guitar tuner ....

[kiramdear]

Now the only exception to those conditions would be when we get pounded by winter storms and the humidity is bound to rise a bit inside, while water is getting tracked in or blowing in or being carried in on people's clothes.But that's fresh water, not salt. We might feel a bit muggy because there's not that much space and even a little water will make everything feel humid. The guitars stay in their cases then, and amps get covered and moved away from ports and hatches just so they don't get splashed. After a storm passes we soon get our humidity back to normal. This boat is drier than most people's apartments, I'd guess.

[kiramdear]

I live several miles from the ocean, but when the meterologists indicate "On Shore Flow" or "Off Shore Flow" or "Coastal Eddy" it is without fail that these ever changing climatic-humidity changes have an impact on my guitars tuning.

Who needs a barometer to tell you about climate conditions when you have a chromatic guitar tuner ....

Barometric pressure doesn't vary that much in this little area in general. There are a few hills between us and the coast, and the humidity stays pretty constantly close to arid, even here in the harbor. I don't have any tuning problems at all - only when I jam hard do I need to retune. It sounds like you are a lot more vulnerable than I am to changes, even living in a house as you do. But then there are very few houses, I'm betting, that are built as tightly as my boat.