How hot is too hot?

Shawn@PRS

Shawn@PRS

yogi
Joined
Aug 23, 1985
Messages
6,871
Location
Stevensville, MD
I read a headline from the Fretboard Journal that said "If it's hot enough to bake cookies in your car, it's too hot for your guitar". I'm going to take it a step further and say "If your car is too hot for your pet, it's too hot for your guitar". Extreme heat can cause fretboard pop, neck movement and melt the wax in the pickups.

Friends don't let friends leave guitars in hot cars.
 
Last Monday my son took his guitar to school and I made sure he was aware of this, so he took it inside with him.

Did not want Paul at the meet and greet have to sign a melted guitar that evening :D
 
One problem is how hot the trucks that companies like UPS use to ship the guitars get during the summer.

I was freaked out when my PS acoustic arrived; the case was very warm to the touch when I took it out of the box. I think (hope) that it's all good, but I can feel a few fret ends. Is that what 'fretboard pop' is?

I wish I'd been able to drive to the factory to pick up the guitar, it would have been air conditioned the whole way home and regardless of anything else, I'd have worried a lot less.
 
We rarely have problems with guitars shipped domestically, but on a couple of occasions last year we had a few guitars that were shipped internationally come back because the wax had melted out of the pickups. We swapped the pups with new ones and re-set up the guitars and they were goo to go.

I don't know if there is a technical term, but yes when the fretboard shrinks and the fret ends stick out the side of the board.
 
Rango said:
I think the technical term for this condition is "Fender Frets". ;)
Click to expand...
Oh how true it is. you also forgot to add that the high e string is cut right on the edge of the fretboard! i have a skb prs flight case that does a great job in extreme heat or cold. and also, in cleveland, anything over 80 is to hot with our humidity.
 
Shawn@PRS said:
a few guitars that were shipped internationally come back because the wax had melted out of the pickups. We swapped the pups with new ones and re-set up the guitars and they were goo to go.

I don't know if there is a technical term, but yes when the fretboard shrinks and the fret ends stick out the side of the board.
Click to expand...

"Goo to Go" Faux Pas or Pun Intended! Funny just the same.
 
I never leave my gear in the car. If I am playing some where after work, my stuff goes into the office with me...if I am visiting someone and my guitar is with me, it comes in when I do...
 
I know Bob Taylor when asked this would say if it is very uncomfortable/ dangerous to you then it probably is for the guitar too.
 
leeasam said:
I know Bob Taylor when asked this would say if it is very uncomfortable/ dangerous to you then it probably is for the guitar too.
Click to expand...
That is what I tell my guitar students.

I stopped by GC today to see my friend that works there and check out a new PRS they got in and he told me the nut on his custom 22 fell off. I asked him if he kept a case humidifier in the case and he said no. I told him he better start. All of my electrics and acoustics are humidified. It hit 117 degrees today. My A/C has been running non-stop just to keep up.
 
sergiodeblanc said:
We could always ask John (Beef).... it's gotta be 120 degrees there.
Click to expand...
Almost! 116 Friday, 115 Saturday and Sunday.

My set of DGT pickups in my Custom 22 are unique in two ways: they are wired to work with the rotary switch, and they had a bunch of wax melt out of them sitting in my mailbox the day they were delivered in July 2010.
 
I'm always worried my pickups will melt with it in the car down here in FL
But I used to work outside in the field, so I'd leave it hidden in the hotel room somewhere
 
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