Welcome to Georgia, brother. You’ll get use to the joys of our humidity shifts pretty quickly. The biggest thing to remember for keeping guitars in shape is oiling those rosewood fretboards when the humidity all of the sudden disappears around Thanksgiving. I will say my two Warmoth Boatnecks with roasted maple shafts never go out of tune. I bet you know a guy who could set you up with a few of those 😉
So I’m in New England. We moved into an apartment that had absolutely insane humidity/temperature changes. I have amazing guitars but I can never get a good session in because of all of the shifts (affects playability and sound). It’s killing my passion and I’m not sure how best to go about it
Hey Aaron! Man I miss your uploads you were doing more common during the pandemic ( which was about all I miss from that time era! ) Hoping you keep doing them man, they’re all very informative 🤙 You guys make such a good product, aside from an acoustic purchase I’ve made I don’t even bother shopping for electric guitars anymore. I just go here and they all come out fantastic, you guys are great and Spike’s real helpful as well with any odd questions I hit him up with as well.
I grew up in Georgia and was lucky enough to do a tour at Ft Lewis, WA in the 1990s when I was in the Army. The whole of the Seattle-Tacoma area these days is mighty pricey, but I'm not sure I'd trade the Pacific Northwest for Georgia. So much to do in the Northwest, and the weather is generally outdoor weather year-round. Not so in Georgia where come April it gets too hot and buggy, then comes the much dreaded Hurricane season. Oh, and tornadoes too. Plus the whole of the Seattle area has a wonderful neighborhood pub culture that does not exist in Georgia. Luckily, guitar playing doesn't care where one is. Best wishes....and I hope Warmoth is ok with the move!
Perhaps because I grew up in the PNW and know what is used to be, I'm less happy with the current state of things there. I figure we'll give GA a try for a few years and see how we like it. If it's not for us, at least we got the experience!
Living in Massachusetts, the threat is low humidity. I haven't had much of a problem as long as I don't store my guitars close to (or especially above) heating registers. I'll usually intonate my guitars late Spring and late Fall after the temp swings stabilize. Tuning stability is never really an issue, but I play mainly Teles.
I confirm high humidity straightens the necks so you’ll find your tuning sharp. This will be more or less evident between guitars as shown in the video. Correcting this by simply retuning or by acting on your trussrod tension is up to you, depending on your setup. You can hear some open string buzzing in some of the guitars in the video: those are probably better served with a trussrod adjustment than simply by retuning, also because retuning from sharp to pitch will further accentuate the buzzing because the neck will straighten even more.
I have lost three guitar necks going from high humidity to low. A Levinson Blade developed a hump going from Indiana to Nevada. A beautiful Zion was lost going from South Carolina to Nevada and a Fender Heartfield developed a nasty twist going from Washington to Nevada. Ten percent humidity will do crazy things to a guitar neck if the wood is not right.
When guitars arrive in Arizona, pretty much all of them develop fret sprout. I played a $3k Music Man at a store that even had it. There's no getting around this issue on hard maple necks of any kind. The only necks I've seen that didn't need a fret job on arrival in the desert have been save roasted maple necks and well-made bound necks.
I drove my Stratocaster from NY to CA across 13 states in July of this year. The temps ranged from chilly to well over 100 and in a Gator gig bag, it did just fine. Maybe that information helps someone out there. Thanks for another awesome video!
I live in Nova Scotia where we have cold dry winters and warm humid summers. My 2 Warmoth Pau Ferro necks have no finish and still need less adjustment from season to season than my maple and mahogany finished necks do. I have never had any shrinkage of the fingerboard width either which I have had on some ebony fingerboard necks.
I actually just started paying attention to humidity. In my studio I now have 3 hydrometers and and a dehumidifier. My indoor humidity in Florida is around 70%. Even with a brand new dehumidifier I have trouble keeping at 59-62%. I sealed the door the studio, but just opening the interior door to the rest of the house a few minutes increases humidity 5%-9%. I've had my electric guitars on the wall hangers for 3 years and didn't notice too much. I did always think it was weird when I'd check my tuning on my guitars the tuning was always Higher not Lower. I have to tune them down to E Standard. I started paying more attention to humidity when I recently bought my Gibson J-45.
Imo, the Warmoth pro/modern construction necks are the best. They are the most stable and give a very articulate (quick) transient response. Any guitar body is improved when it is attached to a Warmoth pro construction neck.
Welcome to the south! Good to see you back and if you don't already, take up gardening! Virtually year round. Oh yeah, you really want humidity, come on down to central FL.
Useful video. PRS really impressed. Enjoy the country life! I've moved out the "big" city just a few weeks ago and the change of scenery is very welcome.
The root cause of tuning stability in humidity changes is the difference in shrink rate of the two woods in the neck. If the rates are very different, the neck will curve (one way or the other). For example, Hard Maple has a longitudinal shrink rate of 0.55%, while Gaboon Ebony has a rate of 1.26%. This difference creates the problem. Ebony has one of the highest shrink rates of all woods. Tuning stability will be better with almost any other species for the fretboard.
I honestly haven't any idea if that's true but I do have several warmoth necks kept in the same place and hands down the most stable is the one that's bubings/rosewood vs maple plus anything. Sadly I don't see it being offered anymore, at least on their website. I think it's a great wood. Obviously, Warwick has made a living off that opinion for a few decades. Plus it feels great in the hands.
@@John-mh9ty Bubinga has a longitudinal shrink rate of 0.22% and East Indian Rosewood 0.06%, for a difference of 0.16%. Compare to Ebony+Hard Maple with a difference of 0.71%. So Bubinga + Rosewood is a good combination. Hard and dense species which closely match the shrink rate of Hard Maple are (in order of hardness): Lignum Vitae, Bloodwood, Brazilwood, Bocote, Pau Ferro, and Wenge. Whether these are smooth enough, I don't know.
I can confirm this with two Warmoth necks. One is hard maple with a beautiful massacar ebony fretboard. Coming to Arizona from Washington unfinished caused a lot of problems when I went to finish the neck myself. I've managed to make it work but to this day, it has minor tuning issues with daytime temperature and seasonal humidity changes. Because of this, Warmoth advised me to roll with a one-piece roasted maple neck for my second build, and I couldn't be happier. I have an Ibanez with a roasted maple neck, too, and I'm not even sure a tornado could take it out of tune.
@@revolead One-piece or same-species is probably the best. It may expand and contract a little with humidity, but at least it won't bend forward or back, requiring a truss-rod adjustment. It will simply get longer or shorter, but stay straight.
I have two warmoth necks. One is solid rosewood vintage modern tele and the other is roasted maple modern strat. The tele one fluctuates a lot with the weather but the strat is insanely stable. Vast changes in humidity and temperature do nothing to it. Highly recommend roasted maple modern construction!
I feel this video. I live in a very humid tropical country and have had pretty good luck with stable guitars, but every now and then I'll pick something up that just doesn't jive with my environment at all and needs extra long to settle down.
Lived on the California coast my whole life. And I can tell everyone from experience. You can't fight it. Eventually your guitar is going to acclimate to the relative humidity of your environment. I've noticed that guitars will pickup up a few ounces in weight so take it into consideration. More critical is your neck is going to swell up to the point it gets stuck in the neck pocket. Worst case scenario the neck pocket develops a crack as on my beloved 83 telecaster. So with my new warmoth builds I'll pull the neck off when I change my strings for the first year or so. If it is tight I'll carefully sand the sides of the neck pocket. In some cases the side of the pickguard as well. Eventually everything will do what it is going to do and we can relax and forget about it. Solid body acoustics spend around 98% of there lives in a case with silica packets and bodies closely monitored for shrinking and swelling. Can't just leave em out on a stand. The thinlines double as my bed side acoustic guitar guitars. Not as susceptible to humidity. But it is something to think about when building your guitar. Is going to shrink swell up? How is that going to effect the weight and tone. Also something else happens after 40 years. The neck petrifies for a loss of words. The cellular structure changes sort of like a roasted neck then it shrinks again. Very strange. But yeah after a great amount of time. It is completely immune to the environment.
Here too in eastern MA the humidity changes significantly through the year. For example my Fender strat is in constant motion, always needs adjustment (maple neck and fretboard). However a bit contrary to your finding: my Epiphone Modern Les Paul requires almost no care. I'm on the fence to buy a roasted maple neck for the strat.
Hey Aaron, stoked to hear you've come down to south Georgia!🤘🏼 The Wall Hugger Saloon in Moultrie is a cool lil' spot to check out some local/regional live bands. My band Naturally Southern is based out of Moultrie/Valdosta/Adel.
Hey...I was just at the Wall Hugger last Saturday night! It was my first live music since being down here. I'm definitely looking for a new band situation. Check out my website (www.aarontunes.com) or friend me up on FB and keep me posted on Naturally Southern shows. I would love to come see one!
I don’t suppose that’s a major swing in humidity but still interesting. I’d be interested in relief and action measurements over time getting settled in
I suspect it's more about that Floyd Rose on the "Explorer" than the double truss rod. Metal knife-edges and springs are less susceptible to humidity (in the short term) than wood. I used to have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom that would go flat when it was cold. So I'd pick it up, tune it up, then it would slowly go sharp as it warmed up in my hands and on my body.
My telecaster been with me from. Age 14 to age 25 present was made in california but now I live in Russia extremely cold the guitar been always on a stand and barely inside a soft or hard case hehe still sound the same amd the temperature changes alot hardly out of tune idk something about the guitar and the craftsmen ship quality and the guitar is a 1963 telecaster fender in green matching headstock
Hey Aaron!!! Welcome to the southeast! You went just a little too far however. You should've set up shop in east TN. If you're ever up this way the first beer is on me 🍻
Where in Ga are ya? I am in the Augusta area, I used to live in Lakeland Ga just outside Valdosta. Pauly G turned me on to your Aarontunes channel, just subbed :-) 502nd sub over there, good stuff.
I'd love to see a part 2 of this where you check the change in the necks with a notched strait edge. Readjusting the truss rod might get them back to tune or much closer.
That would be a good test. I'm also curious as to how they will change over time, once they have really had a chance to soak up all the humidity down here.
As a resident of southern Georgia myself, I’d like to say welcome… I hope you’re living close to either Jacksonville or Tallahassee or you will surely grow to hate it. Thanks for another great video!
Haha! About 50 mins north of Tallahassee. I'll be looking for a band situation soon....it will be interesting to see what music scene is like down here.
@@warmoth you are very, very close to me… All I could say about the music scene is best of luck. It used to be better around here, but it’s kind of deteriorated as of late. I am sure you will be a valuable new addition to whatever community still exists. Again, welcome!
I have a question. I'm in San Jose CA, right now at 9:30am it's 70 out, humidity is 68%. In my apartment, we can't run the AC all day, sadly. It gets real expensive. i have my Les Paul in the case and in my closet. The room the closet is in can get as hot as 86. I don't currently have a way to check humidity in the house but I am curious this is alright? I would have for my $1700 guitar to get ruined. During the middle of the day temps outside can hit maybe 95-104, but maybe 87-90 in the house, and around 86-ish in the room of the guitar. I see SO much info about acoustics but can barely finid any info on electrics. I know the frets are at risk but how much?
It may be not very fair to compare locking floyd rose nut against other guitars. Gibson (and other) fixed bridge guitars may easily get out of tune, but it's also way easier to bring back the tuning compared to floyd or fender bridge.
Temperature-wise Georgia has undeniably hotter summers. The rest of the year the temperatures are similar, though Geargia never gets as cold as Washington occasionally does in the winter.
Haha.....it's only a gig if we're getting paid! ;) Your engagement party was more like "a once-in-a-lifetime band experience that will never be forgotten."
All my electrics are Gibson Custom Shop. I don't have any issues with the guitars holding tuning. I'm fairly certain people that complain about Gibson holding tune are not stringing their guitars correctly.
Ah...I understand the confusion now. A440 is the standard reference for pitch, so when I tune down a half-step I call it A flat. But I can see how that could be confusing. From now on I'll call EVH/Jimi/SRV tuning. :)
That's what I assumed... I remember that on the issue of guitar tuning the reference is mostly the 1st & 6th strings, since they are - apart from really weird tunings - the same. C-tuning (or C Standard) for example would mean that you tuned your 1st & 6th (down) to C (instead of the standard E, B-tuning would be the same but even a step further down to B etc. 😅
Lol ive had a cheap azz mighty neck warp on me over the course of 20 years but yeah... it was also heavily manipulated so that it would fit on a aria 2 japanese tele thinline body. The neck is useless now and i got a warmoth neck on the thing now. Very 69 thinline looking now : )
