Theories on developing backbow

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:12 pm

Well, it happens to the best of us over time. You wake up one morning, your knees are sore, you've got more gray in your beard, and your '68 4001 MG has a back-bow. RRRRRRRRR!!!! It's the latter that gets me the most! My '68 4001 has been solid since I bought it in 1996, but over the past year it has taken on a back-bow rather quickly. I'd like to point the finger at terrorists, but I know that I'm to blame with bad habits I developed (but have subsequently learned from) in recent years.

I'm sure this isn't anything new to most here, but this is what I'm passing along for what it's worth. The exceptionally dry climate here over the winter (25%-35% humidity!) plus extended placement of the bass in a neckless guitar stand along with daily exposure to direct sunlight as it sat there was NOT a good combination of elements. Duh. My bad. I should have been more careful. But now I keep my guitars in their cases at all times when not in use, and keep the case lying flat on the ground instead of standing up on-end. Protects from the elements and keeps a little pressure on the neck while in the case. Neckless guitar stands are a bad thing, I've discovered - for my needs, anyway.

You know - these things:

I'm not going to do anything hard-core yet - just going to wait and see what happens as I apply the new storing method over the next few months as we approach Spring & Summer and moister climate. If it's still back-bowed by Summer, I'll try a little heat-press action, maybe tweak the rods forward a hair.

scotty · Post by **scotty** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:24 pm

Mark,did you get one of the invisible models

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:36 pm

Sounds like the perfect storm as far as the combination of factors yielding a (less than satisfactory) result...

Let it sit for awhile, but do check it week-to-week to see if things get better or worse. Based upon its reaction over time, a plan can be devised to straighten it out.

Now straightening out Charlie Sheen--that's another kettle of fish.

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:28 pm

Scott - what... you can't tell from the photo? ;^)

Paul re: Sheen. Right? Well, I have to hand it to him - it's about time a MALE celeb held court in the arena of public downward spiral. Why should women like Spears, Kardashian, Hilton, and the late Anna Nicole Smith dominate this field?

electrofaro · Post by **electrofaro** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:45 pm

Sounds more or less my situation, except I use the Hercules hangers.
Both guitars have a slight bow which were not there before winter...
...tried to correct but so far not with the expected result (or I'm just not patient enough).

My "guitar" room can go from 25% to 50% humidity within a day.
It's a modern dutch apartment overlooking a canal, in southwesterly direction,
so lots of sun until noon, then a drop in temps due to being on the shade side...
...maybe not the best place to store guitars, but it's where I live!

So, what would be the solution here?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:55 pm

Keep them out of direct sunlight. Use a humidifier to keep things steadier. This is not "the solution" but will help...

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:56 pm

walker wrote:Scott - what... you can't tell from the photo? ;^)

Paul re: Sheen. Right? Well, I have to hand it to him - it's about time a MALE celeb held court in the arena of public downward spiral. Why should women like Spears, Kardashian, Hilton, and the late Anna Nicole Smith dominate this field?

Ummm, excluding politicians, right?

electrofaro · Post by **electrofaro** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:01 pm

jingle_jangle wrote:Keep them out of direct sunlight. Use a humidifier to keep things steadier. This is not "the solution" but will help...

Thanks, Paul, will check out the humidifiers in the local DIY.

The guitars are never in direct sunlight, there's heavy daytime-curtains in the room to keep the sun out as much as possible, due to modern "architecture" no blinds in- or outside can be fitted.

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:03 pm

I'd suggest abandoning the hangers and keep the guitars in their cases; then they're not as susceptible to the radical humidity change. One thing I plan on doing which I'd also recommend - invest in a room humidifier/dehumidifier. Ideally, I'd liked to keep my room in the 50-60% range. Keeping an even temp is good, too. I need to put up some blinds in the guitar room so that the sun doesn't wreak so much havoc on interior temps & humidity.

To treat the back-bow, I'd go the slow gradual route. For my bass, I'm just keeping it in the case lying flat on the floor with a soft folded up handkerchief placed in the middle of the fretboard so that it pushes down slightly on the neck and gives it a little bow when I close the case. I don't expect over-night results, but hopefully by Spring-Summer I'll see some improvement. In your case, I'd also make sure your truss rods are at zero tension.

electrofaro · Post by **electrofaro** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:51 pm

Not everyone has the room to keep the guitars in their case. My cases are tucked away on top of the wardrobe as there is simply no other place for me to store them. Getting them off is a not something easy, but a theatre of operations!

Right now both guitars are at 0 tension - got some plants in the room, which meant somewhat more stable humidity. Will keeps you guys posted how it develops.

cjj · Post by **cjj** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:36 pm

I'm lucky to be able to keep the humidity between 35%-40% in the winter. I keep a pot of water boiling on the wood stove all the time, go through about 4 gallons a day. Of course, that's for the whole house. I'm not sure how summer will be, probably a lot drier here in the mountains than where I was before.

So what kind of humidifiers do people like? The ultrasonic types I've seen in the past tend to leave a white mineral dust all over the place unless you fill them with distilled water, which can get expensive.

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:09 pm

In addition to storing them flat in their cases, maybe you might want to put one or two DIY Humidifiers in each case, to keep the humidity concentrated for the bass or guitar ?

Joey had posted these interesting You Tubes (on an earlier Humidifier thread around Christmas) for making home-made guitar-case humidifiers....
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=398929#p666318

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:59 pm

Awesome - good to know, Rich.

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:18 pm

Werner - have you tried switching to a heavier gauge of string? Not sure if that's an option for you. Some are pretty set on their gauge.

electrofaro · Post by **electrofaro** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:02 am

walker wrote:Werner - have you tried switching to a heavier gauge of string? Not sure if that's an option for you. Some are pretty set on their gauge.

I'm at TI flats 11 gauge on the 360, which suits me fine - but wouldn't thicker strings cause more bow, instead of less?
The 340's on TI flats 10s which also suits me fine for the sound it produces.

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