[QUOTE]Originally posted by flatpickr:
I still haven't gotten over selling that Buddy Holly Style Mustang back in 1976,
QUOTE]
Permit me to take a slight detour. I did some work in Buddy's parents home many years ago right after the movie came out.

His father was sitting in a chair wearing black rimmed glass. He looked like Buddy's dad. He had the diamond watch on that was recovered from the crash. (My stunted mind was recalling John Cameron Swayze in the Timex commercials, "It takes a licking, but keeps on ticking")

The Mrs gave me a tour to see all of the memorabilia. There were the gold records hanging on the wall. On one it read "Peggy Sue".

She pulled out the '58 Fender strat from a brown canvas case and I got to hold it.

Have you ever been able to recall the sound of a guitar that you once owned many years earlier?

I thought I heared "That'll be the Day". Maybe it was just euphoria.

From Buddy Holly's home town, Lubbock TX, I now return to the present.

http://www.buddyhollycenter.org/

Larry -

What a great story. Thanks for passing that one on.

Jim

Yeah, great little read!

This being a collings forum, I presume-trust, in fact- that the guitar is built to be at concert pitch. Whether it's in its case on in your lap, the bridge, the top, the braces, don't know. Unless you're talking about long term- years worth- of storage, leave it alone. To detune your guitar every time you put it away is loony tunes. It's like taking the shocks off your car and putting it up on blocks when it's in the garage. Good grief. I guess common sense ain't that common.

I've never stored mine detuned but I can understand why you might.

IF you chose to leave a guitar detuned for awhile you really should loosen the truss rod too. Leaving a truss rod tight on a neck with no counter tension can result in a backbow over time.

Lets say you are a working musician and are playing a circuit of gigs throughout a region that kept you busy 3 nites per week (say Tuesday, Friday and Saturday) all year-- for lets say 5 years running. The guitar would theoretically never be completely tuned down and allowed to rest during that time because you are playing it. Now, what's the difference between that and it just sitting (in concert pitch)in the case---aside from it being physicaly played of course. Certainly, one cannot say that if it's being played that somehow the tension is less than if it was sitting still tuned to pitch. My point of couse is that these instruments were designed to be strung up to pitch---played or not is of little consequence to the structural integrity of the guitar---yes, playing one does eventually "open" it up and improve its sound, but does it necessarily shorten the life-span of the instrument? A great guitar is a tool--meant to be used and enjoyed and they are built with that in mind. Now, I would submit that IF you are not going to be playing the instrument and inspecting it from time to time, that it is much more important to assure that the environmental conditions in which it is stored are stable and kept in the acceptable range for an acoustic instrument. The prolonged swings in temperature and humidity that go out of the acceptable range of say 45-50% RH and 65-75 degrees F. will seriously effect the instrument---these effects are most certainly compounded if the instrument is left at concert pitch. These negative environmental changes accentuate the stresses on a guitar that is left under full tension. It is my opinion that most instruments that are left un-played and tuned to pitch for long periods of time and suffer neck, bridge or cracking problems are those which have been subjected to poor environmental conditions. It is those conditions which are more damaging to the instrument. If they are controlled, the tension of being in tune should not adversely effect the instrument.
Bob

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BuckeyeSooner,

I bougth few years ago a Gibson Hummingbird from older gentlemen who had got the guitar after his friend had died. He didn't play himself so he just stored the guitar for 7 years in his attic and opened the case only few time (to show the guitar to some people). When i first saw it it looked like new but it had heavy flatwound strings. They were tuned obviously to the pitch when guitar was stored and the tension had twisted the neck relief to be size of low E-string maybe even more. So i explained the situation to the owner and asked his permission to turn truss rod to correct the problem. Guitar was really hard to play in upper position. I turned it little by little and tuned again to the pitch. First the maple neck didn't seem to straighten but in the end the truss rod worked just fine and i got the neck relief to the acceptable amount. I had to turn truss rod few times later but after that the neck just stayed solid flat. But i wouldn't store flattop guitar with heavy strings tuned to the pitch for several years. Neck can really twist and sometimes the truss rod can't correct it.

Johnny,
You said, "he just stored the guitar for 7 years in his attic and opened the case only few time (to show the guitar to some people). When i first saw it it looked like new but it had heavy flatwound strings. They were tuned obviously to the pitch when guitar was stored and the tension had twisted the neck". The tension may have twisted the neck, but ONLY in conjunction with the heat of the attic. Chances are very good that if it was kept in the back of a closet in the living space it would have been fine. I wouldn't store a guitar in the attic, ever, strings or no strings. On a sunny day, with the sun beating on the slate, my attic can easily reach 120°F.

I'll go with leaving them at pitch. If they are going to be sitting for a year or more I might back it down to D (D,G,C,F,A,D). The year long storage, or longer; the important thing is the conditions they are stored in(attic-closet-etc), not the tune it is stored with.

I'm not sure I'd give a lot of credence (clearwater or otherwise) to a dude that puts heavy flatwounds on a Gibson Humminbird and keeps it in his attic. Flatwounds (other than on a bass) are a tool of the Devil. And, in most conventionally built houses, there's more temperature (and, I'd presume, humidity) variation in the attic than any other part of the building, including the garage. over and out. tom

I would still say if your going to put away your guitar for an extended period of time, I would tune it down three steps. This takes the pressure of the top , neck and the bridge plate. I seen a guitar at Gruhn's that had several cracks in the top and a replaced bridgeplate because of leaving them tuned up for a LONG period of time. I would look at as a little extra insurance policy.