Strings

02004-10-27 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

At 19:20, MichaelV said…OL I heard that it’s a good idea to loosen the guitar strings when shipping it by air (FedEx or as a cargo luggage) Strings tend to expand/shrink drastically due to climate change and near zero temperatures. What’s your experience about this. Have you lost a guitar because the neck felt apart after shipping it?

That is true for steel-stringed guitars, but Flamenco and Classical guitars use nylong strings and the tension is much lower. Steel strings require a serious amount of tension, hence the steel rod inside the neck of every steel string guitar including electric guitars. I also think that nylon strings do not expand and contract as much as metal strings. I haven’t loosened my guitar strings for a flight in a decade… if I did It would take even longer to get the guitar to stay in tune after a flight! My guitars definately don’t like the altitude, lack of pressure and low temperatures on the plane. The guitar won’t like the three shows in Mexico next month. Play a show in Tijuana and get on the red-eye to Mexico City. Arrive in the morning and play the same evening…

1 Comment

  1. salma

    I am not surprised that the guitar prefers riding in the bus! Air travel nowadays is not the most pleasant thing. Standing in lines for hours to go through security is not fun.
    BTW is anyone from our group planning to attend any of these shows?

    Reply

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