# artificially aged acoustic



## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

Has anyone ever tried this?I was on another forum and this article came to mind while i was reading about the new fender line coming out. http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Jul/Acoustic_Guitar_Tonal_Magic.aspx

QUOTE 
Here’s something that I learned many years ago from the late John Stewart, who wrote the 1979 hit song, “Gold.” Way back in 1977, when I was working in a music store giving guitar lessons, John came into the shop. He just happened to be a regular customer, so I had the opportunity to talk to him often – he was always full of great tips. At the time John was using brand-new Alvarez-Yairi acoustics and he would get new instruments on a regular basis. The first time I met John, he offered up some sage advice about an ingenious technique that he would employ to artificially “age” new acoustic guitars in a relatively short period of time. This technique involved the use of his home stereo and a guitar stand. What John would do is take his new Alvarez guitars and place them in close proximity to the speakers of his stereo system. He would raise the volume just enough to get the spruce top of the guitar to vibrate freely, and to the point where it would vibrate without stopping. He would adjust the stereo volume and then simply touch the top of the guitar to feel if it was vibrating – then he would crank up the bass control to incite even more movement in the guitar’s top. He did this while he was out working his day job. Stewart told me that he could hear ten years’ age over the course of a month’s time with this treatment.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

I have tried this, and even went a step further. There was some buzz a few years ago on a guitar forum about a luthier using a hand held massager on his acoustic guitar bodies to accelerate the "opening up process". I tried it.

I can't say that either method yielded a dramatic, positive result. I do believe that part of the aging process is the fact that the wood loosens a bit. I am not a believer in the quoted process as having a profound effect in a short time.

As a guitar ages it can develop a looser feel and a different sound, over a period of several years. This is the result of wood drying, glue curing and hardening, finish curing (shedding mass) and settling into the wood grain (something the newer UV cured finishes will never do) and the guitar generally giving up being a tree and accepting that it is a musical instrument. :smile:

There is no doubt that some will hear, or claim to hear, a dramatic improvement in a very short period of time. I won't deny their claim. Everyone knows that a car works much better after the car is washed.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Is there a way to inject some of the players soul too? Seriously.. I know of a martin d35 that sounds like crap.. why because the owner died. I have known this guitar for a long time. The guitar was never the same.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

I have read about that here:

http://www.acousticguitar.com/gear/advice/vibration.shtml


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*And yet another one*

By the way are you interested in buying a bridge, I have several ( all used of course ) that I am trying to sell. You can't artificially age wood period, no matter what they so called studies say, its impossibl;e to get wood to age by blasting it with a huge power speaker,
It's not vibrations that open up the woods, its just good old fashion time that does that ( unless you are in to time travelling ), but it does make for some interesting reading and nothing more. I am not going to bother trying to explain how wood needs the dryness and the moisture over years of time to become what it eventually becomes, and we see this from guitars from the late 1880's that have been looked after and how they have managed not to crack or over shrink.
But all said and done its always going to be very contriversial as to if it helps or not, its like asking which strings work better on my guitar.Ship.........so which bridge are you interested in buying by the way, buy more than one and I'll give you a great deal.


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> Is there a way to inject some of the players soul too? Seriously.. I know of a martin d35 that sounds like crap.. why because the owner died. I have known this guitar for a long time. The guitar was never the same.



I don't know about that. Neil Young plays Hank Williams old Martin and it sounds pretty damn good IMO.


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## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

ronmac said:


> I have tried this,using a hand held massager on acoustic guitar bodies to accelerate the "opening up process". I tried it.


Did it climax ??  ( sorry , couldn't pass on that :smile: )


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

nitehawk55 said:


> Did it climax ??  ( sorry , couldn't pass on that :smile: )


kkjuw hwopv


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

Ship of fools said:


> By the way are you interested in buying a bridge, I have several ( all used of course ) that I am trying to sell. You can't artificially age wood period, no matter what they so called studies say, its impossibl;e to get wood to age by blasting it with a huge power speaker,
> It's not vibrations that open up the woods, its just good old fashion time that does that ( unless you are in to time travelling ), but it does make for some interesting reading and nothing more. I am not going to bother trying to explain how wood needs the dryness and the moisture over years of time to become what it eventually becomes, and we see this from guitars from the late 1880's that have been looked after and how they have managed not to crack or over shrink.
> But all said and done its always going to be very contriversial as to if it helps or not, its like asking which strings work better on my guitar.Ship.........so which bridge are you interested in buying by the way, buy more than one and I'll give you a great deal.


Haha send me the pics and ill think about it.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

When I bought my Seagull S6 about 18 years ago, the instructions in the Seagull manual recommended to keep the guitar close to speakers to help aged the wood, resulting in a better sounding guitar. I always stored the guitar on a stand next to speakers for about 8 years! I can't confirm that it was this aging process that worked, but the guitar sounds fantastic! Of course it is 18 years old now so I'd say its naturally aged at this point.

Anyways, if a guitar manufacturer recommends this method, I would say there is some truth to it. The quickest way to age an acoustic is to play the hell out of it.


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

I agree with that.Starbucks link was a good read though, it seems the speaker technique has something to it.


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## rbbambino (Oct 10, 2007)

There is also a chemical aging process which some companies do to their tops. Stonebridge (Furch) makes some models that have them. I don't know if works that well.. They are quite secretive about the process. I do know that it must be chemical, because a friend saw one with a stain where the chemical process was improperly done on the top. FWIW.


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## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

Well all interesting theories but the only real way to age a guitar is play the heck out of it !! :rockon2:


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## rbbambino (Oct 10, 2007)

You are correct nite.. I sure don't like the idea of putting chemicals to wood and I doubt that blasting sound at them will improve the quality. It might loosen things up... like braces and such, but playing them for a few years is the real deal :smile:


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## sard (Jan 12, 2008)

nitehawk55 said:


> Well all interesting theories but the only real way to age a guitar is play the heck out of it !! :rockon2:


http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=MPh9_gFH7t4 check out this youtube video from Robert Godin


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