We, in North India, see extremes of temperature as well as that of relative humidity. While it may be a good thing to be able to experience every change of climate and weather, acoustic guitars are certainly not thrilled with the idea.
This period – say from February 2nd week to May end – is an exceptionally dry spell. Those who follow weather conditions, know that the relative humidity during this period dips to as low as 20%. Notice how quickly your clothes on the line dry out? Notice how frequently you feel thirsty? That’s the relative humidity acting.
Acoustic guitars too feel the pinch and show it in the form of guitar buzz. One evening your guitar will play just fine and the next evening there will be an irritating buzz.
To tackle the issue, there are two things that must be done compulsorily. You need to let your guitar have a drink of water and you need to adjust your truss rod incrementally. Now, most people are mortally afraid of touching their truss rods and they take the instrument to the closest instrument repair shop.
This one came in a few days ago.
The neck was straighter than what I would like to see, and so,
Wish I had taken a photograph of the neck before adjustment, but here is one of it after the ‘operation’.
The action after the adjustment was a liveable .085″ on the ‘E’ and just short of .080″ on ‘e’.
I bid adieu to the owner with the advice to let the guitar have a drink of water.
It was a pretty guitar though, the gold/brass bridgepins offset against the coffee burst was eye-catching.
This was the first guitar to visit the Lucknow Guitar Garage with this ‘seasonal’ problem. I am sure there are many more coming soon!
