Shoman Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Hey everyone, I'm a new Heritage member. Just received my first Heritage yesterday. It's a beautiful 2005 H-150 Almond Burst that I purchased on ebay. I have several guitars, some from the 80's but no Gibson or Heritage. Most of the threads or articles I read on "checking" reference Gibson or Heritage. Currently there is no checking on my new Heritage. I'm concerned that I do the right things to avoid it. I'm in Sunny SW Florida. It's been mid 70's all week and normally the humidity is aprox 50% in Winter and 95+% in summer. I of course have air conditioning and even in winter it is normally on, to keep the house a cool 73 degrees. How concerned should I be. Also I've been using the A frame guitar stands with the closed cell foam rubber padding. Should I be concerned that this could react with my finish. I'm assuming that my new Heritage has a Nitrocelulose finish. I've only been playing since this past November so my knowledge is limited. Want to avoid big blunders. Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated. Going back to playing my new girl now.
davesultra Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Welcome aboard, and congrats on your H-150, they're fantastic guitars. As far as climate conditions are concerned, as always try to keep the humidity in the room between 40-50% (of course that goes for most all stringed instruments). Being your Heritage has a nitrocellulose finish, the best guitar stands for long term are None. I always put mine back in the case after use. However if you want to keep them on a stand, the "Hercules" brand stands are touted to be "nitro safe", and quite a few guys & gals here swear by them. You could also wrap the areas on the stand that make contact with the finish with cotton or felt. You could cut up an old t-shirt for that. But again, I believe it's always best to just put 'em away when done (although they are nice to look at).
Shoman Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks davesultra. I had heard of Hercules but I don't believe I have one. Most of my stands are the A Frame style from "On Stage". I've sent an email to OnStage to ask about the foam that they use. Hope it's good as I've got 8 stands from them. I'm thinking about looking for a humidity gauge to use in my music room/man cave.
davesultra Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks davesultra. I had heard of Hercules but I don't believe I have one. Most of my stands are the A Frame style from "On Stage". I've sent an email to OnStage to ask about the foam that they use. Hope it's good as I've got 8 stands from them. I'm thinking about looking for a humidity gauge to use in my music room/man cave. That's a very good idea. You can find them all over ebay and amazon for cheap. I actually have two in my music room.
Kuz Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Put towels or polishing cloths on the foam padding. I am almost 100% that the foam will cause "nitro-burn" and it can do that quite quickly.
Kuz Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 I just did a quick google search of "Onstage stands and Nitro Finish"..... "I recently bought a new Les Paul studio and in the owners manual they warn about the dye in rubber on guitar stands can ruin your nitrocellulose finish and leave a permanent stain on your guitar. I have a fretrest stand I bought from Guitar center and I have an Email in to their support asking if their stands are safe. I'll update when I get a response. I Got a form letter back from On Stage Stands (I bought one of their A-frame stands before I was aware of this problem) they basically said something to the effect of: While we consider our stands to be the best on the market, there are too many guitar manufacturers and too many finishes for us to test every one. Basically saying: We don't know - you're on your own. So for the time being I have my stands covered up w/old t-shirts. Please advise of your experiences." Best to wrap the stands in some towels. I use Hercules Stands because they are Nitro safe and they are VERY strong stable stands.
Shoman Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Hey Kuz, yes, sounds like I will be wrapping with 100% cotton towels. I have it sitting on white cotton socks at the moment but they are not very thick. I'll pick up some inexpensive 100% cotton towels so I can cut them up. I've got at least 8 stands that need covering. I can slowlly replace them.. Funny but when I was buying less expensive guitars I didn't give it a thought. Starting mid February I sold several of the guitars that I did not particularly bond with. Now I like all of the ones I have and want to keep them in good shape. I don't see how a person could figure out what they like without doing what I did or spend years trying out different ones in stores. . We don't have any guitar stores in town with much stock. I pretty much bought them, restrung them tuned them up myself and then resold. I probably came out on the positive side due to the sale of a1963 Gibson Acoustic 12 string that I basically got for a song and sold for a very nice profit. The others were $50.00 ahead or $50.00 behind. So I was able to try out all these guitars and came out on the plus side if I don't count things like stands and tools. I've already watched every one of DavesWorld of Fun Stuff and now I'm rewatching, Also watch, Woodeo's? and Will's Easy Guitar, and even a very little of Scott Grovs stuff.. Anytime you see me writing stupd stuff, please let me know. I'm new so expect some incomplte learning, understanding. Oh, picked up a humistat or hygrometer? from WalMart this morning. Thanks you all.
Shoman Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Ok, So Ive had the Humidity sensor and thermometer registering for a few minutes now and it's reading 75*F and 55% Humidity. The humidity is actually a little higher than I expected but I think that's OK. Much rather have that then too low.
skydog52 Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 I have these on several of my stands. Never had any problem. http://www.sadowsky.com/store/nitroguard-neck-and-body.html
davesultra Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Ok, So Ive had the Humidity sensor and thermometer registering for a few minutes now and it's reading 75*F and 55% Humidity. The humidity is actually a little higher than I expected but I think that's OK. Much rather have that then too low. 55% is just fine. But actually too high of humidity can be just a bad as too low. Up here in Michigan, it's a constant battle, humidifier in the cold weather and dehumidifier in the summer! It gets quite maddening!!
yoslate Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Welcome to the fray, Shoman. I'm sure you know this, but it always bears repeating: Don't ever leave it in a car, regardless of the weather. Rapid temperature change exposure is one of the primary causes of nitro checking. And Scott Grove...
Steiner Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 Greetings Shoman - As yoslate says, it's more any rapid change in temperature or humidity that wreaks havoc on wood. 50% relative humidity at 70+ degrees is a great environment for wood. For your earlier question, cotton between your guitar and the stand is a good thing. I too use the same type of pieces that skydog52 showed above; never had a problem.
TalismanRich Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 I'll toss in my experience with checking.... 5 Heritage guitars and none checked, including a 1988 H140 and a 2003 H157. I do use the OnStage stands, and have not experienced nitro burn. They don't sit on the stand for long periods of time. The velveteen rubber seems to be pretty inert. If you have any fear, wrap a cotton washcloth around it. It certainly can't hurt. Definitely do NOT use anything with PVC rubber . It will react chemically with nitro very quickly. Those usually come on the low priced stands at MF and GC. Most of the time they have light tan rubber covering and looks like surgical tubing. I try to keep the house humidified, but even pumping 3-4 gallons a day into the house, is will only get to about 35%. The humidity won't affect the finish, as much as it shrinks the wood causing fret sprout, and changes in the action. On an acoustic with the thin wood, it can even lead to splits in the wood. Finally, the best thing to do is just PLAY IT. Yeah, they are pretty, but they sound even better!
Shoman Posted March 9, 2015 Author Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks everyone. Really appreciate all the input and help. Skydog or Steiner, do those fit over the rubber arms like a sock? $10.00 per stand is better than spending $40.00 on each of them. TalismanRich, good to hear that. Hope I have the same experience. Yep, I'm behind on my playing as I'm going through a remodel and the wife and the dog are all in a single room. Not a good practice invironment. Yoslate, yep I actually spent a good amount of time letting it acclamate from shipping before completely removing from case. Letting the case temps risle slowly. davesultra, today the humidity is all the way up to 66. Starting to wonder about the accuracy of my gauge. Temps are 72 and the air's on so not sure why the rise in humidity. Put new strings on last night. I used Polyweb #10's, That's what the old strings measured. Did a fret polish and then cleaned and treated the fingerboard with Linseed wipe on wipe off.
tbonesullivan Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 The yellow surgical tubing covered stands are the ones that you really need to avoid. They react with pretty much ANY type of nitro finish. From what I have hard the On Stage stands and Fretrest stands are supposed to have foam that won't react with nitro finishes. I usually keep my Nitro guitars in their cases when not using them. The non-nitro guitars can sit out while I'm using that one in the rotation. As long as you keep the temperature fluxuations to a minimum, you should avoid checking. Though, at joints in the wood, binding, etc, sometimes it is inevitable. As for polish, I am pretty much 100% behind Gibson pump Polish for all nitro guitars. It has a nice smell. It also took my ratty looking 535 pickguard and made it look like new. It also doesn't have any abrasives or similar things in it that could wear down the finish.
rockabilly69 Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Any guitar I care about goes back in the case when I'm done with it!
davesultra Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Any guitar I care about goes back in the case when I'm done with it! +1
Kuz Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Any guitar I care about goes back in the case when I'm done with it! + infinity!!!!!! It takes less than 5 secs to get a guitar out of a case, I never understood why someone would let a guitar sit on a stand to get knocked off, exposed to temp & humidity, or interact with the stand material!!!!
Shoman Posted March 15, 2015 Author Posted March 15, 2015 Kuz, you have those georgous guitars and you don't look at them? I understand not wanting to damage them but what kind of hoodalems do you have running around your house? They are safe and sound in the "ManCave". No Hoodalems allowed. LOL.
Kuz Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 Kuz, you have those georgous guitars and you don't look at them? I understand not wanting to damage them but what kind of hoodalems do you have running around your house? They are safe and sound in the "ManCave". No Hoodalems allowed. LOL. I look at them when I play them (often) and I have teenagers.... enough said!!! LOL
HANGAR18 Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 My guitars hang on Hercules stands all year long and they are safe for any brand of guitar I have ever hung on them. I have wall mounted stands as well as floor stands. I also keep the Swiffer duster company in business. hahaha
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