Pro Tips

Drop Tuning Your Guitar?

Are you playing in Drop D or Drop C and find that you're having trouble keeping your guitar in tune? Are your lower strings sounding wonky?

Try using a thicker gauge of string, like 11's. The best for modern styles today are actually light top heavy bottom sets like GHS TNT's or D'Addario EXL140. Both sets are 10-52 so your low end stays nice and tight, but you can still bend and shred on your higher strings with ease.

It's also a good idea to have your guitar professionally set up (neck adjustment, intonation) if you've never used a thicker string gauge before. That way your strings will feel comfortable and will stay in tune better.

Acoustic Guitars - Don't Forget to Humidify!

Winter's here in full force, and for us here at Music City that doesn't mean happy trips to the slopes, it means an influx of people visiting our repair shop with unfortunate cracks in their solid top acoustics.

Don't let this happen to you!

You can prevent a nasty (and sometimes irreparable) crack in your beloved guitar during the dry winter months. As the temperature drops, the air indoors becomes especially dry. Moisture can escape the wood in the guitar, which leads to shrinkage and in extreme cases, will split or crack a solid top. Necks can also shrink, which leads to fret overhang that can catch your hands and cause nasty scrapes and cuts (this happens to electrics in the winter as well).

It is most important to keep your guitar well humidified from mid-fall until the spring when the snow begins to melt and the thermometer rises above freezing.

When possible, always keep your acoustic in its case or bag and well away from any heat source. Inexpensive case humidifiers are only $5.95 - they release moisture into the air inside the case which humidifies the guitar.

If you insist on leaving your acoustic out in the open air during the winter, we suggest investing in the Kyser Lifeguard humidifer ($26.95), which fits in the soundhole, completely blocking off dry air from entering the body and releases moisture to the unfinished inside walls. In addition to this, you may wish to purchase a home humidifier from any hardware store (and refill it DAILY!).

Also, if you are transporting your guitar from outside remember to allow the instrument time to warm up to the new room temperature by leaving it in the case for an hour or more. NEVER OPEN YOUR CASE INDOORS AND REMOVE YOUR GUITAR IF IT'S STILL COLD! Extreme changes in temperature is especially dangerous and may cause cracking or unwanted finish checking.

Laminated tops are not as prone to cracking as solid tops, but they are by no means immune to drying out. Proper humidifying will also help keep your neck action comfortable and playable. Don't forget to get your neck adjusted at least twice a year (usually around spring and fall, when the temperature changes the most drastically). Neck adjustments should be done only by someone who is skilled at setting up and repairing guitars. Our shop has a very quick turnover for action adjustments.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Take care of your instrument and it will provide many years of enjoyment.

Music City
221 Algonquin Ave., North Bay, Ontario Canada P1B 4V8
Phone : 1 (705) 472-9907
Fax : 1 (705) 472-5463
Toll Free: 1-877-895-9411
e-Mail: sales@music-city.ca
Webpage issues/comments: webmaster@music-city.ca