storage question

Ok, I searched the forum and didn't see anything but as the collection grows and I wind up with far too many of these hanging on the wall, do I leave them tuned up or release the tension? with no truss rod my inclination is detune but please let me know what you think.

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Permalink Reply by Keith on February 9, 2015 at 5:39pm

Yeah, I'll leave em tuned up seems the easiest, and if I start noticing bowing I'll react to that. Thank you really. I was trying to be funny not snyde, I hope that came through, I know enough to know what I don't know, but I know where to ask!

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on February 11, 2015 at 5:38am

Like you, I worried about this so I've kept an eye on my "prototype" instruments over the years. I've got instruments going back nearly 3 years--none with more than 3 strings. They all have soft necks of poplar or cheap pine. They've been kept at tension in a household environment. Local humidity tends to be moderate.

For the fretless instruments, any warping has certainly been minimal and caused no problems.

Curiously, I've had the most problems with a fretted canjo made out of a scrap of 2x4 lumber. It has warped into a very slight "S" shape. It's so slight I wouldn't have noticed except it screwed up my setup and started buzzing on one of the frets. I think it's because the wood is cheap and knotty.

Even so, I've evolved into either making necks of 3 pieces laminated together--which also makes a nice "skunk-tail" stripe down the middle of the neck--or else gluing on a separate fretboard--even on an unfretted instrument. The hope is that any kind of wood laminate is much, much less prone to warp.

I use a polyurethane glue like original Gorilla Glue to make laminates. A friend who is a better woodworker has made me some necks glued with 2-part epoxy.

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Permalink Reply by JL on February 11, 2015 at 1:18am

dictionary.google.com

Hardwood - comes from broadleaf trees like maple and oak

softwood - comes from conifers like pine and spruce

Yew (a softwood) is harder than Basswood (a hardwood)

and don't forget the larch, the larch

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on February 11, 2015 at 5:12am

I missed the joke too, Wayfinder...but we have Larch here in Nova Scotia...it's the "nudist" in the world of conifers...because it's deciduous...loses leaves in fall. Mostly used to build boats and frame houses.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on February 11, 2015 at 5:43am

The joke is a repeated motif from Monty Python's Flying Circus, episode 3, How To Recognise Different Types Of Trees From Quite A Long Way Away:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ug8nHaelWtc