To Slacken, or not to Slacken

[artisan4]

I'd like to get input on this question that hast festered within mine noggin for many a moon (since 1978, but who's keeping track).

My guitar collection is sitting in my closet, and I periodically take out a favoured guitar for playage. There are a couple which have been untouched for some time/out of rotation. When this is the case, are you supposed to slacken the strings, or not? Over the years I've read contradictory positions on this. Reduce the tension on the neck, or not? What about my Rick bass? Who would be the expert on this, Dan Erlewine? Finally, is Peyton Manning really worth $96 million?

[jps]

Leave the instruments at concert pitch.

Who is John Galt?

[manta]

I have always heard you ship Rickenbackers fully tuned up. So I assume storage would be the same.

[artisan4]

Leave the instruments at concert pitch.

Who is John Galt?

Why?

Galt is a character from a far-right-wing novel.

[artisan4]

I have always heard you ship Rickenbackers fully tuned up. So I assume storage would be the same.

Someone told me that over the long term it produced too much strain on the neck, and someone else told me if you slacken them, then the neck would warp. But I think the truss rods are there to prevent warpage/movement.

[nukebass]

I look at it from this vantage point: What's the difference in neck tension between storage and playing? Not too much, so if you don't have to detune to play it every day, why would you detune it to store it? The truss rods are there to counter the string tension and keep the neck straight so if you do loosen the strings, you also will loosen the truss rod so you don't have the one directional tension to warp the neck.

[johnallg]

I look at it from this vantage point: What's the difference in neck tension between storage and playing? Not too much, so if you don't have to detune to play it every day, why would you detune it to store it? The truss rods are there to counter the string tension and keep the neck straight so if you do loosen the strings, you also will loosen the truss rod so you don't have the one directional tension to warp the neck.

Exactly. How many times have I pulled out a bass after months to find it in tune.

Who IS John Galt?

[manta]

I just leave mine tuned up all the time. Never really had a problem.

Oh yea, and that Galt guy: Galt is acknowledged to be a creator, philosopher, and inventor who symbolizes the power and glory of the human mind. (from The Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand novel)

Where did he come from? Is he an RRF member too?

[antipodean]

As a slacker, I would say don't slacken. I keep my menagerie at pitch, and nothing horrible has happened in 30-odd years.... apart from my playing!

[ken_j]

... and nothing horrible has happened in 30-odd years.... apart from my playing!

We are our own worst critic at times.

[jingle_jangle]

There's no "the" in Atlas Shrugged.

Far right wing? Well, Ayn Rand is one of the conservative candidates' touchstone on self-reliant philosophy, but I'd rather think of her as selfish and out of date in general. Cult figures--Ayn and her heroes--wield too much power, and only in fiction or fond memory do they live up to their billing.

Who is Bodoni Bold?

Note, please:

A guitar or bass neck is a tension/compression structure. The truss rods in tension balance the strings in tension, using the neck wood in compression as a fulcrum. Remove either tension member for an extended length in time, and the whole darned thing goes out of whack on you. You need the balance provided by all three elements.

Sure, you can detune and loosen the truss rods all the way, but this can cause a wooden neck to take the direction of the wood in the minority of cases, and in all cases you'll have to re-adjust the truss rods again, which can be a real weeks-long hassle to get right.

[badeggs]

Keep 'em tuned up. Page 7 of the manual, under General Guitar Care:

"Do not loosen string tension when storing or transporting your instrument. The neck and body are designed to remain under tension at all times at full concert pitch."

Finally, is Peyton Manning really worth $96 million?

Off-topic, but I'll answer it: Yes he is, because in one fell swoop they got a top-flight QB for five years and dumped the whole Tebow fiasco on the always-clueless, headline-seeking Jets which, as a Giants fan, I find hilarious.

[artisan4]

I look at it from this vantage point: What's the difference in neck tension between storage and playing? Not too much, so if you don't have to detune to play it every day, why would you detune it to store it? The truss rods are there to counter the string tension and keep the neck straight so if you do loosen the strings, you also will loosen the truss rod so you don't have the one directional tension to warp the neck.

Good point

[artisan4]

There's no "the" in Atlas Shrugged.

Who is Bodoni Bold?

This is like Jeopardy. Um, the inventor of the Droolmaster 5000 shower head?

I haven't de-tuned any of them, but good to know they are not in the closet creaking and snapping.

My neighbor's in the closet, I think.

[jingle_jangle]

You live next door to Kyle? Tell Mr. Cruise to get out of South Park.