D55 arrived
- Thread starter TBK711
- Start date
Cougar
Enlightened Member
What's your current temperature outside? Depending, I'd probably open up a little sooner than that, but I don't want to tell you that. :black_eyed: When out of the box, feel the case temperature. If it's still real cold, wait. Otherwise, let's see it! :tiger:
And may the best of luck be with you!
Westerly Wood
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wait till tomorrow morning
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I think if I'd opened mine sooner, some condensation would have helped it out a little.
Rayk
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Yeah or wait till Saturday morning so we all can get a cup of coffee sit in our favorite spot and veiw away
Ooooooo better yet do a opening video !
Congratulations on its arrival. You are on your own. Ha
zeboma
Member
The voice of experience booms from on high: don’t rush!
adorshki
Reverential Member
The concern is finish checking caused by temperature shock, and TBK's been looking for a nice VVG condition piece, so assume he got one that didn't already have it.
The cracking occurs when cold finish is exposed to warm air, just like a cold glass dropped in hot water.
Seems to be a bigger issue with thicker and older more brittle NCL formulas, but nothing wrong with playing it safe.
Cougar
Enlightened Member
Except it'll drive you a little crazy! But maybe that's not a big change in some cases. :dry:
adorshki
Reverential Member
I get a vicarious thrill from observing other people's stress, but my shrink told me that's normal.
Then she upped the dosage on my Xanax.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
My early guitars all being vintage 60's vintage SG's (in the 80's), and then vintage Strats, etc, I love all manners of finish checking. I consider it art in itself. Over the years, I've been known to take a vintage Blackie Les Paul Custom and other Nitro finished guitars out to spend the night in the woodshed outside the case when it's zero degrees out, then bring it in in the morning after starting a really nice hot fire.
It works best if you really shock the finish, but holding it pretty close to the stove until it goes from being frozen to the moisture dissipating, and yeah, you'll see some finish checking, crazing, whatever you want to call it. It's beautiful and it makes guitars sound better, don't you know? ;-)
I think I have a shot of such guitar torture somewhere, frozen guitars.
If you think this is crazy, then consider the "artist" Tom Murphy, drawing fake checking on $8000 "Relic" Les Pauls, as sold by the Gibson Custom Historic Shop... People pay for that, and they're sane? I just let nature take it's course where somebody has impeded the process before.
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adorshki
Reverential Member
Yeah but it's an acquired taste, and you, sir, need some of my Xanax.
Those are the same people who think Starbucks' flavored drinks would pass for real coffee in Italy.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
This was about ten years ago, and I don't do this to acoustic guitars, very often... There has been a time or two when I took a partially checked top, like on my '72 D28 out for a bit and back in, just to finish the checking, haha, finishing finish checking.
You can see some checking right through the frost on the SG. I still have it, think I'm going to send it down the road now, buy more acoustics. The Tele is a keeper, more than ever. The Frampton LP is gone, that one I miss, but mostly just to look it.
You can see some checking right through the frost on the SG. I still have it, think I'm going to send it down the road now, buy more acoustics. The Tele is a keeper, more than ever. The Frampton LP is gone, that one I miss, but mostly just to look it.
It’s cold here. It was about 15 degrees when t got here; but I don’t think it sat in that very long. I think the temp of the finish never got too low. Now it sits in the room it will most of its time - still in the box. I’m running out for a bit and will get back in a coulple hours. Will maybe take it out of the box then - I suspect the hinges on the case will be room temp by then. If so, honestly, I won’t be able to wait. It isn’t super warm in my house anyways this time of year.
... I don’t know if I can wait until tomorrow!! We’ll see.
Ugh ... I hope I don’t screw it up.
I can’t stand this waiting stuff ... there is a dang guild in the house and I can’t open it !!!!!
... I don’t know if I can wait until tomorrow!! We’ll see.
Ugh ... I hope I don’t screw it up.
I can’t stand this waiting stuff ... there is a dang guild in the house and I can’t open it !!!!!
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
The wait can be a good part of the process, makes you feel like you're in control... ;-)))
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adorshki
Reverential Member
NCL formulations themselves have changed over the years.
There are actually plasticizers in NCL to help it with the small expansion/contraction issues it will experience in normal use, but it does get dryer and more brittle as it ages.
The late '70's/80's models tended to have thicker finishes to start with and apparently had more solids and less plasticizers, so are probably the most susceptible at this point.
'90's/ late Westerly had a rep for thinner finishes, probably less likely to crack like glass.
Corona was actually known to have teething problems with learning how to spray it, they were new to the process and had a brand new spray booth for it besides, and the finish on my Corona D40 is the thickest of the 3, it WAS "like glass" when it was new.
But NCL suppliers in general were reportedly increasing the plasticizer content by then, apparently it was more compatible with an environmentally friendly formula, too.
Still, I wouldn't willingly risk a temperature shock to it.
Don't have as much info about Tacoma, but suspect you'd have to jolt one of those or an NH pretty good, to get checking.
Can't recall any reports of that on those.
You could burn a couple of hours searching old string threads here.
Hope that helps.
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Or you can adopt "Popeye the Sailor Man's" philosophy just before he gulped his can of Spinach---"That's All I Can Stand and I Can't Stands No More."