Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, everyone. We've had a nasty winter here in my part of the world, and when combined with my drafty old house, 30 to 40% humidity has been a tough thing to maintain. My other guitars have done alright, but my 380L has really suffered. The neck has shrunk, causing the frets to push the binding off the neck which in turn had led to a "bumpy" feel when moving up and down the frets. Also, I removed the back panel to change the battery and then couldn't get it back in! It's pretty clear to me that my poor 380L has lost a lot of moisture.

I have a couple of questions: firstly, when should I get this fixed? Should I wait until the spring when (hopefully) the wood will take on a bit more moisture, or should I just do it now? Secondly, would it be worth putting some clearcoat on the guitar to prevent this in the future? I think that the tung oil finish must allow the guitar to breathe a lot more freely than a traditionally finished Ric, and if I can minimize that, it might save me from any future damage from the Canadian cold. Can clearcoat even be applied once the tung oil finish is down? Will it truly reduce moisture loss?

I'm not sure about the clearcoat part, but in the winter I put those little humidifiers in the sases of all of my guitars, they've worked well for me, but then I'm in Philly where I'm sure it doesn't get nearly as harsh as up in Canada.

Good Luck with it whatever you do.

I've actually got a case humidifier in there. I've also got a room humidifier and a decent hygrometer. It just doesn't seem to have worked this year.

Wait until the weather gets a bit more temperate, then take the guitar to a good luthier to have the neck/fret issue addressed.

See if the back panel fits then. If not, have the luthier trim it slightly.

Would clearcoat prevent this?

In a word, NO. And you run the risk of the clearcoat checking.

Urethane clearcoat is not recommended to be applied over tung oil. You could have adhesion problems leading to peeling. I have not tried nitro over tung oil, but suspect the same problem would occur with it as well.

That's what I suspected, Paul. Thanks for the expert info.

You might just want to wait a bit, period. I'm always amazed how much these instruments will re-hydrate and your problems may just go away or at least be minimized when the weather is more naturally humid.

This is just a crazy and stupid idea of mine...would it work if you put the 382 L in the bathroom when you take a shower/bath, once or twice a week, to give her some "steam treatment"? Has anyone tried this?

Where I live, the humidity level is always above 60% all year round. I have a DE-humidifier always on in the room where my instruments are.

Sounds pretty experimental, Paul. Theoretically, maybe. But would you want to play Risk-a-Rick to find out?

I understand you can just boil a pan of water and set it in a room and it will add a lot of humidity. A steam shower might be at bit much.

I normally don't have a problem with low humidity here in Seattle, but when I do I usually just boil some water for a while with the windows closed. Of course, I live in a studio apartment...

Is around 50 too high for a guitar?
Am I really at risk by leaving the guitar on a stand at this humidity level?
Is storing going to change anything?

Thanks guys.

I don't think 50% humidity is too high, Patrick. The ideal humidity for maple is something like 30 or 40%, so you're not too far off. My guitars thrive in the spring and summer when the relative humidity hovers between 30% and 60%.

Had a dry winter here in FL, so dry my old Epi acoustic blew off three of the top's baces. It was a good chance to practice my amatuer luthier skills. Usually humidity is 90%; strings rust in a few days and playing an acoustic sounds like you're beating on a wet cardboard box. No frets poking out though, and the rest of the guitars are fine.