Case them up ASAP and keep them there until your humidity issues are resolved. Cases do a pretty good job of basic humidity stability for routine ups and downs. If you own an acoustic, take greater care with it as it’s more sensitive to drastic humidity changes. Case it up sooner than all the rest and, if possible, maybe toss something like this inside it to keep it’s humidity balanced: https://www.daddario.com/products/accessories/humidification/automatic-humidipak/humidipak-maintain/
Outside of this, just do what you can do. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and I wish you the best of luck.
Anything else cloth needs to go. Anything like magazines, books and what not need to be moved out till dry. I would get as much out as I could till the humidity gets back down to earth.
Prop up anything in contact with the carpet like furniture with wood blocks or even aluminum foil.
Update: Instruments cased up and relocated to my sister-in-law’s. (Carpets are replaced, but still more to do). Thanks @Meriphew, @infiniteposse, and @Kegeratorz for the help and advice!
I’m no guitar player, I like to keep one around to play when the mood takes me, just open and barre cords and some basic finger picking.
I have. Gretsch Jim Dandy that I bought because of the size and cos it was a Gretsch. I’ve never happy with the sound. I find it dull without a plectrum and really boxy sounding with a plectrum. It’s had the same strings on for 10 years. If I change firm the EJ16 to something like Elixir nano web 12s would it make any difference or will it always sound like this? I have no issues spending $$ on synths but guitars are another language to me.
Yes, new strings will make a difference after a year, let alone 10. Go for it. I’d search for bright sounding ones. A small body won’t sound like a dreadnought and it’s supposed to be a bit boxy / parlour style I would guess.
Get some new pick ups for it, should be able to find guidance on brighter pick ups then either DIY change out if your feeling brave or hand over to a tech at guitar shop to change em - strings will have some effect but it’s not gonna change the tone massively.
My Gibson is dark, no matter what I do it doesn’t get much brighter but it’s a sound I need, if I want bright I pick up my strat… so third route…get a strat… : )
Yeah, get new strings. 10 years is way too long to go without a new set. Heck, 6 months is too long as far as I’m concerned. Strings aren’t exactly expensive unless you have a lot of guitars.
I second the setup suggestion. The Gretches can be made lot better than how they came out the factory by a good tech. Those aren’t easy guitars to play btw.
As someone who sells these, those guitars are awesome but due to the fact of their construction, it’s generally a boxy sounding instrument. A cheap Yamaha acoustic with a solid spruce top will sound much more “natural” than the Jim Dandy. If you want it to sound more lively, just put a fresh pair of EJ16s on it, the elixirs will last a while but they are a bit more dead sounding due to the coating.
Picked this up as a bday present to myself a few months ago. Haven’t had my own electric guitar since 1992, so it’s been a treat. Really starting to bond with it at this point, but, - I gotta say it’s been surprising how high the action needs to be on this guit to get fret buzz down to a tolerable level. I think I expected better from Gibson. Neck is pretty flat, a touch of relief, no twists, been plek’d afaik. Action is abt 2.25 mm on the low side, and 1.70 on the high side. With these settings, I still have some slight buzz that I can hear through the amp from the 1st through 7th frets, weirdly mainly on the d and g strings. (I do have a fairly heavy picking hand). Adding more relief doesn’t help either, plus I don’t like the feel or sound of a neck with a ton of relief. Any thoughts?
Honestly it’s not a showstopper, I like the sound and feel of the instrument, but I am stumped on why I can’t get the action lower on such a “premium” guitar.
Congrats on that beautiful guitar! Have you had a guitar tech set it up for you? there’s a bunch of stuff to consider that can cause buzz, from the nut grooves to the saddle settings, pickup height(s), truss rod setting, fret condition etc etc.
I know how to do most of these things myself and yet when I buy a new guitar I pay the 50€ to get it set up right, it’s just a nice ritual and totally worth it!
I have not had a tech look at it yet, but plan to at some point. Maybe they will see something I’m not seeing. But I’ve ruled so many things out, I’m not confident that they’ll be able to improve it beyond what I’ve done. Nut slots are excellent and right on spec, no buzz at the bridge, pickup heights nice and low… I can hear that the buzzing is all simple next fret clearance issues. But action and relief need to be way past factory specs to eliminate it completely. My tolerance for buzzing is pretty low, I’ll admit.
Still, having tons of fun. It’s a keeper, it’s just hard to shred
