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Laminate tops and heat
| nosluap57 | 09 Jul 06 - 10:51 PM | |
| wysiwyg | 09 Jul 06 - 11:01 PM | |
| Richard Bridge | 10 Jul 06 - 09:02 AM | |
| pdq | 10 Jul 06 - 09:07 AM | |
| JohnInKansas | 10 Jul 06 - 10:17 AM | |
| Bert | 10 Jul 06 - 10:42 PM | |
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Laminate tops and heat
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Subject: Laminate tops and heat From: nosluap57 Date: 09 Jul 06 - 10:51 PM I am moving from Minnesota back to Texas at the end of July (a VERY good thing). Part of the deal which is joyfully taking me back to Dallas is the company paid for moving van. The movers will haul everything, including my guitars. There is no question my solid tops will ride with me in my air-conditioned SUV down to Texas, but due to space limitations, I have three laminate tops that would have to be loaded into the moving van. So my question is just how much heat can a laminate guitar endure wihtout any damage? The guitars will be more than adequately protected against any damage from being knocked around, but I imagine the truck they will be loaded into will get quite hot, especially in July. I am told after a two or three day journey, they will be off loaded into a "climate controlled" facility, awiting final delivery, which will again be on a truck, but probabally only for a few hours. Do you think wghen I open up the cases of those laminate tops I will find sides and backs pulled away from each other, or warped necks, or some other equally horrific scenario? Or maybe I just have to damn many guitars.... |
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Subject: RE: Laminate tops and heat From: wysiwyg Date: 09 Jul 06 - 11:01 PM Remember how people used to get deals driving someone's car to a new town? Maybe you can find someone to busk your instruments from MN to TX. OK, I'm kidding-- but what if a Catter was going that way? Would you local luthier pack them to ship with the same packing set-up in which they receive new stock? Hardi has done that with a bicycle-- bike shops will happily set a good-quality bike up for best shipping condition. If you ship them to yourself insured, would that make sense? You could ask the luthier to held them a week while you travel, and then ship them? ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: Laminate tops and heat From: Richard Bridge Date: 10 Jul 06 - 09:02 AM I know someone who had a guitar come unglued in the boot of a car in England - Broadstairs or Sidmouth I believe. So for Texas in July, I would expect a potential problem and recommend at the very least taking all string tension off. It'll likely be the hide glue that suffers - I would not expect delamination because the glue between the laminations is different - and if all tension is off even if the hide glue softens it ought not to pull apart. It might be worth putting a soft strap round the body (all round the perimeter) in case the sides tend to spring at the neck and tail, although I would expect them to be well set by now. Entering the realms of paranoia, having taken string tension off, it might be good to take truss rod tension off too. If you have a Garrison, put it in the car - the fibreglass frame and the wood bits may be differentially stressed by the heat. I have seen one crack its sides simply due to drying out. |
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Subject: RE: Laminate tops and heat From: pdq Date: 10 Jul 06 - 09:07 AM You might want to wrap them in as many wool and cotton blankets as possible. Insulation that can breathe. |
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Subject: RE: Laminate tops and heat From: JohnInKansas Date: 10 Jul 06 - 10:17 AM Note that when commercial movers say they will put everything in "climate controlled storage" that means that the truck will be unloaded and the stuff will be repacked into a "storage crate" at the storage facility. You have no assurance that the "fragile" stuff that the driver and his crew placed carefully a the top of the load won't end up in the bottom of the crate, or even that it will all get into the crate, since you won't be there to watch. When you are ready for delivery, the "crate" probably will be unpacked and repacked into a different truck, although sometimes at the destination the crates themselves are loaded. You will not be present at either of these unpacking/repacking unpacking/repacking operations. The "assurances" that the movers give about how carefully things will be handled are mostly bullshit. The consensus opinion of those who actually do these operations (they're called "lumpers") are that this is where virtually all losses occur. While "dishonesty" is not any more common than in any general group of workers, I've known a couple of "exceptionals" who've had fairly nicely furnished homes from the "losses." If you read all of the fine print in the shipment contract, you'll find that the carrier is relieved of virtually all obligation for damage or loss, unless you make separate and very specific arrangements for individual items, and if you ship a guitar and receive a ukelele they may not (voluntarily) recognize that as a loss. (At our last commercial move, we received a carpet (9x10) and an end table that weren't ours, and two of the four chairs in a set were a different color than the ones we watched being packed. We still find "missing items" that are on our personal inventories, are known to have been packed but weren't separately itemized on the packing lists, but can't be found - 8 years later, such as specific individual LPs and VHS tapes, etc.) If at all possible, unless your extra guitars are of "extremely ordinary value" I would recommend shipping something else and arranging to take them with you. An alternative might be to have someone store them at origin (perhaps a friendly music store?1) and ship them UPS or FedEx (insured appropriately) after you're prepared to take delivery at your destination. Another choice might be to see if UPS or FedEx or another "fast freight" outfit will ship and hold for pickup. (It's much easier to insure for reasonable value on an individual item shipment than for a bulk household move, although of course the bulk rate is cheaper by the pound.) 1 Even with a good friend, you should have the agreement to store and ship in writing with copies to yourself and the person(s) helping you. You should also make sure they're packaged for shipment before you leave them (unless the agent is better prepared to do it than you are, agrees to packaging, and it's included in your written agreement). Most of the stuff that goes in commercial household shipments gets there okay. Nearly every shipment has some loss. It's still a judgement call whether a particular item is something you're willing to take a moderate risk with, or whether you want to "do it special." I'd personally worry more about the "handling" than about the heat for something like a guitar. John |
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Subject: RE: Laminate tops and heat From: Bert Date: 10 Jul 06 - 10:42 PM Slacken the strings or the bridge will pop off. The rest of the guitar should be OK. |
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