Do guitars open up if not played?

[wileypickett]

A guitar maker wrote an article about this subject for *Guild of American Lutherie* magazine a few years back.

He'd built two guitars, using exactly the same materials and same design. A pro player visited his shop and tried them both. Neither maker nor player could hear much difference between the two, but the player settled on one and bought it.

Two years later the buyer brought the guitar back in to have some work done. The maker (who was not a player) still had the other guitar and decided to compare the two while he had them both in his shop.

He said that he was stunned at the difference in sound: the one that had had the daylights played out of it for two years was superior sounding in every way: fuller, more responsive, more authoritative.

BTW, I have one of those ToneRite doohickeys. I couldn't discern any improvement in sound on the few guitars I tried it out on.

 

[marius]

Congrats on a great looking M20 @SteveT. I’ve seen that one on a FB Guild group and was tempted when the previous owner offered it for sale. Love the natural finish with the unique grain.

 

[SteveT]

Great discussion and thanks to all for your input. I also appreciate the nice comments about my guitar. It will be interesting to see how the guitar "wakes up" over time but I always have to keep reminding myself that the best way to make my guitars sound better is just to keep practicing and playing everyday. Merry Christmas to all!

 

[SteveT]

Congrats on a great looking M20 @SteveT. I’ve seen that one on a FB Guild group and was tempted when the previous owner offered it for sale. Love the natural finish with the unique grain.

I did buy it off of FB Marketplace but luckily it was just a short drive from my house. Best part was that the guy who sold it to me was one of the nicest people I have ever met. We had a great conversation just about guitars when I was there. Made the whole experience that much better and adds to the "story" of every guitar I have ever owned. Guitar people are the best!

 

[dwasifar]

A guitar maker wrote an article about this subject for *Guild of American Lutherie* magazine a few years back.

He'd built two guitars, using exactly the same materials and same design. A pro player visited his shop and tried them both. Neither maker nor player could hear much difference between the two, but the player settled on one and bought it.

Two years later the buyer brought the guitar back in to have some work done. The maker (who was not a player) still had the other guitar and decided to compare the two while he had them both in his shop.

He said that he was stunned at the difference in sound: the one that had had the daylights played out of it for two years was superior sounding in every way: fuller, more responsive, more authoritative.

BTW, I have one of those ToneRite doohickeys. I couldn't discern any improvement in sound on the few guitars I tried it out on.

I think the best description I've heard for that is "the wood has to get used to being a guitar instead of being a tree." If you think of it that way, it makes sense that vibrations would help break it in, or "play it in."

I also have tried the ToneRite. It's hard to say if it made any difference. Whatever I think I might hear is not pronounced enough to definitely identify as an objective improvement. It could just as well be confirmation bias - hearing what I want to hear.

 

[wileypickett]

I also have tried the ToneRite. It's hard to say if it made any difference. Whatever I think I might hear is not pronounced enough to definitely identify as an objective improvement. It could just as well be confirmation bias - hearing what I want to hear.

Exactly what I thought -- more a case of hearing what I wanted to hear.

 

[D30Man]

Play it. Vibration is the key

 

[stormin1155]

I am a firm believer that guitars open up when played. Do they open up if not played? No, but as wood ages, it changes at the cellular level. It loses moisture and becomes stiffer. This can contribute to improved sound, but it isn't what I would call opening up.

Case in point, my wife got me a 1961 Old Kraftsman branded Kay "Country" 6100 for Christmas. Now this was an inexpensive catalogue guitar back in the day, solid spruce top, laminate mahogany back and sides. I don't expect that people back in 1961 were saying don't waste your money on Martins, Gibsons, and Guilds... for $75, this Kay sounds just as good. Yet now, this guitar's sound rivals my Martin and Guilds. It really has a lush sound, and when you strum it, it just rumbles your chest. I attribute that to the aged wood. It's not from being played.

I have a ToneRite. I've had varying success with it. On some guitars I've observed improvement in tone. Other guitars not so much. It's really hard to be objective about such things because there are so many variables. The environment can change during the time you have it on, you might put on new strings, you just spent $150 on this thing, so you have high expectations, your memory might change.... But I do think they do make an improvement on some guitars.

 

[SteveT]

In doing some more research on my 1999 M20 I found this link to the 1999 Guild catalogue/newsletter. It shows all of the guitars of that year and has some great articles and pictures of people working at the Westerly factory. Looks like 1999 was the first time in 30 years that Guild made the M-20 again.

https://www.gad.net/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Guild-1999-Jul-Gallery-Catalog.pdf

 

[plaidseason]

I dig those 90s Westerly M20s. A lot. I'd love to find one and put in soundhole pickup and use it (especially) for live playing.

I'd argue guitars open up a little bit even without playing as things dry out and the instrument settles into itself. But mostly, it takes a lot of playing to make a guitar sound great.

I picked up a 1993 DCE1 around a year ago. It's not in amazing shape, but it has definitely been played a lot and thus sounds just wide open and lively.

 

[plaidseason]

Oh and my string recommendation is DR Sunbeams 12-53. That's what I use on both of my smaller, short scale guitars.

 

[Rich Cohen]

I should think that if you make a recording of your guitar and have the clip in a loop, playing for long periods of time, the guitar will respond to the vibrations and it would simulate the guitar being played. How long this process takes, I don't have a clue.

 

[walrus]

In doing some more research on my 1999 M20 I found this link to the 1999 Guild catalogue/newsletter. It shows all of the guitars of that year and has some great articles and pictures of people working at the Westerly factory. Looks like 1999 was the first time in 30 years that Guild made the M-20 again.

https://www.gad.net/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Guild-1999-Jul-Gallery-Catalog.pdf

Just an FYI, if you don't know, that great Guild information web site was created by our own GAD! It gets a lot of use!

walrus

 

[SteveT]

Walrus- Thanks for pointing that out and always good to give credit where it is due. What a great resource and I appreciate their time and effort in helping others learn more about the their instruments.

 

[roadbiker]

I just bought an absolutely mint 1999 Guild M-20 (Hans confirmed the serial number and I sent him the build date). I don't think it has been played much, if at all, and it even had the original tags in the case. I know guitars open up over time but do they have to be played for this to happen? Any advice on other M-20 owners and how their guitars changed over time. Thanks!
- Steve

A short story... I played the cello for many years and early on inherited a cello from my father's aunt. The cello came to her possession from her brother-in-law, who was a cellist for the Boston Philharmonic and was made for him in 1933 by the luthier who was world renowned for the restoration and reproduction of Stradivarius instruments. Mine was one of only 12 cello's produced by him and was an exact replica of a Stradivarius cello. I sold it to a world renowned cellist, and before he bought it, I let him take the cello and play it for a few days. The day after he started playing the cello, he started sending me e-mails telling me how much he was playing it and how beautifully it was opening it up. He even sent links to YouTube videos of him playing it in a church alongside a real Stradivarius cello. After I sold him the cello I bought a new Taylor 814ce. Taylor guitars have a reputation of sounding "bright." That was in 2010, and the Taylor was "bright." Over the years, the sound coming out of the guitar has mellowed quite nicely and no longer has that super bright tone, but a much better sound, at least IMHO. I think that change in tone is a function of strings and playing the guitar over time.

With that said, I think that there is something to be said for a wood instrument opening up over time by being played.

 

[crank]

My story:

So I put my G37 away for several years when I was barely playing. When I got back into it and pulled out the Guild dread it felt warmer, punchier, better. Of course I had played it a good bit for over a decade before this pause. I have never been sure if it was the guitar or if it took me that long to learn how to play it.